John Petre, 1st Baron Petre
Encyclopedia
John Petre, 1st Baron Petre (20 December 1549 – 11 October 1613) was an English
peer
.
by his second wife Anne, daughter of William Browne. A talented amateur musician, he kept a full set of musical instruments (lute
, five viol
s, virginals
and organ) and was a patron of the composer William Byrd
, a fellow catholic who lived at nearby Stondon Massey. On several occasions, Byrd brought a group of musicians to Ingatestone to entertain at Christmas and dedicated a collection of his Graduale settings to Lord Petre. John Petre was not endowed with the ability of his father and a much less forceful character but being a diligent landowner, public figure and a competent musician along with his great possessions and his father’s fame served him well. We know little more about him. Like his descendants, he was a Roman Catholic, but he must have kept his religious opinions in the background, or James would hardly have made him a peer.
In 1570, he married Mary ( – 02/08/1604), eldest daughter of Sir Edward ‘Walgrave’ (or Waldegrave) of Borley. By the time of her marriage, Mary was fatherless and poor but gave her parents-in-law ‘much joy in his choice’. She left four sons, of whom the eldest, William, 2nd Lord Petre, was father of William Petre (1602–1677). He probably erected the beautiful recumbent tomb of Sir William, and is himself commemorated by the magnificent one in the north chapel, now the vestry.
When Sir William had died in 1572, his widow continued to reside at Ingatestone Hall and so John and wife Mary Waldegrave, then resident at Writtle Park, looked for another property to suit their status. In 1574, John added West Thorndon Hall and a further 12000 acres (48.6 km²) to the family estate, which became the principal seat of the family.
He became a Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Essex, 1575–1603 and was knighted, in 1576, by Elizabeth after his father’s death. There were no baronetcies at that time as they were created by James I as a means of raising money. The domestic papers of Queen Elizabeth’s time not infrequently notice Sir John. To maintain national unity Elizabeth had appointed some of her most loyal Catholic gentry to offices, he was MP for Essex in 1585–1586 apparently by the direction of the Privy Council and was appointed as JP, Sheriff (1575), and sat as a Member of Parliament
for Essex
from 1584 to 1587 and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Essex
. In 1603 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Petre, of Writtle in the County of Essex. He publicly acknowledged that he was a Roman Catholic and his descendants have remained loyal to Catholicism ever since.
In 1589 his father’s friend, William Cecil
, now Lord Burghley, writes to the Deputy Lieutenants of Essex that he has appointed three gentlemen to be captains of the ‘600 foot formerly entrusted to Sir J. Petre’.
The year 1590 finds these foot soldiers trained and in readiness, but the Deputy Lieutenants reports to Lord Burghley that the horse are not ready; they have provided sufficient powder, and assure him that the observances of Lent have in all things been confirmed. This was just after the Spanish Armada, and the county still lived in fear of invasion. The same year found John Petre joined with Sir Thomas Mildmay investigating the grievance of the mariners, gunners, fishermen, and other sea-faring men within the county, who complained they were kept from their ordinary occupation by being constrained to attend at three hours’ warning for Navy service.
The portraits of John and Mary thought to be by Marcus Gheeraerts
in 1590 are colourful and relaxed showing fashionable changes in costume. John wears a white ruff over a lace collar, embroidered doublet, the full breeches, bobbed hair, moustache and slight beard and, in the fashion of the time, the minute patch of hair below the bottom lip. It is unfortunately much restored after the fire at Thorndon Hall. His wife is equally in fashion-–the cartwheel-topped skirt, the full upper sleeves and a variation of ruff open in front to show the neck, a delicate silver tiara and the splendid necklace of pearls, 1466 in all. These pictures are now thought to be his son and daughter-in-law.
In 1600, Sir John installed his newly married son in Ingatestone Hall, to gain experience in the ‘government’ of a house, and the in-going inventory gives a vivid picture of it within a generation of the builder’s death.
On the accession of James I, the Scotsman found himself short of money, and his predecessors having disposed of all the Abbey and Church lands, he ingeniously started selling peerages. Eight years later James created baronetcies, and sold them instead of the peerages. By 1615, James was selling peerages at £100,000 each, just over £11 million today).
John Petre’s vast properties and position in the county would have justified James I elevating him to the peerage which he was in the accession honours on 21 July 1603 and thus created Baron Petre of Writtle. But we can be reasonably sure that John’s ennoblement was for more honourable reasons, as J.P., High Sheriff, Deputy Lieutenant, Knight of the Shire and militia commander, he was a loyal servant of the Crown.
He died at West Horndon, Essex on 11 October 1613, and was buried in Ingatestone Church, leaving three sons and one daughter. He augmented his father’s benefactions to Exeter College, contributed £951 to the Virginia Company, and became a Roman Catholic. Exeter College published in his honour a thin quarto entitled ‘Threni Exoniensium in obitum … D. Johannis Petrei, Baronis de Writtle’, Oxford, 1613. He was succeeded in the barony by his son William.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
peer
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
.
Biography
John was the only surviving son of the statesman Sir William PetreWilliam Petre
Sir William Petre was a secretary of state to Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.Educated as a lawyer at Oxford, he became a public servant, probably through the influence of the Boleyns, one of whom, George, he had tutored at Oxford and another of whom, Anne, was married to the king...
by his second wife Anne, daughter of William Browne. A talented amateur musician, he kept a full set of musical instruments (lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
, five viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
s, virginals
Virginals
The virginals or virginal is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family...
and organ) and was a patron of the composer William Byrd
William Byrd
William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.-Provenance:Knowledge of Byrd's biography expanded in the late 20th century, thanks largely...
, a fellow catholic who lived at nearby Stondon Massey. On several occasions, Byrd brought a group of musicians to Ingatestone to entertain at Christmas and dedicated a collection of his Graduale settings to Lord Petre. John Petre was not endowed with the ability of his father and a much less forceful character but being a diligent landowner, public figure and a competent musician along with his great possessions and his father’s fame served him well. We know little more about him. Like his descendants, he was a Roman Catholic, but he must have kept his religious opinions in the background, or James would hardly have made him a peer.
In 1570, he married Mary ( – 02/08/1604), eldest daughter of Sir Edward ‘Walgrave’ (or Waldegrave) of Borley. By the time of her marriage, Mary was fatherless and poor but gave her parents-in-law ‘much joy in his choice’. She left four sons, of whom the eldest, William, 2nd Lord Petre, was father of William Petre (1602–1677). He probably erected the beautiful recumbent tomb of Sir William, and is himself commemorated by the magnificent one in the north chapel, now the vestry.
When Sir William had died in 1572, his widow continued to reside at Ingatestone Hall and so John and wife Mary Waldegrave, then resident at Writtle Park, looked for another property to suit their status. In 1574, John added West Thorndon Hall and a further 12000 acres (48.6 km²) to the family estate, which became the principal seat of the family.
He became a Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Essex, 1575–1603 and was knighted, in 1576, by Elizabeth after his father’s death. There were no baronetcies at that time as they were created by James I as a means of raising money. The domestic papers of Queen Elizabeth’s time not infrequently notice Sir John. To maintain national unity Elizabeth had appointed some of her most loyal Catholic gentry to offices, he was MP for Essex in 1585–1586 apparently by the direction of the Privy Council and was appointed as JP, Sheriff (1575), and sat as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Essex
Essex (UK Parliament constituency)
Essex was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1290 until 1832. It elected two MPs, traditionally referred to as Knights of the Shire, to the House of Commons...
from 1584 to 1587 and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Essex
Lord Lieutenant of Essex
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Essex. Since 1688, all the Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Essex.*John Petre, 1st Baron Petre*John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford 1558–?...
. In 1603 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Petre, of Writtle in the County of Essex. He publicly acknowledged that he was a Roman Catholic and his descendants have remained loyal to Catholicism ever since.
In 1589 his father’s friend, William Cecil
William Cecil
William Cecil may refer to:* Lord William Cecil , British royal courtier* William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , English politician and advisor to Elizabeth I* William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter , Knight of the Garter...
, now Lord Burghley, writes to the Deputy Lieutenants of Essex that he has appointed three gentlemen to be captains of the ‘600 foot formerly entrusted to Sir J. Petre’.
The year 1590 finds these foot soldiers trained and in readiness, but the Deputy Lieutenants reports to Lord Burghley that the horse are not ready; they have provided sufficient powder, and assure him that the observances of Lent have in all things been confirmed. This was just after the Spanish Armada, and the county still lived in fear of invasion. The same year found John Petre joined with Sir Thomas Mildmay investigating the grievance of the mariners, gunners, fishermen, and other sea-faring men within the county, who complained they were kept from their ordinary occupation by being constrained to attend at three hours’ warning for Navy service.
The portraits of John and Mary thought to be by Marcus Gheeraerts
Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder
Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder was a Flemish printmaker and painter associated with the English court of the mid-16th Century and mainly remembered as the illustrator of the 1567 edition of Aesop's Fables.-Biography:...
in 1590 are colourful and relaxed showing fashionable changes in costume. John wears a white ruff over a lace collar, embroidered doublet, the full breeches, bobbed hair, moustache and slight beard and, in the fashion of the time, the minute patch of hair below the bottom lip. It is unfortunately much restored after the fire at Thorndon Hall. His wife is equally in fashion-–the cartwheel-topped skirt, the full upper sleeves and a variation of ruff open in front to show the neck, a delicate silver tiara and the splendid necklace of pearls, 1466 in all. These pictures are now thought to be his son and daughter-in-law.
In 1600, Sir John installed his newly married son in Ingatestone Hall, to gain experience in the ‘government’ of a house, and the in-going inventory gives a vivid picture of it within a generation of the builder’s death.
On the accession of James I, the Scotsman found himself short of money, and his predecessors having disposed of all the Abbey and Church lands, he ingeniously started selling peerages. Eight years later James created baronetcies, and sold them instead of the peerages. By 1615, James was selling peerages at £100,000 each, just over £11 million today).
John Petre’s vast properties and position in the county would have justified James I elevating him to the peerage which he was in the accession honours on 21 July 1603 and thus created Baron Petre of Writtle. But we can be reasonably sure that John’s ennoblement was for more honourable reasons, as J.P., High Sheriff, Deputy Lieutenant, Knight of the Shire and militia commander, he was a loyal servant of the Crown.
He died at West Horndon, Essex on 11 October 1613, and was buried in Ingatestone Church, leaving three sons and one daughter. He augmented his father’s benefactions to Exeter College, contributed £951 to the Virginia Company, and became a Roman Catholic. Exeter College published in his honour a thin quarto entitled ‘Threni Exoniensium in obitum … D. Johannis Petrei, Baronis de Writtle’, Oxford, 1613. He was succeeded in the barony by his son William.
Descendants
DIRECT PETRE LINE- John Petre, 1st Baron Petre (1549-1613)
- William PetreWilliam PetreSir William Petre was a secretary of state to Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.Educated as a lawyer at Oxford, he became a public servant, probably through the influence of the Boleyns, one of whom, George, he had tutored at Oxford and another of whom, Anne, was married to the king...
, 2nd Baron Petre (1575-1637) - Robert Petre, 3rd Baron Petre (1599-1638)
- William Petre, 4th Baron Petre (1626-1684)
- John Petre, 5th Baron Petre (1629-1684)
- Thomas Petre, 6th Baron Petre (1633-1706)
- Robert Petre, 7th Baron Petre (1689-1713)
- Robert James Petre, 8th Baron Petre (1713-1742)
- Robert Edward Petre, 9th Baron Petre (1742-1801)
- Robert Edward Petre, 10th Baron Petre (1763-1809)
- William Henry Francis Petre, 11th Baron Petre (January 22,1793 - July 3,1850)
- William Bernard Petre, 12th Baron Petre (December 20,1817 - 1884)
- William Joseph Petre, 13th Baron Petre (1847-1893)
- Bernard Henry Philip Petre, 14th Baron Petre (1858-1908)
- Philip Benedict Joseph Petre, 15th Baron Petre (1864-1908)
- Lionel George Carroll Petre, 16th Baron Petre (1890-1915)
- Joseph William Lionel Petre, 17th Baron Petre (1914-1989)
- John Patrick Lionel Petre, 18th Baron Petre (b. 1942)
- The heir apparent is the present holder's son Hon. Dominic William Petre (b. 9 August 1966)