James Pettit Andrews (1737– 6 August 1797) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

historian and antiquary.

Life

He was the younger son of Joseph Andrews of Shaw House, near Newbury in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, and his second wife Elizabeth Pettit; Sir Joseph Andrews, 1st Baronet (1727–1800) was his elder brother. He was educated privately, and having taken to the law was one of the magistrates at the police court in Queen Square,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, from 1792 to his death. Andrews built himself the

Strawberry Hill Gothic Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "#Strawb ...

mansion of

Donnington Grove Donnington Grove is a Strawberry Hill Gothic mansion, now a hotel and country club, and associated Golf Course at Donnington in the civil parish of Shaw-cum-Donnington, near Newbury, in the English county of Berkshire. It is overlooked by Donni ...

, near the family home, in 1763, designed by John Chute. He sold the house in 1783. He was a regular participant in the work of the

Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

in the 1780s. Andrews died at Brompton and was buried in Hampstead Church.

Works

His major work was a ''History of Great Britain connected with the Chronology of Europe from Caesar's Invasion to Accession of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

'', in 2 volumes (London, 1794–1795). A portion of the history of England is given on one page, facing a general sketch of the contemporany history of Europe on the opposite page. He also wrote a ''History of Great Britain from Death of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

to Accession of

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

'' – a continuation of Robert Henry's ''History of Great Britain'', which left off at the death of Henry VIII – published in 1796 and again in 1806. Andrews translated a German tragedy of

Christoph Unzer Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German variant of Christopher. Notable people with the given name Christoph * Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician * Christoph Büchel (born 1966), Swiss artist * Christoph Dientzenho ...

with

Henry James Pye Henry James Pye (; 20 February 1745 – 11 August 1813) was an English poet, and Poet Laureate from 1790 until his death. His appointment owed nothing to poetic achievement, and was probably a reward for political favours. Pye was merely a ...

. It was published in 1798 as ''The Inquisitor''. Others works include ''The Savages of Europe'' (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, 1764), a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

on the English which he translated from the French of Robert-Martin Lesuire (1737–1815) and Louvel; and ''Anecdotes Ancient and Modern'' (London, 1789), a collection of gossip.

Family

Andrews married Anne, daughter of Thomas Penrose, rector of Newbury, and sister of

Thomas Penrose Thomas Penrose (1742–1779) was an English cleric and poet. Life Baptised at Newbury, Berkshire, on 9 September 1742, he was the eldest son of Thomas Penrose, rector of Newbury parish, who died on 20 April 1769. He matriculated at Wadham Colleg ...

the poet. He edited an edition (1781) of his brother-in-law's works.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, James Pettit 1737 births 1797 deaths 18th-century English historians People from Shaw-cum-Donnington English male non-fiction writers