England; Cheshire, Brereton, Malpas and Handforth; Irish peerage connection from 1624
Brereton of Brereton Hall — ancestral Cheshire coat preceding the Willoughby marriage
- Family / house
- Brereton of Brereton; Brereton of Malpas; Brereton of Handforth; Dutton; Ipstones; Egerton; Cheshire gentry
- Family / cadet branch
- Brereton of Brereton Hall; senior Cheshire line from which the Leighlin barony arose
- Armiger / bearer
- The senior Brereton family of Brereton Hall, including Sir William Brereton, 1st Baron Brereton of Leighlin
- Entity type
- family
- Social rank / class
- landed_gentry
- Heraldic authority
- Cheshire Visitations; Brereton Roll; Archaeologia; historical county sources
- Record basis
- recording
- Issued / first recorded
- sixteenth century
- Until / superseded
- 1722
- Historical period
- Tudor to early Georgian period
- Grant / record reference
- Irish barony created 11 May 1624 for Sir William Brereton
- Blazon
- Argent, two bars Sable. Crest: A bear's head Proper, muzzled, commonly shown issuing from a ducal coronet Or. Fuller achievements include supporters of a bear and a wolf and the motto OPITULANTE DEO.
- Plain-English description
- The old Cheshire Brereton coat is a silver shield with two black horizontal bars. The family crest is a muzzled bear's head, a distinctive emblem associated with Brereton Hall.
- Tinctures
- Argent; Sable; Or; Gules
- Charges / ordinaries
- two bars; bear's head; bear; wolf
- Crest
- A bear's head Proper, muzzled, issuing from a ducal coronet Or; variants differ on the muzzle tincture and whether the head is couped or erased.
- Motto
- OPITULANTE DEO
- Exterior ornaments
- Fuller antiquarian achievements record a bear and a wolf as supporters. The peerage title used an Irish territorial designation but did not materially alter the principal Brereton coat.
- Difference / variant
- This is the ancestral coat inherited by the Brereton barons. Other Brereton branches, such as Brereton of Malpas, Handforth and later baronet branches, may show cadency marks, additional quarterings or an over-all cross and should not be collapsed into this record.
- Source reference
- Brereton Roll study
- Source
- Open source
Genealogical context
- Spouse(s)
- Margaret Savage, daughter of Sir John Savage of Rocksavage
- Children / next generation
- Sir John Brereton, heir apparent; Mary Brereton, later Countess of Thomond; Jane Brereton, later wife of Sir Robert Holte
Documented depiction
Notes / sources
The principal Brereton field design is secure, but Brereton heraldry is branch-sensitive. The Hanford baronet branch, Malpas branch and collateral families used differentiated or quartered forms and require separate records.