BRERETON, Sir William (son of major Robert Brereton who fought at Culloden). b. 1789; 2 lieut. R.A. 10 May 1805; lieut. col. 17 Aug. 1843 to 16 Dec. 1854; served in Spain, France and the Netherlands; granted service reward 1 April 1856; head of Irish constabulary short time; K.H. 1837; C.B. 19 July 1838; K.C.B. 28 June 1861; L.G. 27 June 1864; author of The British fleet in the Black Sea while under the command of Vice Admiral J. W. D. Dundas, privately printed 1857. d. 3E Albany, Piccadilly, London 27 July 1864. I.L.N. xlv, 154, 299 (1864).
BRERETON, William Westropp (4 son of Arthur Brereton of Ballyadams Queen’s county). b. 1810; ed. at Trin. coll. Dublin, B.A. 1832, M.A. 1856; called to Irish bar 1836; went Munster circuit; Q.C. 9 Nov. 1852; assistant barrister for co. Kerry 1858; chairman of quarter sessions for co. Galway 1858 to death. d. Fitzwilliam sq. north, Dublin 13 Dec. 1867. Law mag. and law review v, 260 (1855).
BRETT, Harry Augustus. Writer Madras civil service 1831; collector of Salem 1860; member of Board of Revenue 1862–65; pres. of Income tax commission 1862–67; resigned the service 27 May 1867. d. 20 Dec. 1867.
BRETT, John Watkins (son of Wm. Brett of Bristol, cabinet maker). b. Bristol 1805; Telegraphic engineer; laid a gutta percha wire between Dover and Cape Grisnez 1850 by which the first submarine message was sent from England to France; laid cables between Dover and Calais 1851, Dover and Ostend 1853, and Sardinia and France 1854; mainly instrumental in forming Atlantic Telegraph Company 1856; director of Submarine Telegraph Co.; made a splendid collection of works of art; author of On the origin and progress of the Oceanic telegraph 1858. d. Lunatic asylum, Coton Hill, Stafford 3 Dec. 1863 bequeathing one tenth of his large property to charity. Notes and Queries 3 S. viii, 203 (1865).
BRETT, Robert. b. at or near Luton Beds. 11 Sep. 1808; ed. at St. George’s hospital London, M.R.C.S. and L.S.A. 1830; assistant to Samuel Reynolds of Stoke Newington surgeon, partner with him 1860 to death; founded the Guild of St. Luke, a band of medical men who co-operate with the clergy; vice pres. of London Union on church matters 1850; one of founders and vice pres. with Dr. Pusey of English Church Union 1860; author of The Churchman’s guide to faith and piety by R. B. 1862, 5 ed. 1871; Scripture history for the young 1845; Devotions for the sick room 1843; Companion for the sick room 1844; Thoughts during sickness, 4 ed. 1870 and 11 other books. d. Stoke Newington 3 Feb. 1874. Robert Brett. In memoriam reprints from the principal church journals including a sermon by Rev. J. W. Belcher 1874.
BRETT, William Freeland. b. 19 Oct. 1821; ensign 54 Foot 1 April 1842, major 14 Aug. 1857; major 61 Foot 27 Sep. 1861; lieut. col. brigade depot 26 Jany. 1876; M.G. 1 Oct. 1877; placed on retired list 1 July 1881. d. Colchester 10 Nov. 1884.
BRETT, Rev. William Henry. b. Dover; left Dover on his first journey to Demerara as missionary from S.P.G. 10 Feb. 1840; ordained deacon 1843 and priest 1844; chaplain to Bishop of Guiana and R. of Holy Trinity Essequibo 1851–79; author of The Indian tribes of Guiana 1852; Legends and myths of the aboriginal Indians of British Guiana 1880; Mission work among the Indian tribes in the forests of Guiana 1881. d. Bowruma, Totnes road, Paignton, Devon 10 Feb. 1886 aged 67.
BRETTELL, Rev. Jacob (only son of Rev. Jacob Brettell, Independent minister at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts who d. 19 March 1810). b. Sutton-in-Ashfield 16 April 1793; ed. at Manchester college York 1809–14; Unitarian minister at Cockey Moor (now called Ainsworth) Lancs. July 1814 and at Rotherham Sep. 1816 to June 1859; author of The country minister, a poem in 4 cantos 1821; The country minister part second, a poem in 3 cantos 1825; The country minister, a poem in 7 cantos with additional poems and notes 1827; contributed hundreds of hymns and political and patriotic pieces to Christian Reformer, Sheffield Iris, and other periodicals. d. Rotherham 12 Jany. 1862. Christian Reformer xviii, 128, 191 (1862).
BRETTLE, Robert. b. Portobello near Edinburgh 6 Dec. 1831; a glassblower in the hardware districts; fought B. Malpas for £50 a side 14 Feb. 1854 when stakes were drawn; fought Sam. Simmonds for £200 a side 3 June 1856, and Job Cobley for £100 a side 4 Aug. 1857 and beat them both; fought Bob Travers for £100 a side 26 Jany. 1858 when he won after 100 rounds in 2 hours; fought James Mace for £100 a side 21 Sep. 1858 when he won; fought Tom Sayers who staked £400 to Brettle’s £200, 20 Sep. 1859 when Sayers won; fought James Mace again 9 Sep. 1860 when Mace won; fought Jack Rooke for £200 a side 31 Dec. 1861, 1 Jany. 1862 and 11 March 1862 when stakes were drawn; kept the White Lion, Digbeth, Birmingham 1857 to about 1868 when he went to the United States; trained and brought out some of the best light-weight pugilists. d. 56 Upper Windsor st. Birmingham 7 April 1872. The championship of England by the editor of Bell’s Life in London [Francis Dowling] 1860 pp. 70–4; Illust. sporting news 1862 p. 9, portrait; H. D. Miles’s Pugilistica iii, 451–60 (1881).
BREWER, George. b. Gosport 7 Aug. 1773; entered navy 19 March 1793; joined the ‘Robust’ 15 Feb. 1795; discharged incurable 17 May 1799; a waterman at Gosport. d. in a court in Havant st. Portsea 7 Sep. 1871 aged 98 but generally reputed to be 106. Thoms’s Human longevity (1873) 185–6.