Bloxam's Magdalen College and James II (Oxf. Hist. Soc.); Ryan's William III, 1836, p. 120; Banks's Life of William III; Granger's Biogr. Hist. of England; Roxburgh Ballads, iv. 316; Bagford Ballads, ed. Ebbsworth, ii. 317; Barker's Busby, p. 51; The Muses Farewell to Popery and Slavery, 1689; Reresby's Diary; Hatton Correspondence (Camden Soc.); Cartwright's Diary (Camden Soc.); Dalrymple's Memoirs of Great Britain; Lonsdale's Memoirs of the Reign of James II, 1857; Notes and Queries, 1st ser. i. 104, vi. 418, 589, 2nd ser. i. 31. See also An Account of the Life and Memorable Actions of Father Petre appended to the Popish Champion, 1689; An Ironical Friendly Letter to Father Petre concerning his part in the late King's Government, 1690; A Dialogue between Father Peters and the Devil, 1687; Rome in an Uproar, or the Pope's Bulls brought to the Baiting Stake by old Father Petre, 1689; Les Héros de la Ligue ou la Procession Manacale conduitte par Louis XIV pour la conversion des Protestans de son Royaume, Paris, 1691; and Histoire des intrigues amoureuses du Père Peters, jésuite … où l'on voit ses avantures les particuliers, Cologne, 1698.]
PETRE, Sir WILLIAM (1505?–1572), secretary of state, born at Tor Newton, Devonshire, about 1505, was son of John Petre, said to be a rich tanner of Torbryan, Devonshire, by his wife Alice or Alys, daughter of John Collinge of Woodlands in the same county. He was the eldest son of a family of nine; of his four brothers, the eldest, John (d. 1568), who is supposed by family tradition to have been senior to William, inherited Tor Newton; the second was chief customer at Exeter; Richard, the third, is stated to have been chancellor of Exeter and archdeacon of Buckingham; but the only preferment with which Le Neve credits him is a prebend in Peterborough Cathedral, which he received on 14 Jan. 1549–50 and resigned on 5 Oct. 1565; he was, however, installed precentor of Ely Cathedral on 28 Dec. 1557, and, though disapproving of Elizabeth's ecclesiastical policy, retained his office until 1571 (Oliver, Collections, p. 198). The youngest brother, Robert (d. 1593), was auditor of the exchequer.
William was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, and elected fellow of All Souls' in 1523, whence he graduated bachelor of civil and canon law on 2 July 1526, and D.C.L. on 17 Feb. 1532–3. Probably about 1527 he became principal of Peckwater's or Vine Hall, and tutor to George Boleyn (afterwards Viscount Rochford) [q. v.] (Lloyd, State Worthies, p. 430; cf. Wood, Athenæ, i. 98). It was no doubt through the influence of Boleyn's sister Anne that Petre was introduced at court and selected for government service. He was sent abroad, and resided on the continent, chiefly in France, for more than four years. On his return he was appointed a clerk in chancery. He had secured the favour of Cromwell and Cranmer, who spoke in November 1535 of making Petre dean of arches, there ‘being no man more fit for it.’ Anne Boleyn also sent him presents, and promised him any pleasure it was in her power to give. On 13 Jan. 1536 he was appointed deputy or proctor for Cromwell in his capacity as vicar-general. In the same year he was made master in chancery, and granted the prebend of Langford Ecclesia in Lincoln Cathedral, which he resigned next year. He was largely engaged in visiting the lesser monasteries. On 16 June 1536 Petre appeared in convocation and made a novel claim to preside over its deliberations, on the ground that the king was supreme head of the church, Cromwell was the king's vicegerent, and he was Cromwell's deputy. After some discussion his claim was allowed. In the same year he was placed on a commission to receive and examine all bulls and briefs from Rome, and in 1537 was employed to examine Robert Aske [q. v.] and other prisoners taken in the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire rebellions. In 1536 he had been appointed visitor of the greater monasteries in Kent and other southern counties. He was one of the most zealous of the visitors; in 1538 he procured the surrender of twenty monasteries, and in the first three months of 1539 thirteen more fell before him; his great achievement was the almost total extirpation of the Gilbertines, the only religious order of English origin (cf. Dixon's Church Hist. ii. 26–30, 116; Gasquet, Henry VIII and the Monasteries).
In 1539 Petre was one of those appointed to prepare a bill for the enactment of the Six Articles, and in the following year was on the commission which declared the nullity of Henry's marriage with Anne of Cleves. Early in 1543 he was knighted; in the same year he served on various commissions to examine persons accused of heresy, and was appointed secretary of state in Wriothesley's place. On 9 July 1544 he was selected to assist Queen Catherine in carrying on the regency during Henry's absence, and to raise supplies for the king's expedition to Boulogne. In 1545 he was sent ambassador to the emperor, and at the end of the year was summoned to the privy council. He was appointed an assistant executor to Henry's will in 1547.
During Edward VI's reign Petre's importance and activity increased. In August 1547 he was entrusted with the great seal for use in all ecclesiastical affairs. In 1549
