Thomas Brerewood (c.1670 – 22 December 1746), was a 'Gentleman Entrepreneur & Fraudster'. He was involved with the "Pitkin Affair" of 1705, a bankruptcy fraud committed with his business partner Thomas Pitkin that was surpassed in scale only by the South Sea Bubble of 1720. Brerewood was eventually pardoned and was able to rebuild his fortune. From 1741, to his death on December 22, 1746, Brerewood held office as the clerk of Baltimore County.
United Kingdom legislation
Thomas Brerewood's Estate and Thomas Pitkins' Creditors Act 1706
An Act to subject the Estate of Thomas Brerewood to the Creditors of Thomas Pitkin, notwithstanding any Agreement or Composition made by the Creditors of the said Thomas Pitkin.
Thomas Brerewood was born circa 1670 to a well-known Chester family. He was the son of Henry Brerewood, and a grandson of Sir Robert Brerewood.[1][2] He was apprenticed to his uncle, Francis Brerewood, Treasurer of Christ's Hospital, London in June 1686 and admitted to the Fishmongers' Company in 1699.
^American Bankruptcy Law Journal, Vol. 84, p. 483, 2010 "The Pitkin Affair: A Study of Fraud in Early English Bankruptcy" by Professor Emily Kadens, University of Texas at Austin, School of Law, http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?59+Duke+L.+J.+1229+pdf