Sir William Brereton (died 17 May 1536), who came from a Cheshire landowning family, was a Groom of the Privy Chamber of Henry VIII. He was caught up in the accusations against Anne Boleyn, tried for treason and executed with the Queen and four others. Historians now think that along with the others he was almost certainly innocent.
William Brereton was the sixth son of Sir Randle Brereton of Ipstones, Shocklach, & Malpas, Knight Chamberlain of Chester, knight banneret and knight of the body of Henry VII. His mother was Eleanor Dutton. Along with three of his brothers, William entered royal service. By 1521 he was a groom of the King's chamber, and from 1524, groom of the privy chamber.
In 1529 Brereton married a widow, Elizabeth Savage, who was the daughter of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, and a second cousin to Henry VIII. Lady Savage’s first husband was the grandson of Sir John Savage who had been a Lancastrian commander at the battle of Bosworth in 1485. When the grandson had fallen into debt and was also being held in the Tower for murder, all his lands were forfeited to the crown, and Brereton, as the king’s man in Cheshire, was given the job of looking after them. Savage died and Brereton’s marriage to Lady Savage established a family relationship with the King and thus cemented Brereton’s position as a royal servant.
In reward for his work for the King, Brereton gained many grants in Cheshire and the Welsh Marches. These eventually brought him more than £10,000 a year. However, he wielded power ruthlessly. For example, he engineered the execution of Sir John Eyton for instigating the killing of one of his own heavies who had been involved in disorders over cattle rustling.
The Secretary of State, Thomas Cromwell, masterminded the plot against Anne. The allegation against Brereton was that Anne solicited him on 16 November 1533, and misconduct took place on 27 November. However, the future Queen Elizabeth had been born on 7 September. This would have kept Anne in seclusion for a long time. Other charges of misconduct at Hampton Court certainly could not have happened, because at the time in question the court was at Greenwich. The historian Eric Ives argues that Cromwell added Brereton to the plot against Anne in order to end the troubles Brereton was causing in the Welsh Marches, and to reorganise (and centralise) the local government of this area.
Brereton's words as he faced the executioner's axe, "The cause whereof I die, judge not. But if you judge, judge the best," are interpreted as a cautious declaration of his innocence which would avoid the forfeiture of his estates.
William Brereton was portrayed by James Gilbert on the Showtime series, The Tudors, during season 2. Seeming to be commissioned by the Pope (Peter O'Toole) to assassinate Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer) for the good of King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and the Catholic Church. He was accused of having carnal knowledge of the Queen Anne. Unlike the others in his position, who either denied (George Boleyn (Pádraic Delaney) and Henry Norris (Stephen Hogan)) or were tortured into admitting it (Mark Smeaton (David Alpay)), Brereton falsely admitted his guilt to Thomas Cromwell (James Frain).
On The Tudors, although Brereton was an actual historical character, the series has totally fictionalized this character. (William Brereton was not a Jesuit and was not commissioned by the Pope to assassinate Anne Boleyn. It is worth noting that whereas Anne was crowned queen in 1533 and executed in 1536, the Jesuit order was not formally established by the pope until 1540.) He was probably collateral damage when Thomas Cromwell moved against the Boleyn Faction and decided to get rid of him in the same coup. In the show Brereton is portrayed as a young man whereas in reality he was almost fifty, and it is not mentioned that he was not wealthy.