1984 Bells Toll for the Death of the Last Brandreth

The Reverend Henry Renault Turner Brandreth (1914 - 1984) is a direct descendent of Henry Brandreth who first came to Houghton Regis in 1652. The Brandreth Family Tree can be seen by clicking here. He had no children.

This is an article in the Dunstable Gazette from 1984, recording the death of the Reverend Brandreth. It reads:

"The sombre sound of tolling bells hung over Houghton Regis on Saturday and echoed the end of the Brandreth family line.

"For the full peal of muffled bells at All Saint's Church marked the death of the Rev Henry Brandreth. He was the only son of the last squire of Houghton Regis and the last direct member of the distinguished family after which the middle school was named. He was 68. (Brandreth Middle School merged with Linmere Middle school to become Kings Houghton Middle school, which subsequently became the Houghton Regis Academy, which closed in 2022)

"Although he died in London after living and working in Paris for many years, his connections with Houghton Regis were strong. It was requested in his will to honour an old family tradition to toll the bells to announce his death and his ashes will be returned to Houghton Regis and interred in the family vault.

"Henry Renault Turner Brandreth began his interesting and eventful life at the manor house (Houghton Hall). The child who played on his father's estate was to become highly respected as a priest but also spark controversy with a now notorious book that exposed unorthodox bishops.

"He left the manor for a boarding school in Devon and from there studied at Sheffield University. He then went on to Lincoln Theological College to become a priest and was ordained by the Bishop of Ely in 1941.

"Just after the war he became the chaplain of St. George's in Paris where he stayed until 1965.

"On hs return to London he was Vicar of St Saviour's in Islington and of St Dunstan's in Fleet Street, as well as one of the secretaries to Lambeth Council in foreign relations.

"He was a scholar and advisor to archbishops on eastern religions. But it was in the fifties that he wrote Episcopi Bragantes, which was a record of all the strange and unusual bishops who were not really bishops.

"They were so called "wandering" bishops who adopted the title but were not ordained. Mr Brandreth caused a lot of trouble with his findings and received complaints from the people involved, but the directory was well accepted by others.

"He also wrote a history of the Oratory of the Good Shepherd, of which he was a life-long member.

"His closest friend for 40 years, retired priest Canon George Tibbetts, from Cambridge, said, "He was very witty, very bright and had a strong personality. He was an extremely good parish priest in Paris and served the English community very well. He was a very popular and distinguished social figure and was always at the centre of conversation at parties and events."

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