| Petersham Parish Church | |||||||||||
| Fullname: | St Peter's, Petersham | ||||||||||
| Pushpin Map: | United Kingdom London Richmond upon Thames | ||||||||||
| Map Caption: | Location in Richmond upon Thames | ||||||||||
| Coordinates: | 51.4467°N -0.3013°W | ||||||||||
| Country: | England | ||||||||||
| Denomination: | Church of England | ||||||||||
| Churchmanship: | Central | ||||||||||
| Founded Date: | Saxon times. Part of the chancel in the present building dates from 1266; the main body of the church was rebuilt in 1505 | ||||||||||
| Parish: | St Peter's, Petersham | ||||||||||
| Deanery: | Richmond & Barnes | ||||||||||
| Archdeaconry: | Wandsworth | ||||||||||
| Diocese: | Southwark | ||||||||||
| Priestincharge: | Revd Kate Daymond | ||||||||||
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St Peter's Church is the parish church of the village of Petersham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is part of the Diocese of Southwark in the Church of England. The main body of the church building dates from the 16th century, although parts of the chancel date from the 13th century, and evidence in Domesday Book suggests that there may have been a church on the site in Saxon times. Nikolaus Pevsner and Bridget Cherry describe it as a "church of uncommon charm... [whose] interior is well preserved in its pre-Victorian state".[1] The church, which is Grade II* listed, includes Georgian box pews, a two-decker pulpit made in 1796,[1] and a display of the royal arms of the House of Hanover, installed in 1810.[2] Its classical organ was installed at the south end in late 2009 by the Swiss builders Manufacture d'Orgues St Martin of Neuchâtel, and a separate parish room was added in 2018. Many notable people are buried in the churchyard,[3] which includes some Grade II-listed tombs.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, cousin of Charles II, is said to have married, at Petersham in 1664, Lady Francesca Bard, mother of his son Dudley Bard (born c. 1666).
Elizabeth Murray, Countess of Dysart, who lived at Ham House, married her second husband, John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, in 1672.[4]
Lady Jane Hyde, daughter of Henry Hyde, Earl of Rochester, married William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex at the church on 27 November 1718. Sir Godfrey Kneller's portrait of her is held at the Watford Museum.[5]
Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck, who lived at Forbes House on Ham Common, married at the church in 1881.[6] [7] [8] Their daughter, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, married the Duke of York in 1923 and became Queen Elizabeth in 1936 when the duke came to the throne as King George VI.
Sir George Cole (d. 1624)[9] and his family are commemorated in the monument in the chancel erected in 1624. He was called to the bar in 1597 and was a member of the Middle Temple.[9] He married his wife Frances at St Peter's in 1585. The family vault is under the chancel.
There is a plaque to Sir Thomas Jenner (1637–1707), barrister, Baron of the Exchequer, and Justice of the Common Pleas, on the chancel wall.
There is a plaque inside St Peter's to Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale (1626–1698), who became Countess of Dysart on the death of her father, William Murray, the owner of Ham House. She is buried with other Dysart family members in a vault under the chancel.
On one of the walls inside the church there is a memorial tablet, erected by the Hudson's Bay Company, to the explorer George Vancouver (1757–1798). There is also a memorial to Rear-Admiral Sir George Scott (1770–1841).[10] [11]
There is a memorial inside the church to the Petersham Boy Scouts who died in the First World War, moved from the deconsecrated All Saints' Church, now a house, in 2007.[12]
There is a memorial for Captain John Niel Randle (1917–1944), killed in action at Kohima in Assam.
These people are buried in the churchyard:
Lodowick Carlell (1602–1675), playwright, and his wife Joan Carlile (c. 1606–1679), portrait painter, who had lived at Petersham Lodge in Richmond Park, are buried together in the churchyard, but the location of their grave is not known.[13]
The oldest headstone in the churchyard is that of Mary Karze (d. 1686). It is Grade II listed.
Mary Burdekin (d. 1772), believed to be the first baker of Maids of Honour pastries, who had a shop in Hill Street, Richmond, was described as a "[p]astry cook who by her diligence industry and anxyous care to please acquired many friends and much esteem".
William Duckett MP (1685–1749) was a British Army officer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1741.[14]
Sir Thomas Jenner (1637–1707), barrister, Baron of the Exchequer, and Justice of the Common Pleas, died at Montrose House, his house in Petersham.
Nicholas Sprimont (1716–1771), silversmith who ran the Chelsea porcelain factory, the first important porcelain manufactory in England.[15]
The explorer Captain George Vancouver (1757–1798) wrote A Voyage Of Discovery To The North Pacific Ocean, And Round The World[16] when living in retirement in Petersham.[17] His grave is Grade II listed.
Henry Lidgbird Ball (1756–1818), a Royal Navy officer best known for discovering and exploring Lord Howe Island (in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand), is buried in the family vault of his wife, Anne Georgianna Henrietta Johnston.[18] A plaque commemorating Ball was added to the Johnston tomb on 20 October 2013, at a service attended by the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.[19]
Mary Berry (1763–1852), author and editor, and her sister Agnes Berry (1764–1852).[20] [15]
Major General Sir Jeremiah Bryant (1783–1845), a British Army officer in the Bengal Army.[21]
Edward James Mortimer Collins (1827–1876) was an English novelist, journalist and poet. He died at the Nightingale Hotel while visiting his son-in-law.[22] [23] There is no memorial stone.[24]
Theodora Jane Cowper (d. 1824), cousin of the poet William Cowper.[20]
Richard Edgcumbe, 2nd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (1764–1839), politician and writer on music, is buried in a Grade II-listed tomb in the churchyard.
General Gordon Forbes (1738–1828), a senior officer in the British Army,