Hugh Peter 1598-1660

Hugh PETER or PETERS 1598-1660

Biographical Note

Born in Fowey, Cornwall, son of Thomas Peter, merchant; the family were of Dutch descent. BA Trinity College, Cambridge 1618, MA 1622; he was converted to independent religious beliefs by a sermon heard in London in 1620. Curate of Rayleigh, Essex 1623; in 1627 he was imprisoned for preaching against the Queen's Catholicism, and shortly afterwards he moved to The Netherlands. In 1635 he sailed to America and became a minister at Salem. Returning to England in 1641 as an agent of the Massachusetts government, he became increasingly involved in the parliamentary cause in the Civil War, and an advocate for religious reform, as well as for the execution of Charles I. He was appointed chaplain to the Council of State in 1650, and was involved in various government affairs during the Interregnum. In 1660 he was arrested and executed as a regicide.

Books

In 1644, parliament recognised Peter's service by awarding him books from William Laud’s library, after Laud’s execution, valued at £140. The subsequent fate of these books, and of any others belonging to Peter, is not known.

Characteristic Markings

None of Peter's books have been identified.

Sources

• Pestana, Carla Gardina. "Peter [Peters], Hugh (bap. 1598, d. 1660), Independent minister." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• Stearns, R. P. The strenuous puritan, Urbana, 1954, 221-2.