Sir Peregrine Bertie (c. 1584–1639) was a Jacobean soldier and landowner from

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. He represented that county in Parliament in 1614, attended to local land improvements, and took part in several wars on the continent. He and his elder brother

Lord Willoughby Baron Willoughby of Parham was a title in the Peerage of England with two creations. The first creation was for Sir William Willoughby who was raised to the peerage under letters patent in 1547, with the remainder to his heirs male of body. A ...

were frequently at odds with Lord Norreys. Peregrine was the second son of the famous Elizabethan soldier

Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (12 October 1555 – 25 June 1601) was the son of Catherine Willoughby, 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, and Richard Bertie. Bertie was Lady Willoughby de Eresby's second husband, the first bei ...

. He was admitted to

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

in 1594. He travelled to France in 1599. When his father died in 1601, Peregrine inherited a manor in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and the reversion of

Willoughby House The Barbican Estate, or Barbican, is a residential complex of around 2,000 flats, maisonettes, and houses in central London, England, within the City of London. It is in an area once devastated by World War II bombings and densely populated b ...

in London. He was admitted to 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 1605. In 1610, Bertie obtained a place as a

gentleman of the privy chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...

Prince Henry Prince Henry (or Prince Harry) may refer to: People *Henry the Young King (1155–1183), son of Henry II of England, who was crowned king but predeceased his father *Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394–1460) *Henry, Duke of Cornwall (Ja ...

, and was created a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...

on 2 June, when Henry was invested as Prince of Wales. Later that year, he fought a duel with Lord Norreys, an inveterate enemy of Peregrine's brother

, and in consequence was seriously wounded in the shoulder. By 1611, both brothers had become officers in the Dutch Army. In 1612, Peregrine had become a member of the

Virginia Company The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the object of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day Main ...

, and went abroad to

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

that year for his health. Prince Henry died at the end of the year, and in the fall of 1613, Peregrine went abroad again and fought another duel with Lord Norreys, much to the displeasure of King James. In 1614, he contested

with the courtier Sir Thomas Monson and was returned as its junior

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

to the

Addled Parliament The Parliament of 1614 was the second Parliament of England of the reign of James VI and I, which sat between 5 April and 7 June 1614. Lasting only two months and two days, it saw no bills pass and was not even regarded as a Parliament by its c ...

. No record of his activity there has been preserved. By the end of the year, he was suffering from a dangerous illness and his death was rumored, providing Lord Norreys with an opportunity for reconciliation. However, they were not long composed, as they were quarreling again by the autumn of 1615. Peregine wrote to his brother Robert from court in 1615 mentioning George Villiers in

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

's play or masque, ''

Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists ''Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists at Court'' is a Jacobean-era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones. It was performed at Whitehall Palace on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1615. King James I liked it so much that he ordere ...

at Court'', where three women appeared in curious attires, who caught the attention of all, including the king. Pergrine said the married women at court were dressed in black. By this time, Peregrine had married Margaret (d. 1642), the daughter of

Sir Nicholas Saunderson, 1st Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

, by whom he had three sons, Robert, Peregrine, and Nicholas, and three daughters, Mildred (married

Robert Levinz Robert Levinz, Levens or Levinge (161518 July 1650), Royalist, was a son of William Levinz of Senkworth, near Abingdon, who carried on the business of a brewer at Oxford. His grandfather, William Levinz, was an alderman of Oxford, and five times ...

(d. 1650)), Sophia, and Elizabeth (married Francis Barnard). In 1619, he became a member of the Amazon Company (an attempt to colonize

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

), and was appointed a

gamekeeper A gamekeeper (often abbreviated to keeper), or in case of those dealing with deer (deer-)stalker, is a person who manages an area of countryside (e.g. areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland) to make sure there is enough game for shoo ...

of Ancaster heath. He volunteered to join the relief of the Palatinate led by

Sir Horace Vere Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury (1565 – 2 May 1635) (also ''Horatio Vere'' or ''Horatio de Vere'') was an English military leader during the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War, a brother of Francis Vere. He was sent to the P ...

in 1620, but did not actually go abroad; in the following year, he was made a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the

Parts of Lindsey The Parts of Lindsey are a traditional division of Lincolnshire, England, covering the northern part of the county. The Isle of Axholme, which is on the west side of the River Trent, has normally formed part of it. The district's name origina ...

. Bertie was appointed a commissioner for

recusants Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

in 1624. He and Lord Willoughby again went abroad that year to fight the Spanish in the Netherlands. In the following year, he was commissioned a major of foot, and was appointed to various commissions for land improvement in Lincolnshire (

Deeping Fen Deeping Fen is a low-lying area in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England, which covers approximately . It is bounded by the River Welland and the River Glen, and is extensively drained, but the efficient drainage of the land exerc ...

and the River Glen) while abroad. He was subsequently recalled and appointed a colonel of foot, commanding a regiment in the disastrous Île de Ré expedition. This was his last campaign; he afterwards returned to work on fen drainage, which would bring him into conflict with the

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nort ...

. Made a freeman of

Boston, Lincolnshire Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Boston is north of London, north-east of Peterborough, east of Nottingham, south-east of Lincoln, south-southeast of Hull ...

in 1634, he was appointed a commissioner of

swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

in 1635, and died of gout in 1639. He was buried on 13 November at

St Giles in the Fields St Giles in the Fields is the Anglican parish church of the St Giles district of London. It stands within the London Borough of Camden and belongs to the Diocese of London. The church, named for St Giles the Hermit, began as a monastery and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertie, Peregrine 1580s births 1639 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Knights of the Bath Members of the Middle Temple Peregrine English MPs 1614 English people of the Thirty Years' War