William Henry Francis Petre, 11th Baron Petre
Encyclopedia
William Henry Francis, 11th Baron Petre (22 January 1793 – 3 July 1850) was the first Baron Petre
to take his seat in the House of Lords
after the passing of the Catholic Relief Act 1829
.
and Mary Bridget Howard. His mother was a sister of Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk
.
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
. It is said that following the Battle of Waterloo
, Petre acquired Marengo
, the gray Arabian horse
of Napoleon I of France
Keen on hunting he also created, at Thorndon Park, a mixed herd of up to 2,000 Fallow Deer
s and Red Deer
s, which subsequently formed the basis not only of the present Brentwood, Essex
herd but also the entire deer population of New Zealand
.
), daughter of Sir Richard Bedingfeld, 5th Baronet and his wife Charlotte Georgiana Jerningham. Her maternal grandparents were Sir William Jerningham, 6th Baronet and Frances Dillon. The senior Frances was a daughter of Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon
and Lady Charlotte Lee. The senior Charlotte was a daughter of George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield
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.
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
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
and his second wife Margaret Audley
. His maternal grandparents were Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre
and Elizabeth Leyburne.
Petre and Emma had eight children, including;
in a post-chaise from St. Edmund's College, Ware
to replace John Law, who had contracted cholera
whilst visiting London
earlier in the month. He took charge of the Ingatestone Mission, at that time one of seven in Essex
, and one of his initial concerns was to restore the Ginge Petre Charity to its original Roman Catholic
purpose.
Last achieved this in 1835, just six years after Catholic Emancipation
, 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".
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
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
, 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.
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 supernumeries. 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
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
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 to be produced for examination, endorsement and sealing.
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 to 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
: 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
in 1843.
while their elder brother, Henry, joined the first expedition of settlers to New Zealand
. Henry’s son, Francis Petre
, 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
, an Indian Civil Servant. Upon retirement, F. Loraine Petre wrote several regimental histories, and five books on the Napoleonic Wars
.
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. He represented Essex in parliament and served as Lord Lieutenant of Essex...
to take his seat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
after the passing of the Catholic Relief Act 1829
Catholic Relief Act 1829
The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 24 March 1829, and received Royal Assent on 13 April. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic Emancipation throughout the nation...
.
Family
He was a son of Robert Edward Petre, 10th Baron PetreRobert Edward Petre, 10th Baron Petre
Robert Edward Petre, 10th Baron Petre was a British peer, the son of Robert Edward Petre, 9th Baron Petre and his first wife, Anne Howard ....
and Mary Bridget Howard. His mother was a sister of Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk
Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk
Bernard Edward Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was the son of Henry Howard , and Juliana Molyneux ....
.
Horseman and Hunter
He was a passionate horseman and maintained, and was master of, his own pack of foxhoundFoxhound
A foxhound is a type of large hunting hound. Foxhounds hunt in packs and, like all scent hounds, have a strong sense of smell. They are used in hunts for foxes, hence the name. When out hunting they are followed usually on horseback and will travel several miles to catch their target. These dogs...
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
Writtle
The village of Writtle lies a mile 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 ravishing variety of ancient cottages'...
. It is said that following the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, Petre acquired Marengo
Marengo (horse)
Marengo was the famous war mount of Napoleon I of France. Named after the Battle of Marengo, through which he carried his rider safely, Marengo was imported to France from Egypt in 1799 as a 6-year-old. The gray Arabian was probably bred at the famous El Naseri Stud...
, the gray Arabian horse
Arabian horse
The Arabian or Arab horse is a breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world. It is also one of the oldest breeds, with archaeological evidence of horses...
of Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
Keen on hunting he also created, at Thorndon Park, a mixed herd of up to 2,000 Fallow Deer
Fallow Deer
The Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian Fallow Deer as a subspecies , while others treat it as an entirely different species The Fallow...
s and Red Deer
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
s, which subsequently formed the basis not only of the present Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the east of England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles east north-east of Charing Cross in London, and near the M25 motorway....
herd but also the entire deer population of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Marriage and children
On 2 June 1815, Petre married his first wife Frances Charlotte Bedingfeld (19 April 1796 - 29 January 1822 Thorndon HallThorndon 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....
), daughter of Sir Richard Bedingfeld, 5th Baronet and his wife Charlotte Georgiana Jerningham. Her maternal grandparents were Sir William Jerningham, 6th Baronet and Frances Dillon. The senior Frances was a daughter of Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon
Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon
Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen was an English peer.Henry's father was the Hon. Arthur Dillon , a son of the 7th Viscount, who was Colonel and founder of the Dillon Regiment in 1688...
and Lady Charlotte Lee. The senior Charlotte was a daughter of George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield
George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield
George Henry Lee I, 2nd Earl of Lichfield was the sixth 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 Villiers. On 14 July 1716 George Henry Lee succeeded his father as the 2nd...
and Frances Hales. The eldest Frances was a daughter of Sir John Hales, 4th Baronet
Hales Baronets
The Hales Baronetcy, is a title in the Baronetage of England. There were three Hales baronetcies. The oldest was created in 1611 for Edward Hales. He was a member of a Kent family. The second was created in 1660 for Robert Hales, MP for Hythe 1659, also of a Kent family. The third was created in...
.
Frances, nicknamed "Fanny", became a letter writer of brilliant vividness. They had four children. Frances died in childbirth.
- William Bernard Petre, 12th Baron PetreWilliam Bernard Petre, 12th Baron PetreWilliam Bernard, 12th Baron Petre “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, Barking, Romford and Chelmsford and a mortuary chapel in the grounds of...
(20 December 1817 - 4 July 1884). - Mary Agness Petre (1818-22 August 1886). Married James Alexander Douglas.
- Henry William Petre (23 January 1820 - 3 December 1889). Father of Francis PetreFrancis PetreFrancis William "Frank" Petre was a prominent New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an able exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zealand. He followed the Roman Church's initiative to build Catholic places of worship in Anglo-Saxon countries in...
. - 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
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
). She was a daughter of Henry Howard of Corby Castle
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....
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
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.Norfolk was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Norfolk's patronage...
and his second wife Margaret Audley
Margaret Howard, Duchess of Norfolk
Margaret Howard , Duchess of Norfolk was the sole surviving child of Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden and Lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset and Margaret Wotton...
. His maternal grandparents were Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre
Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre
Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre of Gilsland, also Baron Greystock and de jure Baron Boteler was an English Member of Parliament and after his father's death a peer and major landowner in the counties of Cumberland, Yorkshire and Northumberland.-Early life:Born about 1527, Dacre was the eldest of...
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 WicklowWilliam Howard, 4th Earl of WicklowWilliam Howard, 4th Earl of Wicklow KP was an Irish peer, styled Lord Clonmore from 1815 to 1818. He became Earl of Wicklow in 1818 on the death of William Howard, 3rd Earl of Wicklow and was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick on 9 October 1846....
. - Edmund George Petre (23 June 1829 - 1 September 1889), father of Francis Loraine PetreFrancis Loraine PetreFrancis Loraine Petre OBE 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 Napoleonic Wars. The grandson of the 11th Baron Petre, he was educated at Oscott...
, the military historian. - Albert Henry Petre (15 March 1832 - 5 April 1917). Married Katherine Elsie Clark, a daughter of William Robinson ClarkWilliam Robinson ClarkWilliam Robinson Clark FRSC was a Scottish-Canadian theologian. He was born in Daviot, Aberdeenshire, son of James Clark. Originally educated for the Congregationalist ministry at New College London, he later conformed to the Church of England. After graduating from King's College, Aberdeen MA...
.
Restoration
On 29 September 1832, George Edward Last arrived at Ingatestone HallIngatestone Hall
Ingatestone Hall is a sixteenth century manor house in Essex, England. It was built by Sir William Petre, and his descendants live in the House to this day.Queen Elizabeth I of England spent several nights at the hall on her royal progress of 1561....
in a post-chaise from St. Edmund's College, Ware
St. Edmund's College, Ware
St Edmund's College is the oldest post-Reformation Roman Catholic school in England. It is an independent school in the British public school tradition set on in Ware, Hertfordshire. During two periods of its history, it has also incorporated a seminary....
to replace John Law, who had contracted cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
whilst visiting London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
earlier in the month. He took charge of the Ingatestone Mission, at that time one of seven in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, and one of his initial concerns was to restore the Ginge Petre Charity to its original Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
purpose.
Last achieved this in 1835, just six years after Catholic Emancipation
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...
, 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
Almshouse
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...
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, Essex
Brentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the east of England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles east north-east of Charing Cross in London, and near the M25 motorway....
, 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
Tudorbethan architecture
The Tudor Revival architecture of the 20th century , first manifested itself in domestic architecture beginning in the United Kingdom in the mid to late 19th century based on a revival of aspects of Tudor style. It later became an influence in some other countries, especially the British colonies...
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 supernumeries. However, the male pensioners were to lose their Freeholder
Freeholder
A freeholder can refer to:* one who is in freehold* one who holds title to real property in Fee simple* an official of county government in the U.S. state of New Jersey...
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
Charity Commission
The Charity Commission for England and Wales is the non-ministerial government department that regulates registered charities in England and Wales....
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 (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
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 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 RailwayEastern Counties Railway
The Eastern Counties Railway was an early English railway company incorporated in 1836. It was intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then on to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in late March 1837 on the first nine miles, at the London end of the line.Construction was...
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 to 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
Navvy is a shorter form of navigator or navigational engineer and is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects...
: the latter, many of them from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, had a fearsome reputation, and Essex, as yet, without a modern police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
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
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
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 StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
while their elder brother, Henry, joined the first expedition of settlers to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Henry’s son, Francis Petre
Francis Petre
Francis William "Frank" Petre was a prominent New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an able exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zealand. He followed the Roman Church's initiative to build Catholic places of worship in Anglo-Saxon countries in...
, 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
Francis Loraine Petre OBE 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 Napoleonic Wars. The grandson of the 11th Baron Petre, he was educated at Oscott...
, an Indian Civil Servant. Upon retirement, F. Loraine Petre wrote several regimental histories, and five books on the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.