Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Brereton (1782–1832) was an Irish soldier who led the dragoons against the rioters during the Bristol Riots and was subsequently court-martialled for his leniency.
He was the governor of Senegal by the time of the Méduse tragedy.
Brereton was born in King's County (now Offaly), Ireland and was commissioned into the 8th West India Regiment in 1798. He subsequently served in the Royal African Corps, 53rd Foot, Royal York Rangers and 49th Foot.
He became Inspecting Field Officer, Bristol Recruiting District, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of Dragoons, living in Hambrook Court. When the Bristol Riots broke out in October 1831, he was ordered to disperse the mob in Queen Square, Bristol in the centre of Bristol. He initially tried to use persuasion rather than force, and when pressed to charge the crowds he did so but without using firearms. He was subsequently court-martialled for neglect of duty: his conduct was described as 'highly disgraceful' and he shot himself during the hearing.
The 1978 children's paranormal TV drama "The Clifton House Mystery" was a ghost story based on the circumstances of Brereton's death. The plot revolved around a family moving into an old house in Bristol that finds a long-dead skeleton in a hidden room. After some unexplained incidents, they become convinced that a ghost connected in some way with the Bristol Riots of 1831 is haunting the house. After checking local records, they realize that it is the ghost of a dragoon commander who was court-martialled for his handling of the riots, and who later disappeared without a trace. The ghost is named "George Bretherton" in the TV series. One of his descendants, named "Mrs Betterton", had sold the house to the family, but was allegedly unaware of the hidden room and its contents, referring only to a vague family scandal that happened generations ago.