Harry Peckham
| Harry Peckham | |
|---|---|
|
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| Born | 1740 |
| Died | 10 January 1787 |
| Resting place | Temple Church |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | Winchester and New College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Lawyer, writer |
| Political party | Whig |
| Parent(s) | Rev. Henry and Sarah Peckham |
Harry Peckham (1740 – 10 January 1787) was a King's Counsel, judge and sportsman who toured Europe and wrote a series of letters which are still being published over 200 years later. Peckham was a member of the committee that drew up early laws of cricket including the first inclusion of the leg before wicket (lbw) rule. The diarist James Woodforde makes reference to Peckham playing cricket at Oxford in 1760. and he was still playing in 1771.
Peckham was the only son of the Reverend Henry Peckham (1712-1795), then curate of Edburton but later rector of Amberley and of Tangmere, by his wife Sarah (1702-1784), daughter of Thomas Norton of Hurstpierpoint. He had two younger sisters: Sarah (1742-1819), who in 1784 married the Reverend George Parker Farhill, and Fanny who only lived a few days in 1744. He was christened in his mother's church of the Holy Trinity, Hurstpierpoint, on 7 August 1740.Sir Thomas Peckham was his first cousin once removed and Henry Peckham (MP for Chichester) a first cousin three times removed.
He was a contemporary of James Woodforde at school ( Winchester College) and at New College, Oxford, where he was also a friend of Francis Noel Clarke Mundy.
The diarist James Woodforde makes reference to Peckham playing cricket at Oxford in 1760 and 1761.
Peckham was a member of the private Markeaton Hunt. In 1762–63, his friend Mundy commissioned a set of six portraits. Each of the subjects was in the distinctive dress of the Markeaton Hunt, consisting of a blue coat over a scarlet waistcoat and yellow breeches. Peckham sat for one of these paintings. The paintings hung at Mundy's ancestral home, Markeaton Hall. As well as the Wright portrait, Peckham sat for Romney and one canvas in the possession of Chichester City Council which hangs in the Chichester Council House. Another canvas, now classed as « after Romney », is in the Royal Collection.
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