Peter Abraham de Brissac claimed legitimate descent
from the ancient family of the Comtes de Cossé, and Ducs
de Brissac; indeed it is said that his was the older branch of the family
and that the title was lost by his ancestor having left France as a refugee in
1685. The descendants are now unable to establish this by proof, as many
important papers have been lost, and the registers of his father’s birth and
marriage are not to be found.
I have heard old Mrs. Dickinson of Bramblebury (Frances née de Brissac) say that
as a child she heard it always affirmed that her father ought to be Duc de
Brissac. She also said that when she was such a little girl as to stand on a
footstool at the table in order to see the family tree, she was shown it in her
grandfather’s house, where it was carefully preserved. This tree has however
since been burnt,
and nothing but tradition remains to point out the claim of the refugee branch
of the family to the ancient and honourable title of Duc de Brissac.
The present Duke [1840's] would
be John Bernard, son of Jane Bernard, née de Brissac. [See www.debrissac.org.uk.
This shows the Bernard tree,
and agrees with this statement.]
[These notes of Harriet Ann Dickinson date from the 1840's.]
Extracts from The Entire Memoirs Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency