Peters was born in
Freshwater, Isle of Wight, the son of Matthew Peters (born at
Belfast, 1711), a
civil engineer and member of the
Royal Dublin Society; by Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of George Younge of
Dublin. The family moved from
England to Dublin when Peters was young, where his father "advised on the improvement of loughs and rivers for navigation". He served as the Royal Academy's
chaplain from 1784 to 1788, at which time he resigned to become chaplain to the
Prince of Wales. In 1784, Peters was awarded the living of
Scalford,
Leicestershire by
Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland. In 1788, the Dowager Duchess gave him the living at
Knipton, at which time he also obtained that at
Woolsthorpe. These livings were near to
Belvoir Castle, at which he was curator of pictures. He became
prebendary of
Lincoln Cathedral in 1795, first with the
stall of St Mary,
Crackpool, but later with the better position of
Langford Ecclesia,
Oxfordshire. That same year he also acquired the living at
Eaton. He lived at Woolsthorpe, Knipton, and Langford. After 1800, Masonic disputes forced Peters to live almost exclusively at
Langford. During these years, Peters also painted religious works, including a ten-by-five foot
Annunciation for Lincoln Cathedral and
The Resurrection of a Pious Family. He also painted five Shakespearean works for the
Boydell Shakespeare Gallery and six for the Irish Shakespeare Gallery. He charged 80
guineas for painting full-length portraits. On 28 April 1790 he and Margaret Susannah Knowsley were married; the couple had five children. Peters died in
Kent on 20 March 1814. ==Notes==