Martin Petrie (1823–1892) was an English army officer and writer. Petrie, his wife and his daughter Mary Petrie were involved in the foundation of

Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

. His other daughter Irene Petrie died as a missionary in Kashmir.

Life

He was born on 1 June 1823, at the Manor House,

King's Langley Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The village is divided between two local governme ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, the second son of Commissary-General William Petrie (died 1842); his mother Margaret was daughter and coheiress of Henry Mitton of the Chase, Enfield. He was brought up in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

, where his father's career took him. As a young man he was mainly in France, Italy, and Germany. On 14 April 1846 Petrie entered the army as an ensign in the Royal Newfoundland Corps, and served for 11 years in North America, becoming a lieutenant on 7 January 1848 and captain on 5 May 1854. On 26 January 1855 he was transferred to the

14th Foot The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. In 1958 it amalgamated with the East Yorkshire Regiment (15th Foot) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire which was, ...

regiment, and left Newfoundland on 20 March in the SS ''Vesta'', which carried 24 passengers, seven of them, including Petrie, being officers on their way to join regiments in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. When 300 miles off St. John's the vessel, already damaged by ice-floes, was caught in a storm, and the engine-room was flooded. Petrie managed to save the ship. His hands, however, were lacerated and frostbitten: he was invalided for some time, and could not proceed to the Crimea. In May 1856 Petrie joined the Royal Staff College, and in December 1858 he passed the final examination, coming out first on the list. He was attached to the topographical department of the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

from 10 March 1859 to 30 June 1864; then for 18 years (1864–1882) he was examiner in military administration at the Staff College, and latterly at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

also. He became major on 13 July 1867, and exchanged to the 97th Foot later that year; in July 1872 he retired on half-pay, in 1876 became colonel, and in 1882 withdrew from the service. Petrie read papers on military matters at the Royal United Service Institution, of which he was a member; and as a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

he was master of the St. John's, Newfoundland, lodge, and a member of the Quatuor Coronati lodge in London. He was active in philanthropic and religious work, and was a trustee of the Princess Mary Village Homes. Petrie and his family were involved in the foundation of

. The Petrie family introduced

Ann Dudin Brown Ann Dudin Brown (1822–1917) was a benefactor. She funded the establishment of Westfield College for women. Life Brown was born to John Dudin Brown and his wife, Ann, on the 2nd January 1822. Her father was a wharfinger on the River Thames and a ...

to the steering group and she funded the colleges creation. His daughter Irene Petrie decided she wanted to be a missionary. Her father forbade it. Petrie died on 19 November 1892, at his house Hanover Lodge, Kensington Park, London, and was buried at

Kensal Green Kensal Green, also known as Kensal Rise, is an area in north-west London, and along with Kensal Town, it forms part of the northern section of North Kensington, London, North Kensington. It lies north of the canal in the London Borough of Brent ...

. Irene set out the following year for Kashmir. Irene Petrie died as a missionary in 1897.Jeffrey Cox, ‘Petrie, Irene Eleanora Verita (1864–1897)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 18 June 2017
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Works

In 1860, during his first year at the War Office, Petrie brought out a standard work in three volumes, ''The Strength, Composition, and Organisation of the Armies of Europe'', giving the annual revenue and military expenditure of each country, with its total forces in peace and war. In 1863 he published a volume giving more detailed information on the British army, ''The Organisation, Composition, and Strength of the Army of Great Britain'', which reached a fifth edition in 1867. Petrie also compiled two technical volumes, ''Equipment of Infantry'' and ''Hospital Equipment'' (1865–6), forming part of a series on army equipment.

Family

Petrie married Eleanora Grant, youngest daughter of William Macdowall of Woolmet House,

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

, and granddaughter of Sir William Dunbar, 3rd Baronet of Durn; she died on 31 January 1886. They had two daughters: Mary Louisa Georgina Petrie, the elder, wrote ''Clews to Holy Writ'' (1892) and other books, and married Professor Charles Ashley Carus-Wilson of

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

; and Irene Eleonora Verita Petrie was a missionary for the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

Eleanora Carus-Wilson Eleanora Mary Carus-Wilson, FBA (1897 – 1 February 1977) was a Canadian-British economic historian. Known for her work on rural Medieval textile industries in England, she made significant contributions to the understanding of that technolog ...

(1897–1977), the Canadian-British economic historian, was the daughter of the Carus-Wilsons.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrie, Martin 1823 births 1892 deaths British Army colonels West Yorkshire Regiment officers English writers People from Kings Langley Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment officers Military personnel from Hertfordshire 19th-century British Army personnel Royal Newfoundland Regiment officers Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Academics of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst