The first Baron was succeeded by his son,
William Petre, 2nd Baron Petre. He sat as
Member of Parliament for Essex. His grandson,
William Petre, 4th Baron Petre, was one of the accused in the
Titus Oates plot and died in the
Tower of London in 1684. His younger brother,
Thomas Petre, 6th Baron Petre, was Lord Lieutenant of Essex. His great-grandson,
Robert Petre, 9th Baron Petre, who succeeded his father the year of his birth, married Anne Howard, daughter of Philip Howard, younger brother of
Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk. On her uncle's death in 1777 Anne became co-heiress to the baronies of
Howard,
Furnivall,
Strange of Blackmere,
Talbot,
Braose of Gower,
Dacre of Gillesland,
Greystock, Ferrers of Wemme, Giffard of Brimsfield and Verdon. Their great-great-grandson,
Bernard Petre, 14th Baron Petre, married Etheldreda, daughter of
William Robinson Clark. In 1913 (five years after the death of Lord Petre) the abeyance of the ancient barony of Furnivall was terminated by the King in favour of their daughter Mary Frances Katherine Petre, who became the nineteenth Baroness Furnivall (see the
Baron Furnivall for more information). Petre was succeeded by his younger brother,
Philip Petre, 15th Baron Petre. the title is held by the latter's great-grandson,
John Petre, 18th Baron Petre, who succeeded his father in 1989. Lord Petre has been Lord Lieutenant of Essex since 2002. Another member of the Petre family was
Father Sir Edward Petre, 3rd Baronet, the unpopular
chaplain and advisor to
James II. James made him
Clerk of the Closet and asked the
Pope to make him a bishop and later a
Cardinal but was refused both requests. The Petre family have been staunchly loyal to
Roman Catholicism. It was the first Baron who publicly acknowledged his Catholicism. At least twelve members of the family have been
Jesuits. The family has also produced two
bishops, Francis (1692–1775) and Benjamin (1672–1758). These two were
coadjutor bishops of, respectively,
Bishop Dicconson and
Bishop Challoner. The feudal Lordship of
Writtle had for centuries been the possession of the
de Brus family and early chroniclers give the
manor there as the birthplace of
Robert the Bruce. ==Properties==