ys and marls, with sandy
and lignitic beds, in the Middle Eocene of the Hampshire Basin, England.
They are well developed in the Isle of Wight and on the mainland
opposite; and receive their name from their occurrence at Bracklesham in
Sussex. The thickness of the deposit is from 100 to 400 ft. Fossil
mollusca are abundant, and fossil fish are to be found, as well as the
_Palaeophis_, a sea-snake. Nummulites and other foraminifera also occur.
The Bracklesham Beds lie between the Barton Clay above and the
Bournemouth Beds, Lower Bagshot, below. In the London Basin these beds
are represented only by thin sandy clays In the Middle Bagshot group.
In the Paris Basin the "Calcaire grossier" lies upon the same geological
horizon.

See F. Dixon, _Geology of Sussex_ (new ed., 1878); F.E. Edwards and
S.V. Wood, "Monograph of Eocene Mollusca," _Palaeontographical Soc._
vol. i. (1847-1877); "Geology of the Isle of Wight," _Mem. Geol.
Survey_ (2nd ed., 1889); C. Reid, "The Geology of the Country around
Southampton," _Mem. Geol. Survey_ (1902).

BRACKLEY, THOMAS EGERTON, VISCOUNT (c. 1540-1617), English lord
chancellor, was a natural son of Sir Richard Egerton of Ridley,
Cheshire. The exact date of his birth is unrecorded, but, according to
Wood,[1] when he became a commoner at Brasenose College, Oxford, in
1556, he was about seventeen. He entered Lincoln's Inn in 1559, and was
called to the bar in 1572, being chosen a governor of the society in
1580, Lent reader in 1582, and treasurer in 1588. He early obtained
legal renown and a large practice, and tradition relates that his
skilful conduct of a case against the crown gained the notice of
Elizabeth, who is reported to have declared: "In my troth he shall never
plead against me again." Accordingly, on the 26th of June 1581, he was
made solicitor-general. He represented Cheshire in the parliaments of
1585 and 1586, but in his official capacity he often attended in the
House of Lords. On the 3rd of March 1589 the Commons desired that he
should return to their house, the Lords refusing on the ground that he
was called by the queen's writ to attend in the Lords before his
election by the House of Commons.[2] He took part in the trial of Mary,
queen of Scots, in 1586, and advised that in her indictment she should
only be styled "commonly called queen of Scots," to avoid scruples about
judging a sovereign. He conducted several other state prosecutions. On
the 2nd of June