Sir Robert Peat (c. 1772 – 20 April 1837) was an
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
cleric and, according to some sources, the first Grand Prior of the revived English langue of the
Order of Saint John
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
.
Early life
Peat was born in
Hamsterley,
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly About North East E ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, the son of John Peat (died 1805), a watchmaker and silversmith, and Anne Heron (died 1778), of the Herons of
Chipchase Castle
Chipchase Castle is a 17th-century Jacobean mansion incorporating a substantial 14th-century pele tower, which stands north of Hadrian's Wall, near Wark on Tyne, between Bellingham and Hexham in Northumberland, England. It is a Scheduled Anc ...
. He was admitted to
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
as a
ten-year man
A ten-year man was a category of mature student at the University of Cambridge.
Under the University's statutes of 1570, a man over twenty-four could proceed to a Bachelor of Divinity, BD degree ten years after matriculation without first gaining ...
on 20 April 1790 and later received a
Doctor of Divinity
A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity.
In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...
degree from the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
in 1799.
On 21 November 1790, Peat was appointed to the
Order of Saint Stanislaus
The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...
by the
King of Poland
Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...
. His obituary says that he was appointed for services rendered to that king by a relative of Peat and his entry in the ''British Herald'' says that this was in connection to land willed to him by a John Vesey of
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
.
[''The British Herald'', 1830 Appendix PEA](_blank)
/ref> Peat's house was broken into on 25 October 1808 and papers relating to his Polish estates were reported stolen.
In 1804, Peat was permitted by King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
to accept and wear the order's insignias. Appearing in court in 1808 after being attacked outside of the Drury Lane theatre
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...
, the defence objected to calling Peat "Sir" as he had not been appointed to any order of knighthood in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. However, the Lord Chief Justice
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
, presiding, stated that knighthood was a "universal honour" and thus the appellation applied to him.
On August 8, 1816 he was admitted as a joining member of The Sea Captain’s Lodge, which later became Palatine Lodge No. 97, in Sunderland, having transferred from Felicity Lodge in London. On November 14, 1816 he was unanimously elected by the members to be the Worshipful Master of the Lodge but due to his absence was not installed as Worshipful Master.
Peat had also been a military chaplain
A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations.
Although the term ''cha ...
in the Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
.[''St John History, Proceedings of the St John Ambulance Historical Society of Australia, Volume 7, 2007-08''](_blank)
p.22-23 He was appointed a steward of Queen Charlotte's Lying-In Hospital in 1817, elected a fellow of the Medico-Botanical Society of London in 1830 and had married the author Lucy Clementina Davies
Lucy Clementina Davies (''née'' Drummond de Melfort; 21 November 1795 – 27 April 1879) was a French-born author of Scottish Jacobite ancestry, known as a writer by the publication in 1872 of her two-volume ''Recollections of Society in France ...
and Francis Henry Davies at St Marylebone Parish Church
St Marylebone Parish Church is an Anglican church on the Marylebone Road in London. It was built to the designs of Thomas Hardwick in 1813–17. The present site is the third used by the parish for its church. The first was further south, near Ox ...
in 1823.
Marriage and royal connections
William Reid Clanny
William Reid Clanny FRSE (1776 – 10 January 1850) was an Irish physician and inventor of a safety lamp.
Life
Clanny was born in Bangor, County Down, Kingdom of Ireland. He trained as a physician at Edinburgh, and served as an assistant surgeo ...
introduced Peat to the elderly and Catholic, Jane Smith (c. 1751-1842), a kinswoman of Maria Fitzherbert
Maria Anne Fitzherbert (''née'' Smythe, previously Weld; 26 July 1756 – 27 March 1837) was a longtime companion of George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV of the United Kingdom). In 1785, they secretly contracted a marriage that was i ...
. Jane had been the sole heiress to the County Durham estates of her father and lived at Herrington House, East Herrington, near 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 ...
. She was wealthy but is also described as eccentric, a miser
A miser is a person who is reluctant to spend, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities, in order to hoard money or other possessions. Although the word is sometimes used loosely to characterise anyone who ...
and a kleptomania
Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main cha ...
c.[Herrington Heritage - ''The Unsolved Murder''](_blank)
/ref>
Peat had been appointed as one of the many chaplains to the Prince Regent
A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...
in 1800. He wrote to the Private Secretary
A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family.
The role exists in t ...
in 1813 requesting an audience with the prince as he had never met him
Herrington Heritage
suggests Peat was supportive of a match with Jane in order to use her relationship (albeit distant) to the prince's unofficial wife, to further advance himself in royal favour. The source also suggests that Jane was taken with the idea of a title if she were to marry Peat.
Whatever their reasons, the couple were married on 6 November 1815 at St Michael's Church, Houghton-le-Spring
Houghton-le-Spring ( ) is a town in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, North East England which has its recorded origins in Norman times. Historically in County Durham, it is now administered as part of the Tyne and Wear county. It is s ...
. Peat had tried to introduce his wife to fashionable society in London, but as she was seemingly unfit for it, he returned her to Sunderland. He lived apart from her at his vicarage in New Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whic ...
and visited her just once a year.
Peat's other royal connections included being mentioned by Mary Anne Clarke
Mary Anne Clarke (born Mary Anne Thompson; 3 April 1776 – 21 June 1852) was the mistress of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany., retrieved 24 November 2018 Their relationship began in 1803, while he was Commander-in-Chief of the arm ...
(the mistress of the Duke of York
Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...
) at her public enquiry, as having attended the theatre with her one night, but he was not involved any further in the case. Peat was one of the stewards of the 49th birthday celebrations of the Duke of Kent
Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of peerage of Great Britain, Great Britain and the peerage of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, most recently as a Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom, royal dukedom ...
at Fishmongers' Hall
Fishmongers' Hall (sometimes shortened in common parlance to Fish Hall) is a listed building, Grade II* listed building adjacent to London Bridge. It is the headquarters of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, one of the 110 livery companies of ...
in 1816, but did not attend in person. He was also Deputy Grand Chaplain of the Orange Order
The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...
and present at a meeting alongside the Duke of Cumberland
Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland.
History
The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedo ...
.
Death and legacy
Peat died at the vicarage of St Lawrence's in New Brentford on 20 April 1837, aged 65, and his library was sold at Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
on 23 and 24 June. On hearing the news, his wife is said to have "bought a new dress of bright yellow cotton, and a bonnet, a feather, and ribbons to match" and walked the streets 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 ...
celebrating his death.[''The Monthly chronicle of North-country lore and legend'' (1887)](_blank)
/ref> She died in 1842, aged either 91 or 92.
Samuel Wesley
Samuel Wesley (24 February 1766 – 11 October 1837) was an English organist and composer in the late Georgian period. Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart (1756–1791) and was called by some "the English Mozart".Kassler, Michael & Olleson, Phi ...
(in a letter to Vincent Novello
Vincent Novello (6 September 17819 August 1861), was an English musician and music publisher born in London. He was a chorister and organist, but he is best known for bringing to England many works now considered standards, and with his son he cr ...
dated 1824) called Peat "an old Acquaintance, & I may even say Friend of mine. He is the Parson of Brentford, a good Scholar, a very feeling Lover of Music, a Man of superior Manners, & what we think better than all these, his Heart is warm and sincere". ''The Monthly chronicle of North-country lore and legend'' describes Peat as "a fine-looking little man, dressed in a coat and waistcoat that might have been made by a Stultz, a white necktie, knee breeches, and white silk stockings. He cut a good figure on horseback, being an expert rider." Moses Aaron Richardson
Moses Aaron Richardson (1793–1871) was an English publisher and antiquary.
Life
He was the younger son of George Richardson (d. 1806), master of Blackett's charity school, Newcastle; his elder brother was Thomas Miles Richardson
Thomas Mile ...
's ''The Borderer's table book'' (1846) describes him (from local papers) as "highly distinguished for his accomplished manners and gentle manly bearing, an excellent scholar, and a warm and devoted friend."[''The Borderer's table book''](_blank)
1846, pages 350-1
However William Benbow
William Benbow (1787 – 1864) was a Nonconformist (Protestantism), nonconformist preacher, pamphleteer, pornographer and publisher, and a prominent figure of the Radicalism (historical), Reform Movement in Manchester and London. 's ultra-radical and anti-clericalist pamphlet ''The crimes of the clergy'' (1823) accuses him of being "proud, tyrannical, and overbearing", arrogant and a liar.''The crimes of the clergy'' (1823)
pages 127-129''
Arms
References
External links
''Catalogue of the library of the late Rev. Sir Robert Peat, D.D. vicar of New Brentford, Middlesex...''
Sotheby & Co., 1837
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peat, Robert
Masonic Grand Masters
18th-century English Anglican priests
19th-century English Anglican priests
1770s births
1837 deaths