John Petre, 18th Baron Petre

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John Patrick Lionel Petre, 18th Baron Petre of Ingatestone, Essex, England, was appointed Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of Essex and took up his duties upon the retirement of Lord Braybrooke in October of 2002. Lord Petre, who, at 60, farmed near Chelmsford, could daily be found in the estate office at the family seat at Ingatestone Hall.

Lord Petre handed over the family seat at Ingatestone Hall into the safe keeping of his son and heir, Dominic, upon his marriage, and is the much-loved grandfather of Alice and William, who will eventually be the 20th Lord Petre.

Ingatestone would not be Ingatestone without the Hall and the Petre family. But, the Petre family originated from Torbryan on the eastern fringes of Dartmoor, where they were farmers and tanners. It was Sir William Petre, who won a scholarship in the 1500s to Exeter College at Oxford, who turned around the family fortunes after he caught the eye of Henry VIII when he was tutor to Anne Boleyn's brother. The King recognized a fine brain when he saw it and Sir William was invited to Court. He became Thomas Cromwell's assistant and eventually took over as Secretary of State. From then on (and despite the fact that the recusant Petre family has always been strongly Roman Catholic), the family fortunes were built up on the ruins of the monasteries. Sir William's diplomatic skills were pushed to the ultimate when he held his highly political and potentially dangerous post through the revolutionary changes of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I. His widow was the patroness of the martyr, St. John Payne, after whom the Chelmsford Roman Catholic comprehensive school is named. Their son, John, was created a Baron by James I. The fourth Lord Petre, also William, who had distinguished himself in the Civil War, died a martyr's death in the Tower of London in 1684, accused of complicity in the so-called Oates' Plot while Robert Edward Petre, the ninth Baron (1742–1801), played a leading role in the struggles for Catholic Emancipation.

The present 18th Lord Petre is an Oxford MA, and is associated with a long list of local organizations, including the Brentwood Arts Council; Brentwood Shakespeare Company; Ingatestone and Fryerning Horticultural Society, Brentwood Theatre; Ingatestone and Fryerning Angling Club; CAB (Brentwood) Appeal Fund; Ingatestone and Fryerning Historical and Archeological Society; and patron of the Billericay based Hamelin Trust. He rowed for Trinity College, but admits to having no coordination when it comes to team sport and also that he has done very little in the way of travel. "I almost cannot remember when I last left Essex," he laughed. "It's been a good 10 years since I last went abroad and I have never ever been outside of Europe."

Honorary Titles
Preceded by The Lord Braybrooke	Lord Lieutenant of Essex 2002–Present	Succeeded by Current incumbent