'Non-jurors' was the name given to the Anglican Churchmen who in 1689 refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary, and their successors under the Protestant Succession Act of that year. Years of sporadic persecution followed, during which they were deprived of their benefices and held secret services of their own which they believed maintained the true Anglican succession. Their difficulties terminated in 1788, when on the death of Charles Edward they saw no further reason for withholding the oath to George III. Thomas Brett was born in Betteshanger, Kent, in 1667. He was educated at Queens' College and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, from 1684-1690. Brett was ordained as a deacon in 1690 and worked as curate at Folkestone until the following year, when he was ordained as a priest. He was a Lecturer at the church in Islington until his father's death forced a return to Kent in 1696, where he was curate to the parish of Great Chart. He was awarded the livings of Betteshanger in 1702 and Rucking in 1705. Brett was already publishing works on church government and edging towards the views of the non-jurors, and matters came to a head with the death of Queen Anne, when he refused to take the oath of allegiance to George I and resigned both his livings. From this point on he was a prominent member of the non-jurors, writing extensively on liturgical matters and being consecrated as bishop. Brett died in 1743/1744. Thomas Brett's son, Nicholas, was also a non-juror priest, who acted as chaplain to Sir Robert Cotton for a time, but who later lived at the family estate in Spring Grove, Kent. He died in 1775.
From the guide to the Brett family, 1743-1880, (Senate House Library, University of London)
