×

Sir Peter Burrell: The man who presided over Warren Hastings’ impeachment

Peter Burrell had been born on June 16, 1754 at Westminster, London, the eldest son and heir of Peter Burrell, Esq., Commissioner of Excise.

Related articles

The trial of Warren Hastings © Getty images
The trial of Warren Hastings © Getty images

In the landmark essay The Impeachment of Warren Hastings, the deathless prose of the great English historian Thomas Babington Macaulay outlines the historic scenes at Westminster when the epochal trial had finally begun on Wednesday, February 13, 1788. The venue was the great hall of William Rufus, redolent of some of the greatest moments of English history. Close to 170 Lords and Peers of the Realm, in their robes of gold and ermine, about three fourths of the strength of the Upper House, were in attendance. The brothers and sons of King George III had graced the occasion, as had Her Majesty the Queen Consort. Bringing up the rear had been the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl Marshall of the Realm.

On the proclamation of the Parliamentary Sergeants, Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India, had approached the Bar and bent his knees to the assembled noblemen, presenting the visage of a “small and emaciated man.” The reading of the charges against Hastings and his replies had reportedly taken up the better part of two whole days. Sir Edmund Burke had arisen on the third day, and great orator that he was, his opening statement had occupied four sittings. Among the many misdemeanours and miscarriages of justice, not to speak of several instances of gross misuse of official power recounted were the persecution of the Begums of Oudh and the alleged judicial hanging of Maharajah Nandakumar.

This was the description of Macaulay of the final comments of Burke: “Therefore,” said he, “hath it with all confidence been ordered, by the Commons of Great Britain, that I impeach Warren Hastings of high crimes and misdemeanours. I impeach him in the name of the Commons’ House of Parliament, whose trust he has betrayed. I impeach him in the name of the English nation, whose ancient honour he has sullied. I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose rights he has trodden under foot, and whose country he has turned into a desert. Lastly, in the name of human nature itself, in the name of both sexes, in the name of every age, in the name of every rank, I impeach the common enemy and oppressor of all.” The impeachment process was to grind on for more than seven years and to occupy 145 sittings of Parliament. Ironically, at the end of it all, Warren Hastings had been acquitted of all the charges laid against him.

Among all the great and mighty of the land assembled for the hearings of the case, none had adorned his great office with more grace, gravitas, and grandeur that the Deputy Lord Chamberlain of England who had presided over the trial; introducing Sir Peter Burrell, 1st Baron Gwydyr, a hereditary estate in Wales.

Peter Burrell had been born on June 16, 1754 at Westminster, London, the eldest son and heir of Peter Burrell, Esq., Commissioner of Excise, and Elizabeth, daughter of John Lewis of Hackney. He was educated, like numerous other scions of the privileged classes of the times, at Eton, attending the institution from 1761 to 1770, matriculating in 1771.

He was admitted to St John’s College, Cambridge on May 18, 1771. Having completed his MA curriculum, he was conferred the degree Litterae Regia (royal mandates directing the conferring of a degree) in 1775. Burrell was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn for legal training on November 28, 1774.

Peter Burrell was MP for Haslemere, a town in the borough of Waverley, Surrey, from 1776 to 1780, and for Boston, Lincolnshire, from 1782 to 1796. In the interim, he had married Priscilla Barbara Elizabeth, daughter of Peregrine Bertie, the 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, on February 23, 1779. This marriage was to have an important impact on his social life and standing, because upon the death of her brother, the 4th Duke on March 18, 1780, Priscilla was declared sou jure (in her own right) the 21stBaroness Willoughby of Eresby.

Peter Burrell became the beneficiary of another honour from his wife’s side of the family on March 18, 1780 when he was appointed the Deputy Lord Chamberlain of England, a hereditary office having been vested in his wife and her sister. He was to fulfil the office till his death.

On July 6, 1781, Burrell was knighted, becoming Sir Peter Burrell. Upon the demise of his great-uncle Sir Merrik Burrell on April 6, 1787, Sir Peter Burrell succeeded to the title of 2nd Baronet. Sir Peter’s wife seemed to have a long line of noblemen and women in her family, one such being her great-grandmother, from whom the right of several estates had passed to her. On June 16, 1796, Sir Peter was created the 1st Baron of Gwydyr, another throwback on the legacy of his wife’s family.

Sir Peter also played cricket.

Not many scorecards, however incomplete, survive to this day from the early days of cricket in England, but the mention of the name of Burrell is first seen playing for the White Conduit Club against The Gentlemen of Kent in 1785, Kent winning by 104 runs. Having opened the innings, Sir Peter is found to have been one of the three batsmen that had failed to score.

Peter appears to have made his First-Class debut for White Conduit Club against Middlesex in 1787. From a contemporary report of the match appearing in the World: “ On the first day each side played an innings and the Club had scored 21 for 3, Sir P Burrell being not out 7, when want of light stopped play at 8.30pm.”

Taking first strike, The Club had been dismissed for 80, one Butcher top-scoring with 30. Sir Peter had scored 6 runs out of the total. In reply, Middlesex had scored 126, taking a significant lead of 46 runs in a low-scoring game. The second day of the match saw the Club being dismissed for 88, Sir Peter contributing 22. Middlesex wrapped up the match by 8 wickets.

From the scanty information available from antiquity, Sir Peter is seen to have played 7 First-Class matches in all from 1787 to 1790, scoring a total of 123 runs from his 14 innings with a highest of 27 and an average of 8.78, a figure that would have passed muster in the age of uneven pitches and rough playing areas. He had also held 7 catches.

History speaks of the formation of the Moulsey Hurst Cricket Club in 1787, comprising many ‘noble’ members like the 9th Earl of Winchilsea, Sir Peter Burrell, Lord Strathavon, the Hon. Colonel Charles Lennox (later 4th Duke of Richmond), and some of the prominent professional players of the time like W Bedster, ‘Lumpy’ Stevens, and ‘Silver Billy’ Beldham.”

Sir Peter used to enjoy the reputation of being one of the leading batsmen of the day among the amateur cricketers, as evident by his 97 for White Conduit against The Gentlemen of Kent at the White Conduit Fields, Islington, in 1785. The only recorded wicket of his cricket career came for West Sussex against MCC at Lord’s (Old) in 1790, when he bowled one J Leggatte for 2. He played his last First-Class match for the MCC against Middlesex at Lord’s in 1790, scoring 14 and 1.

Apart from his active cricket career, Sir Peter had made his mark in contemporary cricket circles by his administrative skills. When MCC was formed in 1787 at Lord’s (Old) ground, from among the members of the erstwhile White Conduit Club, Sir Peter was one of the prominent personages to play a part in the transformation process. Indeed, history records Sir Peter as having been the third-most influential member of White Conduit after the 9th Earl of Winchilsea and the 4th Duke of Richmond. He also played a fairly notable role in the very first match played under the banner of the newly-formed MCC when they took on fore-runner White Conduit at the new Lord’s ground in 1787, with scores of 14 and 33. The fledgling MCC had won the game quite comprehensively by 83 runs.

Thanks to the income derived from his wife’s extensive estates, Sir Peter Burrell was reported to have an income of £18,000 a year and to have kept the ‘best table’ in town. Nevertheless, he was reputed to have been ‘dissatisfied’ with his lot. He had an active career in Parliament, participating in several debates on important issues of his time. He received a Royal Commission in 1796 as Master of the Horse to His Majesty the Prince of Wales. He was vested with the title of a Colonel with the 10th North Lincoln Regiment of Foot in 1797 and as a Major in the Middlesex Yeomanry in 1803.

Afflicted with gout, he had sought permission for his son and heir Peter to deputise for him as Lord Chamberlain temporarily and remained loyal to Lord Grenville, the British Whig statesman (later to serve as Prime Minister of England). He had another son named William.

Sir Peter Burrell’s profile in the Alumni Cantabrigienses notes that he had passed away from his complaint of gout on June 29, 1820 at Brighton, and had been laid to rest at Edenham, Lincolnshire.

trending this week