Peregrine Bertie (?1723 – 28 December 1786) was a Tory Member of Parliament. Member of a junior branch of the Bertie family seated at his mother's estate of Low Leyton,

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 Grea ...

, he was returned for Westbury from 1753 to 1774 by the senior branch of the family, the

Earls of Abingdon Earl of Abingdon is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 30 November 1682 for James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys of Rycote. He was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey by his second marriage to Bridget, 4th Barones ...

, where he was in continuous opposition to the successive Whig administrations.

Family and education

This branch of the Bertie family originated with Sir Peregrine Bertie (c.1584–1639), younger son of

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 ...

. Sir Peregrine was succeeded by his son Nicholas (d. 1671/2), of

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

, who was followed by his son Peregrine Bertie (d. 1721), of

Long Sutton, Lincolnshire Long Sutton is a market town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies in The Fens, close to the Wash, east of Spalding. History Long Sutton belonged historically to the wapentake of Elloe in the Parts of Holland. A ...

. His son was Peregrine Bertie (d. 1743), a barrister, who in 1720 married Elizabeth, daughter of John Hungerford and widow of John Fisher. She inherited the estate of Low Leyton, Essex from her first husband. Their son, Peregrine Bertie, entered 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 ...

on 29 February 1739/40, and matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford on 12 December 1740 at the age of 17. Upon his father's death in 1743, he succeeded to the family estates. Bertie was awarded his MA on 31 January 1744/5 and was called to the bar on 3 May 1745. On 18 October 1753 at All Saints, Little Billing, Northamptonshire, by licence, he married Catherine (died 2 July 1770), the daughter of Richard Backwell. By her he had two sons and four daughters, of whom three daughters survived him: *Peregrine Bertie *Richard Bertie *Catherine Dorothy Bertie (d. 23 January 1823), married Thomas Hoar, subsequently Bertie, in 1788, without issue *Elizabeth Bertie, married Ralph Hoar, brother of Thomas, in 1788, without issue *Mary Bertie, married Samuel Lichigaray (1751–1812) in 1782 *Frances Bertie After Catherine's death, on 16 September 1771, Bertie married Elizabeth Peart, sister-in-law of Lord George Manners-Sutton, but had by her no children.

Politics

Bertie's fourth cousin, the 3rd Earl of Abingdon, a Tory, had a strong electoral interest in Westbury. However, the borough was regularly contested on behalf of the Whig Government, and Bertie's candidates, victorious in the 1747 election, were unseated by an

election petition An election petition refers to the procedure for challenging the result of a Parliamentary election. Outcomes When a petition is lodged against an election return, there are 4 possible outcomes: # The election is declared void. The result is q ...

in 1748 and replaced by the Government supporters. The death of one of these, Matthew Michell, in 1753, allowed Abingdon to return Bertie for Westbury in the Tory interest. Bertie voted with the opposition against the propriety of

general warrant A writ of assistance is a written order (a writ) issued by a court instructing a law enforcement official, such as a sheriff or a tax collector, to perform a certain task. Historically, several types of writs have been called "writs of assistance ...

s in February 1764. The

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle ...

thought him an ally, but after the fall of the

Grenville Ministry The Grenville ministry was a British Government headed by George Grenville which served between 16 April 1763 and 13 July 1765. It was formed after the previous Prime Minister, the Earl of Bute, had resigned following fierce criticism of his sign ...

, he was not supportive of the

first Rockingham Ministry The first Rockingham ministry was a British ministry headed by the Marquess of Rockingham from 1765 to 1766 during the reign of King George III. The government was made up mainly of his followers known as the Rockingham Whigs. The most influenti ...

and opposed the repeal of the Stamp Act. He continued in opposition to the

Chatham Ministry The Chatham ministry was a British government led by William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham that ruled between 1766 and 1768. Because of Pitt's former prominence before his title, it is sometimes referred to as the Pitt ministry. Unusually for a poli ...

, standing down from Parliament in 1774. No speeches in the House of Commons on his part are known.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertie, Peregrine 1720s births 1786 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Tory MPs (pre-1834) British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 Peregrine Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies