Hon. Edward Robert Petre of Stapleton Park (28 September 1794 – 8 June 1848) was an English horse racer and politician.

Early life

Petre was born on 28 September 1794 and came from an old, and prominent,

English Catholic The Catholic Church in England and Wales ( la, Ecclesia Catholica in Anglia et Cambria; cy, Yr Eglwys Gatholig yng Nghymru a Lloegr) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. Its origins date from the 6th ce ...

family, based at Writtle Park in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He was the third, but second surviving son of Robert Edward Petre, 9th Baron Petre (1742–1801), whose peerage dated from 1603. His mother was Petre's second wife, the former Juliana Barbara Howard, who was 27 years younger than his father. Upon his father’s death in 1801, his mother was appointed his guardian. His sister, Hon. Julia Maria Petre, was the wife of Sir Samuel Brooke-Pechell, 3rd Baronet. His father’s first wife, Anne Howard, was a niece of Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk and his elder half-brother,

Robert Edward Petre, 10th Baron Petre Robert Edward Petre, 10th Baron Petre (3 September 1763 – 29 March 1809) was a British peer, the son of Robert Edward Petre, 9th Baron Petre (1742–1801) and his first wife, Anne Howard (1742–1787). On 14 February 1786, in London, Lord Pe ...

, married Mary Bridget Howard, Edward's maternal aunt. Both Edward's aunt Mary and his mother Juliana were sisters of Bernard Howard, who succeeded to the title of 12th Duke of Norfolk in 1815 upon the death of their cousin, Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk. Edward's nephew

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

became the 11th

Baron Petre Baron Petre (), of Writtle, in the County of Essex, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1603 for Sir John Petre. His family has since been associated with the county of Essex. He represented Essex in parliament and served ...

in 1809. His paternal grandparents were

Robert Petre, 8th Baron Petre Robert James Petre, 8th Baron Petre (3 June 1713 – 2 July 1742) was a renowned horticulturist and a British peer. Petre was responsible in the late 1730s for the layout of the gardens at Worksop Manor in Nottinghamshire. He was also responsib ...

, a renowned

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, and Lady Henrietta Anna Mary Barbara Radclyffe (daughter of the 3rd Earl of Derwentwater, who was the grandson of King Charles II by his mistress Moll Davis). His maternal grandparents were Juliana (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Molyneux) Howard and Henry Howard of Glossop, a descendant of Henry Frederick Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel).

Career

Petre, who was described by the English wit Sydney Smith as "a sensible, good looking, pleasing man", was a leading figure on the Turf, and kept a stable with Rodes Milnes (uncle of

Richard Monckton Milnes Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, FRS (19 June 1809 – 11 August 1885) was an English poet, patron of literature and a politician who strongly supported social justice. Background and education Milnes was born in London, the son of ...

), winning the St Leger Stakes five times between 1822 and 1830. In 1827, he won £15,000 at a race and celebrated his win with a "grand ball" at Stapleton Park, a mansion designed by

John Carr John Carr may refer to: Politicians *John Carr (Indiana politician) (1793–1845), American politician from Indiana *John Carr (Australian politician, born 1819) (1819–1913), member of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1865–1884 * John H ...

. His elder half-brother had inherited the house upon their father's death in 1801 and Edward took possession around 1816. He built a private racecourse in the southwest part of his estate and, in 1822, he started the Stapleton Races. Petre also commissioned

John Frederick Herring John Frederick Herring Sr. (12 September 1795 – 23 September 1865), also known as John Frederick Herring I, was a painter, sign maker and coachman in Victorian England.

Political career

He became an alderman of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in 1829 and, from 1830 to 1831, Petre served as Sheriff of Yorkshire, and the Lord Mayor of

. He was the first Catholic sheriff to be appointed after emancipation, as

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

stated Petre was a "good fellow ... he had had some concerns with him in racing and he did not mind him." In

1831 Events January–March * January 1 – William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing '' The Liberator'', an anti-slavery newspaper, in Boston, Massachusetts. * January 10 – Japanese department store, Takashimaya in Kyoto establ ...

, Petre was returned, unopposed, for Ilchester on Lord Cleveland's interest to succeed Michael Bruce. While in the House, he voted "to punish only those guilty of bribery at the Dublin election and against the censure motion on the Irish administration." On 21 November 1831, he became a member of the Maldon Independent Club, the principal organization of the Essex Whigs. Ilchester was disfranchised by the

Reform Act In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is most commonly used for legislation passed in the 19th century and early 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

of 1832, but Petre renewed his connection with

, where he was returned at the general election of 1832 to succeed Hon. Thomas Dundas. He sat until his retirement in 1834 as a reformer and supporter of the Whig administration and "advocated ‘free trade ... the immediate abolition of slavery, the substitution of a property for the house and window tax, and the abolition of all monopolies" He stood, unsuccessfully, as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

at Bridport in 1847.

Personal life

On 21 July 1829, Petre was married to the Hon. Laura Maria Stafford-Jerningham (1811–1886), a daughter of George Stafford-Jerningham, 8th Baron Stafford and, his first wife, Frances Henrietta Sulyarde (youngest daughter and co-heiress of Edward Sulyarde of Haughley Hall). Among her siblings were

Henry Stafford-Jerningham, 9th Baron Stafford Henry Valentine Stafford-Jerningham, 9th Baron Stafford DL (2 January 1802 – 30 November 1884), known as Henry Jerningham until 1824 and styled The Honourable Henry Stafford-Jerningham between 1824 and 1851, was a British peer and politician ...

, the Hon. Sir George Stafford-Jerningham (who served as the British Minister to Sweden), the Hon. William Stafford-Jerningham (who served as the British Minister Resident at Lima in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

). In 1838, Petre sold Stapleton Park to John Watson Barton of Saxby Hall, who had previously rented the property, and it was where one of his daughters was born in 1835. The Hall remained in the Barton family until 1919 when it was sold again, before it was demolished in 1958 and the estate sold in divided lots. Petre died on 8 June 1848 and left all his property to his wife, apart from a few small bequests mainly to Catholic charities.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petre, Edward Robert 1794 births 1848 deaths English Roman Catholics Edward Robert Lord Mayors of York High Sheriffs of Yorkshire UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Younger sons of barons