PER
and the Italian... He was by nature very choloricke, and could not brooke any crosses, or dissemble the least injuries... He would (being moved to wrath) sweare too much, which, proceeding partly from custome, and partly from choUer, he could hardly refrayne it when he was pro- vocked."Interesting references to Sir John Perrot will be found in Notes and Queries, ist, 3rd, and 4th Series.
Fery, Edmond Sexton, Viscotint,
the son of a Limerick clergyman, was born in April 17 19. He was called to the Bar, entered Parliament in 1751, and was Speaker from 1771 to 1785. On his vacating the office of Speaker in 1785, he was, upon an address of the Parliament, created Viscount Pery, of Newtown-Pery, near Limerick, and granted a pension of ^£3,000 per annum. He was twice mar- ried, but left no heir, and the title became extinct on his death, in 1806, at the age of 87. He was buried at Pelham, in Hert fordshire. Grattan said of Lord Pery: " He was more or less a party to all those measures [of free trade and Irish liberation], and indeed in every great statute and measure that took place in Ireland for the past fifty years, a man of the most legislative capacity I ever knew, and the most comprehensive reach of understand- ing; with a deep engraven expression of public care, accompanied by a temper which was adamant. In his train is every private virtue which can adorn human nature. "The Gentleman's Magazine, in noticing his death, eulogizes him highly.
Pery, Edmond Henry, Earl of Iiimerick, nephew of preceding (son of the Bishop of Limerick, Lord Glentworth), was born 8th January 1758. He studied at Ti'inity College, made the tour of Europe, and was elected member for Lim- erick. He succeeded to the title of Baron on the death of his father in 1794. For his adherence to the Government he was in 1795 made Keeper of the Signet, and in 1797 Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper. In 1798 he raised a regiment of dragoons at his own expense, to assist in the sup- pression of the Insurrection. Having voted for the Union, he was made a vis- count in 1800, and three years afterwards Earl of Limerick. He died 7th December 1845, aged 27, at his seat in Berkshire, and was buried in Limerick Cathedral. Barrington speaks of him as "always crafty, sometimes imperious, and frequently efficient. He was prouder than he had a right to be, and bore no simili- tude to his illustrious uncle; but he was
PET
a convivial companion, and a steady friend. He had a sharp, quick, active intellect; he generally guessed right in his politics."
Peters, William, Rev., R.A., an artist who flourished in the latter half of the 1 8th century, was born in Dublin. He received his art instruction in the schools of the Royal Dublin Society, and having visited Italy more than once, was in 1763 elected a member of the Imperial Academy at Florence. He matriculated at Oxford in 1779, entered the Church, and was appointed prebendary of Lincoln and chap- lain to the Prince of Wales. Bryan's Painters say: "He is better known by the prints engraved for Boydell's Shaks- peare and Macklin's Oallery than by his paintings, though some of his pictures have all the impasto of Sir Joshua Rey- nolds, and in richness of invention and fancy far surpass him. "It is supposed that he died about 1800.
Petrie, George, LL.D., a distinguished archaeologist, was born in Dublin in 1789. [His father, a portrait painter, was a man of cultivated mind and an excellent numismatist. He was acquainted with many of the insurrectionary leaders of 1798, and to his portraits and casts we owe the preservation of some of their like- nesses.] When about ten, George was sent to Whyte's school in Grafton-atreet, and being delicate, was subsequently allowed to follow his bent, and adopt his father's profession. He attended the schools of the Dublin Society, and progressed rapidly. When about nineteen he began to make excursions through the country in search of the picturesque, and to examine and take careful notes of antiqmties. His remarks upon them were even then characterized by great acuteness of observation. He also commenced, thus early, his collection of Irish airs. He would often start on foot at nightfall, after his day's work was done, so as to reach by daybreak some chosen spot for study in the County of Wicklow. His drawings were then free and broad, but wanting in the delicacy of his after works. In 1813 he visited his friends Danby and O'Conor in London, and an introduction to Sir Benjamin West opened to him the art treasures of the metropolis. Three years afterwards he began to exhibit in Dublin; but his most profitable work was furnishing sketches for illustrated books relating to Ireland, as Gvom'weWs. Excursions, Brewer's Beauties, and Fisher's Historical Guide. He married in 1821, and settled regularly to an art career. He became an associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy at its open-
434
