Robert Petre, 8th Baron Petre facts for kids

Robert James Petre, 8th Baron Petre (born June 3, 1713 – died July 2, 1742) was a famous gardener and plant expert, also known as a British peer (a noble person). In the late 1730s, Lord Petre designed the beautiful gardens at Worksop Manor in Nottinghamshire. He was also the first person to plant many North American trees in Great Britain. He became a member of the Royal Society, a group for important scientists. A type of plant from the Caribbean, part of the verbena family, was even named after him!

Early Life and Family

Robert James Petre was the son of Robert Petre, 7th Baron Petre (1689–1713) and Catherine Walmesley (1697–1785). His mother was from a wealthy family in Lancashire. Robert was born three months after his father passed away. He grew up at Ingatestone Hall because his grandmother was still living at Thorndon Hall, which was the main family home. When he was a young man, Robert traveled around Europe. He came back home in 1730.

Passion for Plants and Gardens

Robert became interested in botany (the study of plants) and horticulture (the art of gardening) when he was a child. By the time he was a teenager, he was friends with some of the best plant experts and garden designers of his time. These friends included Philip Miller, who managed the Chelsea Physic Garden, and Peter Collinson, a Quaker who loved plants and became a lifelong friend. When Robert was 14, he received a special pruning knife and saw as a Christmas gift, which he really liked.

Robert didn't just study plants; he loved to work with them too. By 1729, he started helping to manage his grandmother's gardens at Thorndon. His grandmother also enjoyed gardening, growing orange trees, jasmine, and myrtle plants in her greenhouses. In 1732, when Robert was old enough, his mother gave him control of the family estates. Now in charge of both Ingatestone and Thorndon halls, Robert could fully explore his love for plants. He immediately started a big plan to change both the houses and their surrounding parks.

Amazing Greenhouses and Exotic Plants

In 1729, a visitor named John Martin was amazed by what he saw at Robert's gardens. He had never seen such large 'stoves' or hothouses before. He even found plants there that he, a professional botanist, had never seen. Growing unusual plants from seeds was very popular then. Robert used a special method developed by Philip Miller that used beds of bark to keep the soil warm. This method worked incredibly well for Robert. Years later, Peter Collinson wrote to Carl Linnaeus, saying, "Such stoves the world never saw, nor may ever again!"

The Great Stove, which was thought to be the biggest hothouse in the world, was about 9 meters (30 feet) tall. It held trees and shrubs that were 3 to 7.6 meters (10 to 25 feet) tall. These included plants like guava, papaw, plantain, hibiscus, Hernandia, cacti, sago palm, annatto (a plant with red berries used for dye), and bamboo cane. The walls were covered with climbing plants like passion flowers, many types of clematis, and creeping cereus.

Robert also had two other hothouses kept at cooler temperatures for plants that preferred less heat. There was a house 18 meters (60 feet) long just for growing bananas and pineapples. Another house of the same size was used for storing apples. From these hothouses came the first camellia flower seen in England. In 1739, Robert even sent bananas to Sir Hans Sloane, along with some unusual birds.

However, not everything was a success. Robert loved white lilacs. One time, he collected enough seeds to grow 5,000 new plants. But back then, people didn't fully understand plant genetics or pollination. Sadly, almost all of them (all but twenty) grew purple flowers instead of white ones.

Transforming Thorndon Hall

Between 1740 and 1742, about 60,000 trees of at least 50 different kinds were planted at Thorndon Hall. Most of these trees were arranged in mixed groups. Dark green leaves were placed next to light green ones, and blue-green next to yellow-green. White bark or leaves with white undersides added bright touches. This way of planting wasn't new, but Robert made it special by using a wide variety of trees. These included acacias, Virginia maples, camphor trees, cedars, red cedars, Pennsylvanian cherry trees, Carolina oaks, and tulip trees.

Sadly, by 1762, Robert's friend Collinson visited Thorndon and found it in ruins. The house was falling apart, the plant nurseries were overgrown, and the hothouses were empty. Only two date palms, a cactus, and a few sickly shrubs remained.

Later, Robert's son redesigned the estate, removing much of his father's work. Today, only small parts of Robert's plantings, two mounds near the current house, and the ruins of a pyramid-like structure by the old mill pond can still be found. The area once home to his animal collection is now just called Menagerie Plantation. Robert's amazing plant library, which included 17 large books of dried plant samples, was sold. His special mahogany cabinet with 20 drawers full of plant curiosities was turned into a wardrobe, and its contents were thrown away.

Marriage and Children

On May 2, 1732, at St Paul's Cathedral, Robert married Lady Henrietta Anna Mary Barbara Radcliffe (1716–1760). She was the only daughter of James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater. Mary was also a great-granddaughter of King Charles II. Robert and Mary had four children:

• Lady Katherine Anne Petre (1736–1783)
• Lady Barbara Petre (born 1738)
• Lady Juliana Petre (1739–1772)
• Robert Edward Petre, 9th Baron Petre (1742–1801)

The young couple lived at Thorndon Hall. Mary had her father's remains placed in the family tomb at Thorndon.

Death

Like his father, Lord Petre died young from smallpox. He passed away on July 2, 1742, at Ingatestone Hall, shortly after his 29th birthday. He was buried in the family tomb at Ingatestone. His son was still a baby, so no one could continue his plans for the estates. His wife lived at Ingatestone Hall until she died in 1760. At the time of his death, Robert's plant nurseries held about 219,925 plants. His personal list of plants, now in the Passmore Edwards Museum, names 696 different kinds of plants.

Honors and Tributes

When Robert was 18, he was chosen as a member of the Royal Society. This was a special honor, even though noblemen often became members automatically. It showed how highly he was already thought of, especially since his sponsor was John Martin, who later became a botany professor at Cambridge University. Less than two years later, a plant collector named Dr. William Houston named a Caribbean genus (a group of plants) from the verbena family Petrea in Robert's honor.

After his death, a poem appeared in the Daily Advertiser newspaper, praising his love for plants and gardens. His friend, Peter Collinson, also wrote about him in 1744: "The death of the worthiest of men, the Right Hon. Lord Petre, has been the greatest loss that botany or gardening ever felt in this country... his skill in all liberal arts, particularly architecture, statuary, planning and designing, planting and embellishing his large park and gardens, exceeds my talent to set forth."

Another tribute written in his plant catalog described him as a "fine, tall, comely man. Handsome, had the presence of a Prince... Few excelled him in the liberal arts and sciences – a great Mechanic as well as a Mathematician... a fine taste for architecture... a great Ardour for every Branch of Botanic Science." It also said he was a very religious and moral person.

A statue of Lord Petre was made by the French sculptor Louis-Francois Roubiliac. It was placed in the Temple of Death in the garden of Jonathan Tyers at Vauxhall Gardens, near Dorking. The statue showed an angel blowing a trumpet, causing a stone pyramid to crumble and a body inside to rise up with "joy and astonishment." The words on the statue were written by Mr. Robson, who was a tutor to Petre's children.

Key Achievements

• Bringing North American Trees to Britain: With help from the American plant collector John Bartram, Lord Petre was responsible for the first large-scale planting of North American trees in Great Britain. Robert hired Bartram to send him regular boxes of seeds from the New World. He also worked with the Dutch botanist Jan Frederik Gronovius. Lord Petre created a sixteen-volume florilegium (a collection of pressed plant samples), mostly from the samples John Bartram sent him starting in 1740. This collection is now kept in the Sutro Library in San Francisco, California, and is still in excellent condition.
• Designing Worksop Manor Gardens: In the late 1730s, Lord Petre designed the gardens at Worksop Manor in Nottinghamshire for his relative Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk. The plans covered over 688 hectares (1700 acres) and included garden buildings, an obelisk, a half-circle structure, and a Palladian bridge. Robert had traveled a lot in Europe and knew that the house's style didn't match the popular classical style of the time. In 1732, he hired a Venetian architect named Giacomo Leoni, who followed the style of Palladio and helped establish the classical look. He also hired a French surveyor, Sieur Bourginion, to help with the garden design. Joseph Spence wrote that Petre "understood the colour of every tree, and always considered how he placed them one by another."