Thomas Pettus Bt (abt. 1635 - 1671)

Born about 1635 in Rackheath, Norfolk, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Died 30 Oct 1671 at about age 36 in Rackheath, Norfolk, England

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Biography

Thomas was born in about 1635, probably in Rackheath, Norfolk, England. He was the son of Thomas Pettus and Elizabeth Knyvett.

When Thomas was about 6 years old, on 23 September 1641, his father Thomas was made a Baronet by Charles I. It is assumed that this was due to Thomas' support during the Bishop's Wars in Scotland.

Thomas' mother Elizabeth died on 28 January 1653/4 when he was about 19. At this time only two of Thomas' brothers were still living: Augustine and John, both younger than Thomas. Their father remarried less than seven months later to Anne Everard on 10 August 1654 in Caister St. Edmund, Norfolk. After this marriage his father made a new will on 5 November 1654.

Thomas' father Thomas died on 21 November 1654, when Thomas was about 19. Thomas became the 2nd Baronet of Rackheath.

When Thomas was about 21 he married Elizabeth Overbury, eldest daughter of Walter Overbury of Barton-on-the-Heath, Warwickshire. The marriage settlement was written after the marriage on 23 June 1656.^[1]

He wrote a will on 29 July 1662 when his wife was pregnant with son Charles in which he mentions different outcomes depending on whether the child was a son or a daughter. Since Charles died as an infant the will left many lands to his daughter Elizabeth. ^[2] The will is transcribed here. The will described him as "sicke and weake of bodie" but he lived another 9 years.

Son Charles was baptised on 4 October 1662 at Rackheath, Norfolk.^[3]. He died a few months later.

Thomas died on 30 October 1671 and was buried on 4 November 1671 in Rackheath.^[4]

The will may have been contested. Probate was not granted until 1676.^[2] There is record of a legal case which was began on 1671 and was decided in 1676.^[5][6][7]

There are records of assignments of the Hardwick Estate to son-in-law Rowland Okeover but them then reverting to the Pettus descendants of Thomas' brother John. ^[8]

Even after 1677 there were ongoing disputes regarding his will.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ Marriage Settlement: "The National Archives Discovery" Ref D231M/T406
   "Marriage settlement between Sir Thomas Pettus of Rackheath, baronet, son and heir of Sir Thomas Pettus late of Rackheath, baronet, deceased, Lady Elizabeth Pettus wife of the said Sir Thomas Pettus, one of the daughters of Sir Walter Overbury of Barton on the Heath, Warwickshire, esq., deceased," 23 June 1656. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/a883a72f-d795-4488-af85-57d42c0c5d9f
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Will: "England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858" https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5111/images/40611_310560-00109
3. ↑ Baptism of Son Charles "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7RF-G6J : 19 March 2020), Charles Pettus, 1662. FamilySearch Image "Charles the son of Sr Thomas Pettus and Elizabeth his wife was baptized 4th October 1662"
4. ↑ "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JD4P-R4N : 14 March 2020), Tho Sr Barronet Pettus, 1671. FamilySearch Image "Sr Tho: Pettus Barrntt died October ye 30 and was buried November ye 4th"
5. ↑ Legal case over Will: "The severall answers of S[ir] John Pettus, Barronett and of the defend[an]ts to the bill of complaynt of Rowland Oakover Esquire and Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir[es]s of S[ir] Thomas Pettus Barronett de[cease]d, 1674" https://hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?vid=HVD2&docid=01HVD_ALMA212184221840003941&lang=en_US&context=L (accessed 24 November 2020) Manuscript deposition in a case of fraudulent conveyance, involving a trust for a third-party beneficiary, Elizabeth Pettus Okeover, daughter of Sir Thomas Pettus and niece of his younger brother Sir John Pettus. The case began in 1671 and was decided in 1676 by Lord Chancellor Heneage Finch, Earl of Nottingham. --The English Reports v. 23, Chancery III, 270-271.
6. ↑ Legal case over Will: "Case papers - Okeover v Pettus: Writ of Charles II addressed to Rowland Okeover and Elizabeth his wife, containing an extract of an order in Chancery concerning matters in dispute between then and Lady Elizabeth Pettus, widow of Sir Thomas Pettus, Sir John Marsham, Robert Haughton, esq., William Stratford, esq., and Sir John Pettus 15 Jul" 1675 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/d9944366-8c62-471c-856c-91e2976c78cb
7. ↑ Legal case over Will: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/257c1f86-6688-4468-b836-08c8281d363d Discharge by Samuel Hinton, Rowland Okeover and Elizabeth Okeover to Sir John Pettus, reciting the will of Austin Pettus deceased of 20 Jun 1659 by which he bequeathed £1000 to Sir Thomas Pettus his brother deceased and reciting that Elizabeth Okeover wife of Rowland Okeover is the only daughter of the late Sir Thomas Pettus, in consideration of £450, and the conveyance to Okeover of two farms in Rackheath in the occupation of Richard Pope and Thomas Phillips and a meadow in Thorpe next Norwich and Thurlow Marsh, Norfolk, of the legacy of £1000 (Sir John is the executor of the will) and all suits and controversies regarding the legacy 2 Jan1676/1677
8. ↑ Assignment of certain farms, etc. in Caister and Rackheath: "The National Archives Discovery" Ref: D231M/T410 19 Feb 1677/1678 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/78dc18e4-9e37-4567-a321-91bd37c71c54
9. ↑ Legal case over will: De la Poole: Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 13, 1675-1681
   House of Lords Journal Volume 13: 11 May 1678
   Sir H. Dela Poole versus Okeover.
   https://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol13/pp217-219 "Upon reading the Petition of Sir Henry de la Poole Baronet, and Dame Elizabeth his Wife, being an Appeal from a Decretal Order made in the Court of Chancery, on the Behalf of Rowland Okeover and Elizabeth his Wife, Daughter of the said Dame Elizabeth, concerning some Lands in Norfolke and Suffolke, settled by Sir Thomas Pettus in Trustees, for the Use of the Petitioner Elizabeth, ..."
   
   House of Lords Journal Volume 13: 6 June 1678
   De la Poole versus Okeover
   https://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol13/pp239-241 "That the said Sir Henry de la Poole and Dame Elizabeth his Wife stand in Contempt of the Court of Chancery, in not answering to a Bill of the said Rowland Okeover and Elizabeth his Wife, and Samuell Hinton, concerning the Personal Estate of Sir Thomas Pettus,..."
   
   House of Lords Journal Volume 13: 1 July 1678
   De la Poole versus Okeover.
   https://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol13/pp266-267 "After due Consideration had of what was offered on either Part thereupon, it is ORDERED and Adjudged, by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, That the said Petition and Appeal of Sir Henry De la Poole and Dame Elizabeth his Wife be, and is hereby, dismissed this House."

• Margaret Toynbee, "Joan Carlile, some further attributions", THE CONNOISSEUR, November 1971, p. 186
• "The English Baronetage:: Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All The English Baronets Now Existing..." By Thomas Wotton. Page 271. Google Books