Sir Peter Payne soi-disant Bart.

1st Feb 1762 - 23rd Jan 1843

Claimant or beneficiary

Biography

Sir Peter Payne (de jure bart.), father of Charles Gillies Payne (q.v.) to whom he ceded the compensation for Little Sir Gillies estate on St Kitts. His entry in the ODNB says: 'His grandfather Sir Charles (d. 1746) had inherited from his wife a large property in St Kitts, West Indies, and had been created a baronet on 31 October 1737.' It says of Sir Peter Payne that 'he was also a strong opponent of the slave trade' with no evidence adduced.

  1. 3rd son of Sir Gillies Payne, second baronet of Tempsford, Bedfordshire. Sir Gillies Payne (d. 1801) delayed marriage with Peter's mother until 1761: Peter was the first legitimate child, but ceded the title to his elder brother John (who d. 1803) and never succeeded in definitively establishing his claim, although he was acknowledged as a baronet in his lifetime. Educated Hackney and Queens' College Cambridge (BA 1784, MA 1787). A 'strong Whig' and pamphleteer in 1810-12. Stood bail for Major John Cartwright when the latter was accused of sedition in August 1819.  MP for Bedfordshire 1831-32: see Political legacies. ODNB gives his birth year as 1763; other sources give 1762.

  2. Owned Knuston Hall, Higham Ferrers, c. 1831 though for a short time only. The house lay empty for a number of years from c. 1834. The council website for Knuston Hall says: '1831: The Hall was occupied by Sir Peter Payne, who was a staunch opponent of the slave trade and an early advocate of higher education for women. Memorials to his family are still in evidence in the church of St. Catherine in Irchester.'


Sources

St Kitts No. 575; For an account of the Payne family's management of its estates see Christopher J. Cowton and Andrew J. O'Shaughnessy, ‘Absentee Control of Sugar Plantations in the British West Indies’, Accounting and Business Research, 22 (1991), pp . 33-45..

  1. ODNB online, G. Le G. Norgate, rev. H.C.G. Matthew, 'Sir Peter Payne, de jure third baronet (1763-1843), radical'; D. R. Fisher (ed.), The House of Commons 1820-1832 (7 vols., Cambridge, Cambridge University Press for the History of Parliament Trust, 2009) , vol.6.

  2. http://www.knustonhall.org.uk/history.jspx [accessed 03/02/2013 and 23/02/2017].


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Elizabeth Sarah Steward
Children
2 sons, 4 daughters
School
Hackney
University
Queen's College, Cambridge [1779 ]
Legal Education
Inner Temple [1779 ]
Occupation
Politician
Oxford DNB Entry

Associated Claims (1)

£1,541 1s 8d
Unsuccessful claimant (consensual)

Associated Estates (1)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1817 [EA] - 1825 [LA] → Owner

Legacies Summary

Political (1)

MP
Whig (Radical) 
election →
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire
1831 - 1832

Relationships (6)

Father → Son
Uncle → Nephew
Son → Father
Brother-in-laws
Brothers
Grandfather → Grandson

Addresses (2)

Blunham House, St Neot's, Bedford, Bedfordshire, Central England, England
Knuston Hall, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, Central England, England