Thomas Petre, 6th Baron Petre (1633 – 1706) was an English Catholic peer, the third son of Robert Petre, 3rd Baron Petre

Robert Petre, 3rd Baron Petre

Robert Petre, 3rd Baron Petre was educated at Oxford and acceded to the title in 1637 but enjoyed his honours but a short time, and followed his father to the grave in little more than a year. In 1620, he had married Mary , daughter of Anthony Brown, 2nd Viscount Montague...

 and Mary Brown. Inheriting the title from his elder brother, Petre held the title for 21 years.

Soon after Petre inherited his title, James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

 same to the throne. As both men were Catholics in a Protestant country, Petre soon found favour with the new King. His second cousin, Father Edward Petre

Edward Petre

Sir Edward Petre, 3rd baronet SJ was an English Jesuit who became a close adviser to King James II and was appointed a privy councillor.-Early life:...

, S.J.

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

, became advisor and confidant to James II Edward was universally hated and reviled by the populace. In 1688, Thomas was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Essex and custos rotulorum

Custos rotulorum

Custos rotulorum is the keeper of an English county's records and, by virtue of that office, the highest civil officer in the county...

for Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

. After James's flight in the Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...

, Petre was forced to resign when the militia refused to serve a Catholic.

After the Revolution, much of the vast revenues from the Petre estates was sent abroad to help maintain those institutions in the continental Europe that provided education for Catholic Englishmen.

Thomas married Mary Clifton (died 1706), daughter of Sir Thomas Clifton, Bt of Lytham, Lancashire

Clifton Baronets

Two unrelated Baronetcies have been created in the surname of Clifton.The Clifton Baronetcy, of Clifton in the County of Nottinghamshire, was created in the Baronetage of England on 22 May 1611 for Sir Gervas Clifton, of Clifton Hall, Nottingham...

. He died on 10 January 1706, and was succeeded by his only son Robert

Robert Petre, 7th Baron Petre

Robert Petre, 7th Baron Petre was a British peer, the son of Thomas Petre, 6th Baron Petre and his wife Mary Clifton, daughter of Sir Thomas Clifton. He succeeded to his title, at the age of 17, upon the death of his father....

, by which time the family had fully recovered financially. He also had a daughter Mary Petre, (1693 – 1713).