Thomas Shaw Brandreth - Family, Judicial Office, and Homer

Family, Judicial Office, and Homer

Brandreth married a Harriet Byrom, of Fairview (a suburb of Liverpool), in 1822, by whom he had two daughters and five sons, among them Thomas Brandreth, a distinguished naval officer. A move to London further diminished his legal practice, and he ultimately declined the offer of a judgeship in Jamaica and retired to Worthing and devoted himself to the education of his children.

In retirement, he again took up the study of classical literature, and made a lengthy inquiry into the use of the digamma in the works of Homer. His studies were published in 1844 as A Dissertation on the Metre of Homer; and reflected in an edition of the Iliad with digammas. This was followed by a well-received translation of the Iliad into blank verse in 1846. Brandreth died in Worthing in 1873. He took an interest of local affairs, becoming a justice of the peace for West Sussex and taking a hand in the improvement of the town's infrastructure.