General Notes

Sir Ralph Brereton of Brereton, Knight, through marriage to Ada deHuntington, gives the Breretons Royal Descent because she was decended ofDavid, King of Scotland, and maternally the Earls of Chester were RoyalEarls, who possessed jura regalis in the Palatinate of Chester. They alsolaid claim to royal descent from the Venables, who was a relation ofStephen of Blois and William, the Conqueror. At first the descent of theBreretons from the royal blood of Scotland was mentioned as a mere claim,which was found in Collins' Peerage and in Dugdale's British Peers, but acopy of the patent or grant of creation to Sir William Brereton, of theBarony of Brereton, has since been procured and in that instrument suchroyal descent in Scotland is expressly recited and recognized in thefollowing terms: "We, considering with mature deliberation the free andtrue services of Sir William Brereton, and that he is sprung from anancient, noble and most renowned family, inasmuch as he is descended,through many illustrious ancestors, from Ada, sister of John, surnamed leScot, 7th Earl of Chester, and daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon,Lord of Galloway, within our kingdom of Scotland." (This quotation isfound in Archaeologia, or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity,Vol. 33, p. 59.)