Peregrine Pelham MP (bef. 1601 - 1650)

Born before 27 Sep 1601 in Bosham, Sussex, England

Ancestors

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Research Note:

Jacoba Teighbott was previously attached as the second wife of Peregrine Pelham, as is claimed in numerous sources. However, her 1636 Will and the probate record both clearly name her as "Dame Jacoba Vanlore", widow. If she had married Peregrine Pelham, she would be been named as "Jacoba Pelham", and would likely not have written her Will at all, as his wife (since Pelham was living until 1650.) Her Will refers numerous times to "my said late husband" Sir Peter Vanlore.

As well, it is unlikely that Jacoba, who may have been born about 1550, or at least by 1570, given her marriage to Peter Vanlore about 1585, would still have been alive in 1652 when a person named Alnewick sued "Dame Jacoba Vanlore and John Pelham" over property in Berkshire, which would have been an inheritance from Peter Vanlore. ^[1]

The question is rather who was the Jacoba who might have married Peregrine Pelham after the death of his first wife. This conceivably could have been the daughter Jacoba, born to Peter Vanlore and his wife Jacoba. She is said to have married a Johannes de Laeda.^[2] If she had been widowed, it is conceivable that she might have married secondly to PeregrinePelham - although in that case, she ought to have been named as "Jacoba Pelham".

It is notable that in Jacoba Vanlore's 1636 Will, ^{[3] [4]} she names her daughters Mary Powell, her late daughter Katherine Glemham, her daughter Elizabeth, late wife of John Vandenberden, and son-in-law Sir Charles Caesar, husband of Anne. No mention is made of Jacoba or any husband of Jacoba, and no mention of a Peregrine Pelham. It is conceivable that, if a widowed daughter Jacoba had in fact married Pelham, she may have died before 1636, when her mother's Will was dated.

Biography

Peregrine Pelham was a Parliamentarian of Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire, and one of the regicides of King Charles I.

Family

Peregrine Pelham was born the eldest son of Peregrine Pelham and his first wife Mary Pierce, baptised at the parish church of Bosham, Sussex, England on 27 September 1601: Peregrine Pellam the sonne of Peregrine Pellam gent was bapt the xxvij^th of Sept.^[5]

He was apprenticed to Thomas Aslaby, merchant of Kingston-upon-Hull, whereupon he removed to Hull, which remained his home for the rest of his life. On 3 August 1626, he was made a Freeman of Hull and a Burgess of the city, later , in 1641, an alderman.^[6] He prospered greatly in trade, and in 1636 was made Sheriff of Hull. ^[7]

He may have married twice: First to "a sister of John Bowes" (not identified further), with whom he had a son John, born by 1630. ^[6] This son was given administration of his father's estate in 1651. ^[8]

His second wife, perhaps married some time after 1627, has been said by some sources to be Jacoba, daughter of Henry Teighbott (Thibault) and widow of court jeweler Peter Vanlore. ^[9] However, the evidence of Jacoba Vanlore's 1636 Will and probate shows that this can not have been the case. The identity of any second wife has not been demonstrated. In any event, there appears to have been no issue of any such marriage.

Parliamentarian

Peregrine Pelham appears to have taken the side of Parliament from the beginning of its dispute with King Charles I, and to the aftermath of the king's execution. He was not initially elected as MP to the Long Parliament, but at the death of Sir John Lister, originally chosen in 1640, Pelham was named in January 1641 to replace him. ^{[7] [10] [11]} His senior colleague was Sir Henry Vane Jr, one of the leaders of Parliament. throughout the Civil War.

The most notable event of Pelham's career occurred even before the opening of formal hostilities, when on 23 April 1642, the king appeared in force before the gates of Hull demanding that the large store of munitions there be turned over to his control. ^[12] The House of Commons had previously appointed Sir John Hotham as governor of Hull, with orders to secure the stores. At the arrival of the king, he consulted with Pelham, as MP for Hull, who supported him in his resolve to deny the king entrance to the city. Pelham later wrote: "I kept the King out of Hull when he came in person (although I had not such instructions from the House)-where was a very great magazine in which I suppose I saved the State above £100,000 . . . I had command of the townsmen both within the town and without." ^[6] It is thus possible, in light of the evidence that Hotham was probably already considering turning his allegiance to the king, ^[13] that it was Pelham's influence, and his control of the city's Trained Bands, which was primarily instrumental in denying Hull to the king. ^[14] The House of Commons wrote after the event: "Notice shall be taken of the especial Service done by Mr. Peregrin Pelham." ^{[15] [16]}

In 1644, when Sir John Hotham and his son were convicted of treason, Pelham endorsed their death sentences. ^[11]

In 1649, Peregrine Pelham was named to the High Court of Justice for the trial of King Charles I for treason. He attended all but one session of the trial and signed the death warrant. ^[11]

In that year, he was also elected mayor of Hull, but Parliament, not wanting to lose his services in the government, passed a resolution: "That, at the Instance of Peregrine Pelham Esquire, a Member of Parliament, now Mayor of the Town of Kingston upon Hull, Mr. Thomas Rakes, one of the Aldermen of the said Town, be authorized and required to officiate and exercise the Office of Mayor or the said Town, as Deputy to the said Mr. Pelham, until the said Mr. Pelham's necessary Service in Parliament will permit him to attend the Execution of the said Place and Office of Mayor there." ^{[17] [18]}

Outcomes

Peregrine Pelham died by December 1650. He had been ruined by the expenses of the war; Parliament owed him £7000. On 27 December, Parliament responded to a petition from his brother-in-law John Bowes, granting "a sum of Five hundred Pounds, upon Account of the Monies due to Peregrine Pelham Esquire, deceased, for defraying the necessary Charge of his Funeral; and the Residue for the Use of the Children of the said Mr. Pelham" ^[19] It is notable that there was no mention of a widow, only children, who were not named. He left no Will, and in 1651 his son John Pelham was granted administration of his estate. ^[8]

In 1661, following the restoration of the monarchy, the royalist parliament passed an act declaring the forfeiture of the goods and estates "of certaine notorious Offenders excepted out of the Act of Free and Generall Pardon Indempnity and Oblivion." ^[20] Among those listed was Peregrine Pelham, deceased, but it is not likely that he had any significant estate remaining to be forfeited.

Sources

1. ↑ "Alnewick v Vanlore" C 10/30/14
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Peter Vanlore Wikipedia
3. ↑ Will of Jacoba Vanlore Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, PROB 11: Will Registers 1624-1643/ Piece 170: Pile, Quire Numbers 1-42 (1636) Ancestry UK
4. ↑ Abstract of Probate acts in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, anno 1636 Ancestry UK
5. ↑ Baptism: "West Sussex, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812"
   West Sussex Record Office; Brighton, England; Sussex Parish Registers; Reference: Par 25/1/1/1
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62121 #494262 (accessed 8 April 2023)
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Temple, Robert. The Dictionary of National Biography: Missing Persons. Pelham
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Sheahan, James Joseph. General and concise history and description of the town and port of Kingston-upon-Hull , p. 245. London : Simpkin, Marshall & co. , 1864. Hull
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Yorkshire Administrations Act Book 1651. Yorkshire, Somerset House Wills Index, 1649-1660 Administration
9. ↑ Ford, David Nash. Royal Berkshire History Vanlore
10. ↑ "The Names of the Knights, Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons Assembled in Parliament, begun at Westminster, 30 Novem. 1640. as they continued and were elected and sworne Members of the same House untill this present 11. of July. 1648." MPs
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} BCW Project Biography: Peregrine Pelham. Pelham
12. ↑ Sheahan, James Joseph. General and concise history and description of the town and port of Kingston-upon-Hull, pp. 104-108. London : Simpkin, Marshall & co. , 1864. p. 104
13. ↑ Sheahan, p. 119. p. 119
14. ↑ Hobson, James. Charles I's Executioners pp 11-14. Philadelphia: Pen And Sword History.
15. ↑ "House of Commons Journal Volume 2: 06 May 1642." Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 2, 1640-1643. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1802. 560-562. British History Online. Web. 6 May 2023. Affairs at Hull
16. ↑ "Hull in the 16th and 17th centuries." A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 1, the City of Kingston Upon Hull. Ed. K J Allison. London: Victoria County History, 1969. 90-171. British History Online. Web. 6 May 2023. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/east/vol1/pp90-171 Politics and the Civil War]
17. ↑ "House of Commons Journal Volume 6: 9 March 1650." Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 6, 1648-1651. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1802. 379-380. British History Online. Web. 6 May 2023. Mayor of Hull
18. ↑ Hobson, p. 19.
19. ↑ "House of Commons Journal Volume 6: 27 December 1650." Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 6, 1648-1651. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1802. 515-516. British History Online. Web. 6 May 2023. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/commons-jrnl/vol6/pp515-516 Pelham's Claim]
20. ↑ "Charles II, 1661: An Act declaring the Paines Penalties and Forfeitures imposed upon the Estates and Persons of certaine notorious Offenders excepted out of the Act of Free and Generall Pardon Indempnity and Oblivion." Statutes of the Realm: Volume 5, 1628-80. Ed. John Raithby. s.l: Great Britain Record Commission, 1819. 317-320. British History Online. Web. 6 May 2023. Act