Siege of Nantwich, 1644

The Battle of Nantwich: Who's Who

Sir William Brereton, MP, commander of Parliamentarian forces in the North-West. Faced with a resurgent enemy after the landing of Royalist troops from Ireland, Brereton's forces were badly mauled in a surprise attack at Middlewich on about 27 December 1643. He retreated north to Manchester to join forces with . . .

. . . Sir Thomas Fairfax. Commanding the Yorkshire Horse, Fairfax was attached to Parliament's Eastern Association army in Lincolnshire at the time of the siege. Fairfax was reluctant to join the Nantwich campaign, believing other Parliamentarian forces to be better positioned and better equipped than his own. He nevertheless crossed the Pennines in winter to reinforce the beleaguered town of Nantwich, governed by . . .

 . . . "Old" Sir George Booth of Dunham Massey, first Baronet Delamere, who was the ripe old age of 78 at the time of the siege. Booth was father-in-law of Sir William Brereton, and he successfully held the last remaining Parliamentarian stronghold in Cheshire against another of his son-in-laws . . .

 . . . Lord Byron, Royalist Field Marshal in Cheshire, Lancashire and North Wales. Recently arrived from King Charles's headquarters at Oxford, he combined his own forces with Royalist soldiers newly landed from Ireland and proceeded to conduct a ruthless campaign across Cheshire which earned him the nickname of the "Bloody Braggadocio". Attempting to storm the town of Nantwich on 18 January, however, his veteran forces were beaten back by local Parliamentarians commanded by  . . .

 . . . "Young" George Booth, colonel in Parliament's Cheshire forces and grandson of the town's governor. The year following the Battle of Nantwich, Booth would marry . . .

     . . . Lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter of the Earl of Stamford and elder sister to . . .

     . . . our own Thomas, Lord Grey, Major General of Parliament's forces in the Midlands.

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Portrait Sources:
William Brereton, unknown engraving, published 1647 (National Portrait Gallery)
Sir Thomas Fairfax, by Henry Stone (Manchester Art Gallery)
"Old" George Booth, English School (National Trust, Dunham Massey)
John, 1st Lord Byron, by William Dobson (Newstead Abbey)
"Young" Sir George Booth, 1st Baron Delamere of Dunham, by Peter Lely
              (National Trust, Dunham Massey)
Lady Elizabeth Grey, Baroness Delamere, by Peter Lely (National Trust, Dunham Massey)
Thomas, Lord Grey, English School (National Trust, Dunham Massey)

Cavalry Cornets: British Library, Additional Manuscripts 5247

Robert Hodkinson, January 2016