| A name known in every town
December
8, 2005
PETTUS ROAD
(South Park Avenue to Peckover Road)
“His good name was well known in all
the towns of England”…that’s what
they said about Thomas Pettus when he died in 1597.
Thomas had been sheriff of Norwich in 1566 and 1590
and the first in his powerful family to get municipal
honours.
 |
| “Pettus House”
on Elm Hill, Norwich. |
His first son, Sir John Pettus, followed in his footsteps,
becoming even more wealthy, and was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth.
He was sheriff in 1598, burgess in Parliament in 1601
and Mayor in 1608.
John was a merchant and, like his father, lived in the
family mansion “Pettus House” on Elm Hill.
He also lived in splendour at the magnificent Rackheath
Hall, once regarded as at the heart of one of England’s
most beautiful estates.
He also built the porch, dated 1612, at Caistor Old
Hall.
John died in 1614 and was buried at the family church
of St Simon and St Jude.
Thomas (1552-1620), the second son, also went on to
be sheriff in 1600 and mayor in 1614.
He lived in the parish of St Simon and St Jude and is
also buried there.
He owned a lot of property across Norwich and Norfolk
including The Cock and The Lion in Magdalen Street.
Another member of this family was Sir Augustine Pettus
who died in 1613 at the age of 31.
By his first wife, Abigail, he had a son who was Sheriff
of Norfolk and for his loyalty to the Crown was created
a baronet in 1641.
He was a man with a fierce temper and was once indicted
for manslaughter after hitting Thomas Baxter, a man
he found “spoiling” his woods at Rackheath,
and killing him.
Augustine had another son Sir John Pettus by his second
wife Mary.
He was born in 1613 and married a daughter of Sir Richard
Gurney, Lord Mayor of London.
He was knighted in 1641 but was later taken prisoner
by Cromwell at Lowestoft. He was exchanged and went
on to raise a complete Regiment of Horse at his own
expense and was at the siege of Bristol.
After a turbulent life during which he had to sell much
of his estate, he died, alone and in poverty, at the
age of 77.
Another member of the clan, Col Thomas Pettus, landed
in Jamestown in 1638 and established the American branch
of the family in Virginia.
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