The Petre’s of Stanford Rivers

In 1623 William, 2nd Baron Petre purchased the estate from Sir Thomas Elliott. William was married to Catherine, second daughter of Edward Somerset, fourth earl of Worcester. Lord Petre settled the estate in 1628 upon his 3rd, but 2nd surviving, son William (born 29 July,1602 at West Horndon, died 15 January 1677) as a jointure for William's wife Lucy (died 3 March 1679), daughter of Sir Richard Fermor, of Somerton, Oxfordshire. They had three sons and three daughters.

The Petres at this time acquired all the other manors in the parish except Littlebury. Their estate in Stanford Rivers became known as Bellhouse, from the name of their capital mansion. It comprised about 1,600 acres in the 17th century. Both William and Lucy are buried in the chancel at St Margaret’s. In 1645 Stanford Rivers was granted by Parliament to the Earl of Essex, on account of William Petre's adherence to Charles I

Upon the death of Sir William, the states passed to his son, also William (born 2 July, 1666, died April 1728). He was married, firstly to Anne Poulter, who died in childbirth, aged 23 years, on the 21 February, 1628. He then married Penelope Wolphe (Woolfe), who gave birth to eleven children. William is also buried in the chancel at St Margaret’s.

He raised substantial mortgages to endow his daughters, at least six of whom became nuns. His son Robert (1700- 66) became a Jesuit. This outlay was, however, more than balanced by the marriage portion of £4,000 brought into the estate by Lady Mary Radcliffe (died 16 March, 1756), only daughter of Edward, Earl of Derwentwater, who in 1722 married William Petre, heir of his father.

In 1737 William handed over the administration of the Stanford Rivers estate to his kinsman Robert, Baron Petre (d. 1742). An account book for the years 1738-44 shows that the estate (which also included the manors of Stanford Hall, Traceys, and Bellhouse) had a rent roll of slightly over £1,000 a year, out of which William Petre was allowed £350 tax free. William died on the 21 September, 1745, and is also buried in the chancel at St Margaret’s.

William’s heir was John Petre, son of his brother Edward. Shortly before William's death John, who was under age, had been given into William's care by his grandfather and previous guardian William Keep. After William Petre's death John was sent by his aunt, Lady Mary Petre, to Douai to be educated as a Roman Catholic. William Keep thereupon started an action in Chancery to regain custody of the boy. An order was made to this effect but was defied by Lady Mary. In 1747 a receiver was appointed in Chancery to administer the Stanford Rivers estate. John Petre probably assumed control soon after this, for he was said to have been eighteen years old in 1745.

John Petre died in 1762. In 1759, on his marriage to Frances Man, he had provided that if he had no sons his estates should pass to Robert, Baron Petre in trust for Lord Petre's second son, if one should be born to him. Provision was made for any daughters left by John Petre. In the event he left only one, Catherine, who became entitled on his death to a jointure of £4,000 from his estate.

From 1762 to 1775 the Stanford Rivers estate was administered by a steward acting for John Tempest, executor of John Petre's will. The estate accounts for this period show that the rent roll was still about £1,000 a year. Most of the income, and in some years all of it, was taken up by expenses and the payment of annuities. Catherine Petre, whose jointure of £4,000 remained in the estate, received interest at the rate of £160 a year. Susan Petre, sister of John, similarly received £120 a year as interest on a jointure of £3,000, and John Petre's widow drew £300 a year from the estate. By 1774 there was £905 in hand on the running of the estate, but most of this was accounted for by the fact that the annuities had for some reason not been paid in 1772. During the period covered by the accounts the whole estate was leased to various farmers and smallholders.

In 1775 John Tempest conveyed the estate to Lord Petre as guardian of his second son George William Petre. In 1791 the estate was found to be encumbered to the extent of £9,750: in addition to the jointures of Catherine and Susan Petre a mortgage of £2,750 had been raised from a William Plumer. In 1793 a further mortgage of £10,000 was raised from Thomas Heron of Chilham Castle, Kent. In
1796 part of the estate (evidently Stanford Hall), was sold to Charles Smith of Suttons in Stapleford Tawney for £7,650. George William Petre, who died 22 October, 1797, aged 32. His heir was George Petre, his son.

In 1819 the remainder of the Stanford Rivers estate, including the manorial rights, was bought from George Petre for £25,280 by Judith Smith of Stratford, Essex, who was probably sister of the above mentioned Charles Smith of Suttons. Judith was lady of the manor up to 1830; in and after 1833 the lordship (and presumably the estate) had passed to Charles Joshua Smith, Bt., son and heir of Charles Smith of Suttons.

Roman Catholicism

The Petres were one of the families, which have played a great part in the preservation of the Catholic Faith in England. In the 17th century and the first half of the 18th Roman Catholic worship was carried on by the Petres at Bellhouse. This was one of the places served by the secret Jesuit mission in eastern England which was founded about 1633 and largely financed by the Petres. The first William Petre of Bellhouse was a servant of Charles I and in 1639 the king personally intervened to prevent him from being prosecuted for recusancy. In 1676 there was an unusually large number of papists in Stanford Rivers. There was probably a private chapel at Bellhouse, and Roman Catholic worship continued there until after the death of William Petre in 1745. The date when it finally ceased is not certain, but it is unlikely to have continued for long after the death of John Petre in 1762.

The Petres also contributed generously to the support of Roman Catholicism elsewhere. During the reign of Charles II an annuity of £40 out of the manor of Stanford Rivers was being paid to each of two members of the family, Richard and Robert Petre, who had become Jesuits. In 1678, however, these revenues were seized by the government.