BRETT, Sir Robert (c.1566-1620), of Charing Cross, Westminster and Dover Castle, Kent; formerly of West Molesey, Surr.

Family and Education

b. c. 1566, 4th s. of John Brett (d.1589) of Whitestaunton, Som. and Margaret, da. and coh. of Hugh Ratcliff of Stepney, Mdx., wid. of John Acland of Akeland Barton, Devon; half-bro. of Sir John Acland*. educ. Hart Hall, Oxf. 1586, aged 20. m. (1) 14 Dec. 1590, Alice (bur. 19 June 1602), da. of James Huishe, Grocer, of St. Pancras, London, s.p.; (2) 13 July 1603 (with £1,000), Frances (d. 28 Aug. 1617), da. of (Sir) Thomas Fane of Badsell, Tudeley, Kent, 1s. d.v.p.; (3) Anne (d. 22 Feb. 1634), da. of Sir William Meredith, paymaster of the army, of Leeds Castle, Kent, s.p.F. Brown, ‘Brett Fam.’, Som. Arch. and Nat. Hist. Soc. Procs. xxviii. 82; Vivian, Vis. Devon, 3; PROB 11/73, f. 320; 11/76, f. 182v; 11/77, f. 73; Al. Ox.; St. Pancras, Soper Lane (Harl. Soc. Reg. xlv), 444; J.V.W. Lloyd, Powys Fadog, iii. 82; VCH Northants.: Genealogical Vol. 96. Kntd. 22 Apr. 1603.Shaw, Knights of Eng. ii. 102. A Robert Brett of Devon is also said to have been knighted on 18 Apr. 1604, but this second Sir Robert Brett, if he existed, has proved elusive: Shaw, 131. d. 1 Sept. 1620.

Offices Held

Servant to Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex by 1589; Expedition to Spain and Portugal 1589 ed. R.B. Wernham (Navy Rec. Soc. cxxv), 205. surveyor of the races, Tutbury, Staffs. 1598-at least 1610;HMC Hatfield, viii. 366; LC2/4/4, f. 57a; E179/45/37; 179/70/122, 123a; DL4/46/33, interrogatories, no. 10. equerry 1604;LC2/4/5, p. 56. gent. usher of the privy chamber by 1607-at least 1609.CSP Dom. 1603–10, p. 370; Cent. Bucks. Stud. B/Buc/8/5/3.

J.p. Mdx. 1597–d., C66/1468, m. 25d. Kent 1610–d. Cal. of Assize Recs., Kent Indictments, Jas. I ed. J.S. Cockburn, 86, 134.; commr. oyer and terminer, the Verge 1606 – at least12, Sandwich, Kent 1614, to indict Owen the traitor, Kent 1615, annoyances, Surr. 1611, Mdx. 1613, inquiry into lands of Skevington in Kent 1613;C181/2, ff. 13v, 142, 180, 198v-200, 228. lt. Dover Castle 1613–15;Chamberlain Letters, i. 476; CSP Dom. 1611–18, p. 200; Carew Letters ed. J. Maclean (Cam. Soc. lxxvi), 12. freeman, Dover 1614;Add. 29623, f. 28. commr. sewers, Wittersham level, Kent and Rother valley 1614 – at least18, Essex 1617. C181/2, ff. 219v, 247v, 265, 295, 328v.

Parlimentarian

BRETT, Sir Robert (c.1566-1620), of Charing Cross, Westminster and Dover Castle, Kent; formerly of West Molesey, Surr.

Main residences: Charing Cross, Westminster; Dover Castle, Kent; West Molesey, Surr.

Author

P.J.L.

A.D.T.

Volume

Commons 1604-1629

Web Title

BRETT, Sir Robert (c.1566-1620)

Will

Estates

Oxford 1644

Addresses

Religion

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