Robert Peat

The Reverend Sir Robert Peat
Born c. 1772
Hamsterley, County Durham, England
Died 20 April 1837 (aged 65)
New Brentford, Middlesex
Education Trinity College, Cambridge
Spouse(s) Jane Smith (c.1751-1842)
Parent(s) John Peat (died 1805) and Anne Heron (died 1778)
Church Church of England
Ordained 1794
Offices held
 Curate of Biggleswade (1794-1797)
Perpetual curate of Chelmorton (1798-1803)
Perpetual curate of Buxton (1803-1808)
Rector of Ashley cum Silverley and Vicar of Kirtling (1803-1805)
Perpetual curate of New Brentford (1808-1837)
Grand Prior of the Order of St John (1831-1837)
Notes

Sir Robert Peat (c. 1772–20 April 1837) was an Anglican cleric and, according to some sources, the first Grand Prior of the revived English langue of the Order of Saint John.

Early life

Peat was born in Hamsterley, County Durham, England, the son of John Peat (died 1805), a watchmaker and silversmith, and Anne Heron (died 1778), of the Herons of Chipchase Castle. He was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge as a ten-year man on 20 April 1790 and later received a Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Glasgow in 1799.[1][2]

On 21 November 1790, Peat was appointed to the Order of Saint Stanislaus by the King of Poland. 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.[3][4] Peat's house was broken into on 25 October 1808 and papers relating to his Polish estates were reported stolen.[5]

In 1804, Peat was permitted by King George III to accept and wear the order.[6] Appearing in court in 1808 after being attacked outside of the Drury Lane theatre, the defence objected to calling Peat "Sir" as he had not been appointed to any order of knighthood in the United Kingdom. However, the Lord Chief Justice, presiding, stated that knighthood was a "universal honour" and thus the appellation applied to him.[7][8]

Peat had also been a military chaplain in the Peninsular War.[9] He was appointed a steward of Queen Charlotte's Lying-In Hospital in 1817,[10] elected a fellow of the Medico-Botanical Society of London in 1830[11] and had married the author Lucy Clementina Davies and Francis Henry Davies at St Marylebone Parish Church in 1823.[12]

Marriage and royal connections

William Reid Clanny introduced Peat to the elderly and Catholic, Jane Smith (c. 1751-1842), a kinswoman of Maria Fitzherbert. Jane had been the sole heiress to the County Durham estates of her father and lived at Herrington House, East Herrington, near Sunderland. She was wealthy but is also described as eccentric, a miser and a kleptomaniac.[13]

Peat had been appointed as one of the many chaplains to the Prince Regent in 1800. He wrote to the Private Secretary in 1813 requesting an audience with the prince as he had never met him.[14] 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.[13]

Whatever their reasons, the couple were married on 6 November 1815 at St Michael's Church, Houghton-le-Spring.[15] 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 and visited her just once a year.[13]

Peat's other royal connections included being mentioned by Mary Anne Clarke (the mistress of the Duke of York) at her public enquiry, as having attended the theatre with her one night, but he was not involved any further in the case.[16] Peat was one of the stewards of the 49th birthday celebrations of the Duke of Kent at Fishmongers' Hall in 1816, but did not attend in person.[17] He was also Deputy Grand Chaplain of the Orange Order and present at a meeting alongside The Duke of Cumberland.[18]

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 on 23 and 24 June.[19] 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 celebrating his death.[20] She died in 1842, aged either 91 or 92.

Samuel Wesley (in a letter to Vincent Novello 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".[21] 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."[20] Moses Aaron Richardson'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."[3]

However William Benbow'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.[22]

Arms

Masonic offices
Preceded by
Robert Hutton		 Grand Master-Elect of Palatine Lodge, No. 97
1816-1817 		Succeeded by
Thomas Hardy
Non-profit organization positions
New title Grand Prior of the Order of St John
1831-1837 		Succeeded by
Sir Henry Dymoke

References

  1. ↑ The Clergy Database, Person: Peat, Robert (1793 - 1815)
  2. ↑ The Scots Magazine Volume 62, 1800, page 72
  3. 1 2 The Borderer's table book, 1846, pages 350-1
  4. ↑ The British Herald, 1830 Appendix PEA
  5. ↑ The New annual register, 1808, page 146
  6. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 15745. p. 1284. 13 October 1804.
  7. ↑ Sporting Magazine, Volume 31, 1808, p.256
  8. ↑ A regulation introduced by the Prince Regent in 1813 stated that permission from the Sovereign to wear a foreign order does not entitle the holder to any rank or style, unless expressly stated in the Royal Warrant. Later tradition would also dictate that any clergyman appointed to an order of knighthood would not use the title of "sir" and they are not dubbed with a sword. Peat is also listed erroneously in some sources as being a Knight of the Order of Saint Patrick and a baronet, however he was not appointed either.
  9. ↑ St John History, Proceedings of the St John Ambulance Historical Society of Australia, Volume 7, 2007-08, p.22-23
  10. ↑ Plan of Queen Charlotte's lying-in hospital, 1823 page 61
  11. ↑ The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 147, 1830 p544
  12. ↑ Annual register, 1824, page 176
  13. 1 2 3 Herrington Heritage - The Unsolved Murder
  14. ↑ The Letters of King George IV, Volumes 2-3, page 248
  15. ↑ Bishop of Durham's Transcripts for St Michael's, Houghton-le-Spring
  16. ↑ The investigation of the charges brought against His Royal Highness the Duke of York, commander in chief, 1809, page 302
  17. ↑ The European Magazine, and London Review - Volume 70, 1816, p.450-1
  18. ↑ Select Committee on Orange Institutions in Great Britain and Colonies, p.235
  19. ↑ The Gentleman's Magazine (Vol. VIII, 1837), page 209
  20. 1 2 The Monthly chronicle of North-country lore and legend (1887)
  21. ↑ The Letters of Samuel Wesley: Social and Professional Correspondence, 1797-1837, page 700
  22. ↑ The crimes of the clergy (1823), pages 127-129
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