BERTIE, Hon. Peregrine I (c.1634-1701), of York Buildings, Westminster, Mdx. and Waldershare, Kent.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

21 Oct. 1665 - Jan. 1679
1685 - 1687
1689 - 1695

Family and Education

b. c.1634, 2nd s. of Montagu Bertie†, 2nd Earl of Lindsey, by 1st w.; bro. of Hon. Charles I* and half-bro. of Hon. Henry I*.  educ. travelled abroad 1649–?54.  m. lic. 23 Feb. 1674, aged 30, Susan (d. 1697), da. and coh. of Sir Edward Monyns, 2nd Bt., of Waldershare, 3da. (1 d.v.p.)1

Offices Held

Vol. (French army) 1654; cornet, R. Horse Gds. (The Blues) 1661, lt. 1667, capt. 1676–9.2

Commr. accts. loyal and indigent officers 1671, alienations 1675–d.3

Receiver of taxes, Kent 1677–8; alderman, Stamford and Boston 1685–Oct. 1688; freeman and bailiff, Oxford 1687.4

Biography

Bertie was returned for Westbury in 1690 on the interest of his half-brother, the 1st Earl of Abingdon, and in the course of the Parliament was thrice bracketed with supporters of the government by his brother-in-law, the Marquess of Carmarthen (Sir Thomas Osborne†), who also classed him as a Tory. Moreover, in December 1690 Carmarthen identified him as an ally in case of an attack on his own ministerial position in the Commons, and in the following April Robert Harley* listed him as a Court man. Unfortunately, the presence of so many Berties in this Parliament makes it impossible to delineate his Commons activity with any confidence. More generally, his career was overshadowed by that of his nephew Hon. Peregrine II, who was clearly a more prominent figure at Westminster. In the course of 1692–3 political observers classed him as a placeman, although in Samuel Grascome’s list of 1693–5 he was cited as an office-holder who did not support the Court. Such a move into opposition mirrored that of his brother Hon. Charles Bertie I, and may be attributed to the influence of Carmarthen, who had drifted apart from other ministerial Tories. This breach was not permanent, however, judging by his advice to his brother, the 3rd Earl of Lindsey (Robert Bertie†), in November 1694 that Charles should use his interest at a Stamford by-election in the hope of making ‘the Court look upon him with better eyes’. He did not stand again, allowing his nephew Hon. Robert Bertie to succeed to his seat at Westbury. He died on 3 Jan. 1701, and was buried at Waldershare. Significantly, his will suggests that he remained on good terms with the Duke of Leeds (formerly Carmarthen), and testifies to considerable wealth, he having provided each of his two surviving daughters with dowries of £10,000.5

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Authors: Paula Watson / Perry Gauci

Notes

  • 1. PCC 2 Dyer; Collins, Peerage, ii. 19; CSP Dom. 1649–50, p. 537; The Topographer, i. 16–17; Canterbury Mar. Lics. iii. 42.
  • 2. The Topographer, 17; CSP Dom. 1679–80, p. 325.
  • 3. CSP Dom. 1671, p. 255; Cal. Treas. Bks. iv. 326; xvi. 41.
  • 4. Cal. Treas. Bks. v. 430; CSP Dom. 1685, pp. 39, 50; Oxford Council Acts 16751701 (Oxford Hist. Soc. n.s. ii), 191.
  • 5. HMC Ancaster, 436; Luttrell, Brief Relation, v. 2; PCC 2 Dyer.