William Petyt (or Petit) (1640/1641 – 3 October 1707) was an English barrister and writer, and a political propagandist in the Whig interest.

Life

Petyt was born in 1640 or 1641 in the village of Storiths, near

Bolton Abbey Bolton Abbey Estate in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, takes its name from a 12th-century Augustinian monastery of canons regular, now known as Bolton Priory. The priory, which was closed in the 1539 Dissolution of the Monasterie ...

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

,. and educated at the Free Grammar School (now

Ermysted's Grammar School Ermysted's Grammar School is an 11-18 boys' Voluntary aided school, voluntary aided grammar school in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England. It was founded by Peter Toller in the 15th century and is the List of the oldest schools in the United Kin ...

), Skipton, and

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

. He was admitted as a barrister to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in June 1660, and to

Barnard's Inn Barnard's Inn is a former Inns of Chancery, Inn of Chancery in Holborn, London. It is now the home of Gresham College, an institution of higher learning established in 1597 that hosts public lectures. Over the centuries, it has served as a sch ...

in June 1661. He was specially admitted to the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

on 25 November 1664, and subsequently called to the Bar there in February 1671 and made a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

in 1689. He served as

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

(that is, the head) of Inner Temple in 1701–1702.. On 25 July 1689, Petyt was appointed Keeper of the records at the Tower of London by

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily () * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg (1817–1890) N ...

, replacing in that position Robert Brady who had made a very effective attack for the

Tories A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The T ...

on Petyt's ''The Antient Right of the Commons of England Asserted'' (1680). Petyt was attacked also from his own side, the Whigs, by Thomas Hunt. Petyt wrote against the

separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...

, and in favour of Parliament's control of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. Influential in its time, in particular on

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

, was a version of "ancient constitutionalism" propounded in the writings of John Sadler,

James Tyrrell Sir James Tyrrell (c. 1455 – 6 May 1502) was an English knight, a trusted servant of king Richard III of England. He is known for allegedly confessing to the murders of the Princes in the Tower under Richard's orders. In his 1593 play ''Ric ...

and Petyt. Petyt died unmarried in Chelsea, London, on 3 October 1707, and was buried in the west part of

Temple Church The Temple Church, a royal peculiar in the Church of England, is a church in the Inner Temple, Inner and Middle Temple, Middle Temple, London, Temples located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar for their En ...

. In his will he left £50 to the Free Grammar School in Skipton which was used to purchase books for needy students. He also left £200 for the maintenance of alumni of the Free Grammar School who had been admitted as scholars at Christ's College, Cambridge.. In addition, he entrusted to his trustees his books and manuscripts together with £150 for buying or building a place to preserve them.

Inner Temple Library The Inner Temple Library is a private law library in the Inner Temple, London, serving barristers, judges, and students on the Bar Professional Training Course. Its parent body is the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, one of the four Inns o ...

was enlarged for this purpose, and in 1708 Petyt's trustees deposited his collection there, except for about 2,000 items which his brother Sylvester (1640–1719) took to his home in Yorkshire. Sylvester, who also attended the Free Grammar School, eventually bequeathed to the school the generous sum of £30,000 to form the Petyt Trust, and also books belonging to himself, his brother and friends which became the Petyt Library.

Legacy

Modern verdicts on Petyt as a historian have been harsh.

David C. Douglas David Charles Douglas (January 5, 1898 – January 10, 1982) was a historian of the Norman period at the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford.Douglas, ''The Norman Episcopate before the Norman Conquest'', Cambridge Historical Journal, ...

comments that he and William Atwood, though distinguished jurists, "took what was worst" from the earlier works of their century on constitutional history. J. H. Plumb wrote that it was hard not convict Petyt, "not only of error, but also of deceit".J. H. Plumb, ''The Growth of Political Stability in England, 1675–1725'' (1967), p. 29.

Works

*''The Antient Right of the Commons of England Asserted'' (1680) *''Miscellanea Parliamentaria'' (1680) *''Britannia languens '' (1680) *''The Pillars of Parliament'' (1681) *''Jus Parliamentarium'' (1739)

Notes

External links

*.
Petyt House, Old Church Street where the Vestry met, drawing by W W Burgess
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petyt, William 1640s births 1707 deaths Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge English barristers 17th-century English historians Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Middle Temple People from Skipton