Peter Le Neve (21 January 1661 – 24 September 1729) was an English herald and antiquary. He was appointed

Rouge Dragon Pursuivant Rouge Dragon Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms of the College of Arms, named after the red dragon of Wales. The current Rouge Dragon Pursuivant is Adam Tuck, who was appointed on 12 June 2019. The office had been vac ...

17 January 1690 and created Norroy King at Arms on 25 May 1704. From 1707 to 1721 he was Richmond Herald of Arms in Ordinary, an

officer of arms An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or Sovereign state, state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions: * to control and initiate coat of arms, armorial matters; * to arrange and participate in ceremo ...

of the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

. He was a Fellow and first President of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

and a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. Among his library's holdings was a volume of fragments that found its way into the collection of

Richard Rawlinson Richard Rawlinson FRS (3 January 1690 – 6 April 1755) was an English clergyman and antiquarian collector of books and manuscripts, which he bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Life Richard Rawlinson was a younger son of Sir Thomas ...

and thence to the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

, Oxford, that contains the so-called "

Rawlinson Excidium Troie The Rawlinson ''Excidium Troie'' ("The Destruction of Troy"), discovered among the manuscripts collected by Richard Rawlinson (1690–1755) conserved in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, is unique in that it contains the only medieval account of the ...

", a unique testimony to a Latin account of the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...

that was used by many medieval writers. Peter Le Neve was the son of Francis Neve, citizen and Draper of London, by Avice, daughter of Peter Wright. He was the brother of

Oliver Le Neve Oliver Le Neve (1662 – November 1711) was a Norfolk country squire and landowning sportsman who lived most of his life at Witchingham Hall in Great Witchingham, Norfolk, England, and is significant for his 1698 mortal duel with Sir Henry Hoba ...

External links

National Archives: Peter Le Neve papersLe Neve's Pedigrees of the Knights Made by King Charles II, King James II, King William III and Queen Mary, King William Alone and Queen Anne, George W. Marshall (ed.), Printed by Mitchell and Hughes, London, 1873
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Neve, Peter 1661 births 1729 deaths 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers 18th-century English male writers English antiquarians English genealogists English officers of arms Fellows of the Royal Society Le Neve, Peter Le Neve, Peter Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown