Peregrine Bertie DL (ca. 1663 – 10 July 1711) was a British politician, the second son of

Robert Bertie, 3rd Earl of Lindsey Robert Bertie, 3rd Earl of Lindsey PC FRS (8 November 1630 – 8 May 1701), styled Lord Willoughby de Eresby from 1642 to 1666, was an English nobleman. He was the son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey and Martha Cokayne. He travelled on ...

. Educated at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1679, Bertie first entered the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in 1685 in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, alongside his brother, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, and generally inclined towards the

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

. On 20 June 1685, he was commissioned a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

in Lord Willoughby's independent troop of horse, raised to suppress the

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, the Revolt of the West or the West Country rebellion, was an attempt to depose James II, who in February 1685 succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and Ir ...

. In 1689, Bertie did not choose to stand for Parliament, and Sir William Yorke, a Whig, was returned alongside Lord Willoughby. In 1690, when Lord Willoughby was called to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

writ of acceleration A writ in acceleration, commonly called a writ of acceleration, is a type of writ of summons that enabled the eldest son and heir apparent of a peer with more than one peerage to attend the British or Irish House of Lords, using one of his father ...

, Peregrine was returned at the ensuing by-election. However, he now showed leanings towards the Whigs, and solicited his half-uncle's brother-in-law, Hon. Thomas Wharton, to rally Nonconformists on his behalf. When his younger brother, Norris, died in 1691, he appealed to the King, through his uncle the Marquess of Carmarthen, to obtain Norris' commission as a guidon and major in the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards for himself. Peregrine did not obtain his brother's commission, but was rewarded with a Court appointment in 1692 as Vice-Chamberlain to Queen Mary, after Jack Howe was turned out of office. Despite this, he regularly opposed the administration in Parliament. He was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household in 1694, perhaps to encourage his loyalty to the Court. Over the next few years, he continued to slowly move into the Whig orbit, and was made a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the British monarchy, sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises Politics of the United King ...

in 1695. The attainder of Sir John Fenwick in 1697 placed Bertie under severe political strain. Most of the Bertie family opposed the attainder; while it is unclear exactly what role Peregrine took, his conduct was sufficiently lukewarm to earn the severe displeasure of King William. His office as Vice-Chamberlain was saved through the intercession of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, the Chamberlain, but the incident appears to have stimulated him to complete his transition from Tory to Whig. He did not stand for re-election in Boston in 1698, perhaps partly due to tensions with his father, who remained a Tory. However, after his father's death, he returned to Parliament in the December 1701 election with the support of his brother, now Earl of Lindsey. (Lindsey remained a Tory, however.) In 1706, he exchanged offices with Thomas Coke, receiving the

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval chu ...

of a

Teller of the Exchequer The Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer was an office in the English Exchequer. The Tellers of the Exchequer received any money to be paid into the Exchequer, noted the amount in a book, and sent a copy of the entry, called a Teller's Bill, to ...

. Bertie died of

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

in 1711.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertie, Peregrine 1660s births 1711 deaths British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 Deputy Lieutenants of Lincolnshire English army officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Members of the Privy Council of England Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Younger sons of earls Peregrine English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707