Peter Pett 1630-1699

Sir Peter PETT 1630-99

Biographical Note

Born at Deptford, son of Peter Pett, shipwright. BA Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge 1648, fellow of All Souls College, Oxford 1649 (ejected 1660), BCL 1650, entered Gray's Inn shortly afterwards. He was one of the founder members of the Royal Society in 1663. Helped by the patronage of Arthur Annesley, he became Advocate-General for Ireland, where he was knighted in 1663, and was MP in the Irish parliament for Askeaton, 1666. He returned to London in the 1670s as an agent for Annesley. He published several political works, and edited the memoirs of Thomas Barlow.

Sources

In his brief will, Pett bequeathed all his manuscript books (with one exception, Liber Forestarium, to go to Sir James Hayes) to George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax. There is no other specific mention of books; all the rest of his personal estate went to his brother Sir Phineas Pett (who had predeceased him, by the time the will was proved). Pett's library was auctioned in London, 6.7.1699, as part of a joint sale with the books of Anthony Farrington; no catalogue survives, but the sale was advertised in the Flying Post and Post Boy.

Characteristic Markings

None of Pett's books have been identified.

Sources

• Will of Sir Peter Pett, The National Archives PROB 11/451/61.
• Alston, A. C. Inventory of sale catalogues 1676-1800. St Philip, 2010
• Laughton, J. K., and Sean Kelsey. "Pett, Sir Peter (bap. 1630, d. 1699), lawyer and author." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.