Catherine Pegge

Catherine Pegge was an Englishwoman of the mid-17th century known primarily for her relationship with Charles II of England during his exile and the Restoration. She is recorded in contemporary diaries and correspondence as a member of a landed gentry family with Royalist connections whose liaison with the future king produced offspring who were acknowledged in varying degrees by Royal circles. Pegge's life intersects with the political upheavals of the English Civil Wars, the Interregnum, and the Restoration, placing her in proximity to figures and institutions central to 17th‑century British history.

Early life and family background

Catherine Pegge was born into the Pegge family, a minor English landed gentry lineage associated with estates in Derbyshire and properties near Wales and Staffordshire. Contemporary accounts and family pedigrees situate her in the network of Royalist households that included links to prominent Cavaliers such as the Earl of Derby, the Duke of Newcastle, and regional magnates who supported Charles I of England during the English Civil War. The Pegge family maintained connections with legal and courtly circles, interacting with institutions like the Court of Chancery and social figures connected to King's Bench and county administration. Her upbringing within these networks placed her in the orbit of exiled Royalists and émigré courts that formed hubs in The Hague, Brussels, and Paris during the king's exile.

Relationship with Charles II

Catherine Pegge's association with Charles II dates to the period of his exile in the 1650s when the future monarch maintained households and entourages in continental centers such as Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Brussels. Contemporary letters and memoirs note that Charles's circle included companions from families like the Pegges as well as courtiers connected to households of the Duke of York and the Marquess of Worcester. The liaison produced at least two children commonly attributed to the king; the relationship occurred alongside Charles's other known affairs with figures connected to houses such as Blenheim Palace families and courtiers from the Royalist court-in-exile. Surviving notices in parish registers and gentry visitation records place Pegge within the milieu of restoration hopefuls and correspondents who communicated with Royalist agents operating in Scotland and Ireland.

Children and descendants

Catherine Pegge is associated with two children traditionally named in contemporary genealogies as Charles FitzCharles and Catherine FitzCharles. Charles FitzCharles was reportedly created or recognized in certain documents and entered service or positions linked to Royal patronage circles influenced by Lord Clarendon and the Cabal Ministry. The younger Catherine FitzCharles is less well documented but appears in family trees connected to provincial gentry and households patronized by the court, with later marital alliances tying her descendants to families active in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and other counties. Through these offspring, Pegge's line intersected with broader networks that included landed families represented in the House of Commons and offices such as the High Sheriff of county jurisdictions. Genealogists and heralds working with the College of Arms and antiquarian compilations like the works of Sir William Dugdale and John Burke recorded these connections, though documentation varies in detail and reliability.

Later life and death

After the Restoration of Charles II of England in 1660, Catherine Pegge's public profile receded as court patronage and noble households dominated the social scene, and many former companions of the exiled court settled into provincial roles or private life. Records indicate she lived beyond the early 1660s, with some probate and parish notations suggesting activity into the 1670s; exact dates of death and burial remain uncertain in surviving parish registers and heraldic visitations. As London resumed centrality under institutions like the Court of King’s Bench and civic offices such as the Lord Mayor of London, women like Pegge who had been associated with the exiled court often retired from prominence, their later lives recorded intermittently in family papers, estate settlements, and the correspondence collections of officials like Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn.

Legacy and historical assessments

Historians and antiquarians have treated Catherine Pegge primarily as a peripheral but illustrative figure for understanding the personal networks of Charles II of England and the social composition of the court-in-exile. Her presence in genealogical compilations by heralds and in memoirs of Restoration courtiers has made her a reference point in studies of royal illegitimacy, patronage, and the reconstruction of Royal households after 1660. Scholarly works on the Restoration, including those addressing the court of Charles II of England and the political culture of figures like Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and the Duke of Buckingham, use cases such as Pegge's to trace how intimate relationships affected succession politics, social mobility, and the distribution of favors. Antiquarian sources such as parish registers, heraldic visitations, and the archives of the College of Arms continue to be mined by researchers seeking to clarify details of her life and descendants, while genealogical publications and local histories of Derbyshire and adjacent counties preserve the memory of her family within the broader tapestry of 17th‑century British society.

Category:17th-century English people Category:Mistresses of Charles II