[2][3] Brenton named one of his Newport properties "Hammersmith," and this has led some writers to assume that the like-named town since absorbed into London was his place of origin.

[4] Brenton was in Boston by October 1633 when he was admitted to the church there,[2] was made a freeman in May 1634, and later the same year was appointed to oversee the building of a jail house.

[6] In April 1639, he was one of nine men who signed an agreement to settle Newport, and appears to have changed residence, being present at a general meeting there a year later.

[5] One issue facing this administration was the land speculation of Humphrey Atherton in the Narragansett country (later to become Washington County, Rhode Island).

[9] Also during this administration, a commission was issued to Dr. John Clarke, Rhode Island's agent and diplomat in London, with the intent of seeking a new charter from the king, and a committee of three members from each town drew up instructions for Dr.

[13] Brenton's Point and Brenton's Reef in Newport are named after him, and Hammersmith Farm, where Jacqueline Bouvier spent an important part of her youth after her mother married its owner, Hugh D. Auchincloss, Jr., and later married future United States President John F. Kennedy, was named for his property in Newport.

[14] Brenton was first married, by 1634, to a woman named Dorothy, who apparently died soon thereafter, leaving a single son, Barnabas, who was baptized in Boston on January 24, 1635.

He in turn had a son, Sir Jahleel Brenton (1770–1844), who also had a distinguished career in the British Navy, attaining the rank of vice admiral.