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William Henry Francis, 11th Baron Petre (22 January 1793 – 3 July 1850) was an English nobleman, based 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 first
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 ...
to take his seat in 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 ...
after the passing of the
Catholic Relief Act 1829
The Catholic Relief Act 1829, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1829. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic emancipation throughout the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
.
Family
He was a son of
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 ...
of
Ingatestone Hall
Ingatestone Hall is a Grade I listed 16th-century manor house in Essex, England. It is located outside the village of Ingatestone, approximately south west of Chelmsford and north east of London. The house was built by Sir William Petre, and ...
and Mary Bridget Howard. His mother was a sister of
Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk.
Horseman and hunter
Petre was a passionate horseman and maintained, and was master of, his own pack of
foxhound
A foxhound is a Dog type, type of large hunting hound bred for strong hunting instincts, a keen sense of smell, and their bark, energy, drive, and speed. In fox hunting, the foxhound's namesake, packs of foxhounds track quarry, followed—usuall ...
s (1822–1839) known as the "Thorndon Hunt", from which the Essex Union Hunt subsequently developed. He also constructed a racecourse at Oxney Green, near
Writtle
The village and civil parish of Writtle lies west of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It has a traditional village green complete with duck pond and a Norman church, and was once described as "one of the loveliest villages in England, with a ravis ...
. It is said that following the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
, Petre acquired
Marengo, the grey
Arabian horse
The Arabian or Arab horse ( ar, الحصان العربي , DIN 31635, DMG ''ḥiṣān ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is ...
of
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
Keen on hunting he also created, at Thorndon Park, a mixed herd of up to 2,000
fallow deer
''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer.
Name
The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes, ...
and
red deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...
which subsequently formed the basis not only of the present
Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood is a town in the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the East of England. It is in the London commuter belt, situated 20 miles (30 km) east-north-east of Charing Cross and close by the M25 motorway. In 2017, the popula ...
herd but also the entire deer population of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
Marriage and children
On 2 June 1815, Petre married his first wife Frances Charlotte Bedingfeld (19 April 1796 – 29 January 1822
Thorndon Hall
Thorndon Hall is a Georgian Palladian country house within Thorndon Park, Ingrave, Essex, England, approximately two miles south of Brentwood and from central London.
Formerly the country seat of the Petre family who now reside at nearby In ...
), daughter of
Sir Richard Bedingfeld, 5th 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 ...
and his wife Charlotte Georgiana Jerningham. Her maternal grandparents were
Sir William Jerningham, 6th 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 ...
and Frances Dillon. The senior Frances was a daughter of
Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon
Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon (1705–1787) was an Irish peer and a soldier in French service. He was the colonel proprietor of Dillon's Regiment, an Irish regiment of foot in French service, in 1741–1744 and again in 1747–1767. In th ...
and Lady Charlotte Lee. The senior Charlotte was a daughter of
George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield
George Henry Lee I, 2nd Earl of Lichfield (1690–1743) was a younger son of Edward Henry Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield and his wife Charlotte Fitzroy, an illegitimate daughter of Charles II by his mistress, the celebrated courtesan Barbara Vi ...
and Frances Hales. The eldest Frances was a daughter of
Sir John Hales, 4th Baronet.
Frances, nicknamed "Fanny", became a letter writer of brilliant vividness. They had four children. Frances died in childbirth.
*
William Bernard Petre, 12th Baron Petre
William Bernard, 12th Baron Petre (20 December 1817 – 4 July 1884) "a pattern of charity and piety", was an enthusiastic builder of churches. To a greater or lesser extent, he was responsible for new churches in Brentwood, Chipping Ongar, Bark ...
(20 December 1817 – 4 July 1884).
*Mary Agness Petre (1818 – 22 August 1886). Married James Alexander Douglas.
*
Henry William Petre
Henry William Petre (1820 – 3 December 1889) was colonial treasurer of New Munster Province. He was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council from 31 December 1853 to 6 November 1860, when he was disqualified for absence.
He was one of t ...
(23 January 1820 – 3 December 1889). Member of the
New Zealand Legislative Council
The New Zealand Legislative Council was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of legislative councils for the colony and provinces existed from 1841 when New Zealand became a co ...
and father of
Francis Petre
Francis William Petre (27 August 1847 – 10 December 1918), sometimes known as Frank Petre, was a New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an able exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zea ...
.
*Charlotte Elizabeth Petre
(29 January 1822 – 31 October 1903). Married her first cousin, Captain Charles Edward Petre. He was a son of Charles Berney Petre, a younger brother of the 11th Baron.
On 14 April 1823, Petre married his second wife Emma Agnes Howard (5 November 1803 – 10 February 1861 London). She was a daughter of
Henry Howard of
Corby Castle
Corby Castle is an ancestral home of the Howard family situated on the southern edge of the village of Great Corby in northern Cumbria, England.
History
It was originally built in the 13th century, as a red sandstone tower house by the Salkeld ...
and his second wife Catherine Mary Neave. Her paternal grandparents were Philip Howard and Ann Witham. Philip was a son of Thomas Howard and Barbara Musgrave. Thomas was a son of William Howard and Jane Dalston. William was a son of Sir Francis Howard and Margeret Preston.
Sir Francis was a son of Lord William Howard and Elizabeth Dacre. His paternal grandparents were
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, (Kenninghall, Norfolk, 10 March 1536Tower Hill, London, 2 June 1572) was an English nobleman and politician. Although from a family with strong Roman Catholic leanings, he was raised a Protestant. He was a ...
and his second wife
Margaret Audley. His maternal grandparents were
Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre
Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre of Gilsland, 8th Baron Greystoke (''ca.'' 1527 – 1 July 1566) was an English Member of Parliament and after his father's death a peer and major landowner in the counties of Cumberland, Yorkshire and Northumberla ...
and Elizabeth Leyburne.
Petre and Emma had eight children, including;
*Frederick Charles Edmund Petre
(22 December 1824 – 18 June 1906).
*Agnes Catherine Louisa Petre (29 January 1826 – 25 May 1891). Married
Charles Clifford, 8th Baron Clifford of Chudleigh.
*Arthur Charles Augustus Petre
(29 March 1827 – 4 November 1882). Married Lady Katherine Howard, a daughter of
William Howard, 4th Earl of Wicklow
William Howard, 4th Earl of Wicklow KP (13 February 1788 – 22 March 1869) was an Anglo-Irish peer, styled Lord Clonmore from 1815 to 1818.
He was the eldest son of William Howard, 3rd Earl of Wicklow and Eleanor Caulfeild. He became Earl o ...
.
*Edmund George Petre
(23 June 1829 – 1 September 1889), father of
Francis Loraine Petre
Francis Loraine Petre (22 February 1852 – 6 May 1925) was a British civil servant in India and a military historian upon his retirement. He wrote a two-volume regimental history of the Norfolk Regiment, but is best known for his works on the ...
, the
military historian.
*Albert Henry Petre
(15 March 1832 – 5 April 1917). Married Katherine Elsie Clark, a daughter of
William Robinson Clark
William Robinson Clark (26 March 1829 – 12 November 1912) was a Scottish-Canadian theologian.
Biography
Clark was born in Daviot, Aberdeenshire, son of Rev. James Clark. Originally educated for the Congregationalist ministry at New Co ...
.
Ginge Petre Charity
Restoration
On 29 September 1832, George Edward Last arrived at
Ingatestone Hall
Ingatestone Hall is a Grade I listed 16th-century manor house in Essex, England. It is located outside the village of Ingatestone, approximately south west of Chelmsford and north east of London. The house was built by Sir William Petre, and ...
in a post-chaise from
St. Edmund's College, Ware to replace John Law, who had contracted
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
whilst visiting London earlier in the month. He took charge of the Ingatestone Mission, at that time one of seven 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 ...
, and one of his initial concerns was to restore the Ginge Petre Charity to its original
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
purpose.
Last achieved this in 1835, just six years after
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
, and was supported by William. A stern but benevolent figure, Lord Petre devoted much of his time to the welfare of his tenants in Essex, and was a generous benefactor of the Church in the county. With his encouragement, Last recovered the administration and became the Priest-Treasurer and Governor of the restored Charity. E.E. Wilde recalled his efforts in her ''Ingatestone and the Great Essex Road'' (1913):
''"Canon Last, a young, vigorous and popular man, … with the support of Lord Petre, … asserted the right of the Roman Catholics to enjoy the benefit of the Ginge Petre Charity, of which they had been deprived for so many years"''.
Relocation
During the 1830s, whilst Last was working for the restoration of the Charity, the construction of the railway began. As the railway neared Ingatestone, in 1838, the Charity ground in Stock Lane was endangered. The railway company would require part of the property for the excavation of a cutting and some of the buildings would have to be pulled down.
A new site for the newly restored Charity almshouses was thus required. The buildings in Stock Lane were sold to the railway company, although two cottages remain to this day next to the railway bridge in Stock Lane. Land was acquired adjoining the High Road in the village for new
almshouse
An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...
s, and Lord Petre and Last also proposed to build a new public church nearby. However, because Last was engaged in raising funds for the new church at
Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood is a town in the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the East of England. It is in the London commuter belt, situated 20 miles (30 km) east-north-east of Charing Cross and close by the M25 motorway. In 2017, the popula ...
, the Ingatestone church did not materialise until a century later.
The new almshouses in the village were built along three sides of a square, with a small chapel in the centre, facing the road. Twelve single-storey dwellings were constructed in
Tudorbethan style of red and white brick, each with a living room, bedroom and scullery.
Administration
New sets of rules, founded upon the original ones of Sir William Petre, were drawn up. The 11th Lord Petre sealed them on 2 November 1840, witnessed by George Shaw and Joseph Coverdale, Lord Petre's land agent and the coroner for the district of Writtle, resident at Ingatestone Hall.
There were to be two male and five female residents provided for out of the restored Charity, each in receipt of a small pension. In addition, there were to be two female and one male supernumeraries. However, the male pensioners were to lose their
Freeholder status. The ten pensions from the Ginge Petre endowment were subsequently supplemented by a further two from the Thorndon estate, drawn from a sum bequeathed for that purpose by Lady Emma Petre (1803–1861), the second wife of the 11th Baron. Another endowment, £50 from Miss Hannah Raynor (died 1806) was paid from Thorndon too.
Lord Petre financed his own contribution to the reconstruction and maintenance of the restored almshouses from private sources and from the sum received in compensation from the railway company. The latter body also contributed £965 towards the new almshouses, with £360 of the principal compensatory sum added thereto.
The Ginge Petre Charity was registered with the
Charity Commission
, type = Non-ministerial government department
, seal =
, seal_caption =
, logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg
, logo_caption =
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, ...
as a
body corporate, comprising Lord Petre, the Priest-Treasurer and Governor (viz. Last) and the seven statutory pensioners. The beneficiaries of the Charity were to be baptised and practising Catholics. Lord Petre was to appoint the pensioners himself, on the recommendation of the Priest-Governor. Preference was given to applicants residing in parishes upon the Petre estates, if suitable. They were to be either unmarried or widowed, above the age of 40, and content to live chaste lives. Pensioners were liable to dismissal for bad behaviour. Moreover, religious observance was required: the pensioners were to attend all the services held in their own chapel.
Last’s notebooks from the 1850s and 1860s indicate that he celebrated
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
there once each week. The pensioners (or "inmates" as they were often referred to) were also required to say their prayers upon rising and retiring, and to care for each other when sick –a duty that a future incumbent of Ingatestone, Roderick Grant (1860–1934), feared was "sometimes more honoured in the breach than the observance".
The pensioners were forbidden visitors overnight except in the case of illness. The able-bodied pensioners were to recite prayers after each Mass for the repose of the soul of deceased benefactors. The priest-Treasurer and Governor, in addition to being expected to celebrate Mass in the Alms Row chapel at least once monthly, was also required to supervise the keeping of the Charity Rules by the pensioners. He was also to pay the latter their monthly allowance of 5s (later raised to the original sum of 6s 8d), their annual wood allowance of 24s, and a sum of 12s for their livery. Last's account books are now kept amongst the Petre archives in the Essex Record Office. They provide a detailed insight into the administration of the Charity.
Together with the appointed pensioners, the Governor was to be the absolute owner of the Charity land and property, with Lord Petre as patron, reserving to himself and his heirs the right to make new rules for the government of the foundation, or to alter or amend existing regulations. For administrative purposes, there was also to be an annual meeting of the Charity, which all the pensioners were to attend. At this meeting leases were to be taken out or renewed, the rules were to be read, and the accounts were to be produced for examination, endorsement and sealing.
Railways
It was during William's lifetime that the railways developed and he proved a stubborn negotiator in his dealings with the
Eastern Counties Railway
The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth.
Construction began in 1837 on the first nine miles at the Lond ...
over the Brentwood to Chelmsford stretch of line. During the 1830s, plans were drawn up for the construction of a railway line eastwards from London through Essex. The new railway proposals required Parliamentary approval, but encountered strong objections, and claims for compensation, from Lord Petre, a major landowner along the projected route.
In the House of Lords, he resisted the Act of Parliament the Company needed to precede until they agreed to pay him six times the compensation originally offered. Lord Petre feared that the railway would divide his estates, passing as it would through Ingatestone itself. He suggested that the line should pass further northwards, nearer to Writtle. He also expressed concern with regard to the effects of the inevitable influx of railway
navvies
Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and ea ...
: the latter, many of them from Ireland, had a fearsome reputation, and Essex, as yet, without a modern police force. A legal dispute ensued, but Lord Petre eventually withdrew his opposition to the planned route. Royal Assent was granted to the Eastern Counties Railway Company's bill.
However, a fresh dispute began as Lord Petre protested at the inadequate sum awarded to him as compensation for the loss of agricultural land. Construction workers were ordered from his estates. Lord Petre sought a sum of £20,000 for the land required by the railway company, and a payment of a further £100,000 in compensation. The Eastern Counties Railway Company protested at the latter claim, insisting that a panel of surveyors had considered £20,000 a fair total (over £1 million today). The dispute persisted, but after a period of deadlock, Lord Petre won his case and the railway company paid him six times the compensation originally offered. The money was invested in an agricultural estate in the Dengie Peninsula but with the onset of the
agricultural depression of the 1880s, the investment proved disastrous.
The construction from London eastwards began in 1838, but it became apparent the Charity ground in Stock Lane was endangered, as the railway company would require part of the property for the excavation of a cutting. Some of the buildings would have to be pulled down, the original almshouses were then moved and it was here that the first station at Ingatestone was situated, approached from the road by a flight of steps. The Brentwood to Chelmsford section of the railway was completed by 1841. The line eventually reached
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
in 1843.
Colonization
William had 12 children and 56 grandchildren. His two eldest sons alone (William and Henry) had 29 children between them. He was a strong supporter of overseas colonisation – he was wont to say that, with so many children, he could not be otherwise. Frederick and three of his brothers went to the United States while their elder brother, Henry, joined the first expedition of settlers to
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. Henry's son,
Francis Petre
Francis William Petre (27 August 1847 – 10 December 1918), sometimes known as Frank Petre, was a New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an able exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zea ...
, was a leading architect who designed the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament (Christchurch, New Zealand).
Frederick Charles Edmund Petre (1824–1906) was William's 3rd son and Agnes Louisa Catherine Petre (1826–1891) who later became Lady Clifford was his third daughter. In addition, by his second wife, he had Edmund George Petre, (1829–1889). In 1845, Mary Agnes Petre (1816 – ) later married to Mr Douglas, took an inventory of the pictures at Thorndon Hall, the book is divided into a number of sections, each executed in a different style of illumination.
His tenth son, Edmund, was a stockbroker and the father of
Francis Loraine Petre
Francis Loraine Petre (22 February 1852 – 6 May 1925) was a British civil servant in India and a military historian upon his retirement. He wrote a two-volume regimental history of the Norfolk Regiment, but is best known for his works on the ...
, an Indian Civil Servant. Upon retirement, F. Loraine Petre wrote several regimental histories, and five books on the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
.
[ F. Loraine Petre (obituary). '']The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', Monday, 11 May 1925; pg. 8; Issue 43958; col C.
References
External links
His profile in Peerage.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petre, William Petre, 11th Baron
1793 births
1850 deaths
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 ...
Fellows of the Royal Society
British Roman Catholics
11