Charles Peter Layard

Charles Peter Layard, F.R.S., D.D. (19 February 1750 – 11 April 1803) was Dean of Bristol from 1800 until his death.

Early life Layard was born on 19 February 1750 in London. He was the son of the former Susanne Henriette de Boisragon and Dr. Daniel Peter Layard, the physician to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (the wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales and mother of King George III). Among his siblings were Lt.-Gen. John Thomas Layard (who married Frances Richardson), Lt.-Gen. Anthony Lewis Layard, Susanna Henrietta Layard (wife of Peter Pegus) and Charlotte Sophia Layard (wife of Henry Blatchford Scudamore).

He was ordained deacon on 21 December 1771; and priest on 27 February 1774. He was the Vicar at Kewstock between 1777 and 1799 and was appointed Fellow of the Royal Society in 1778. He held the office of Prebendary of Worcester Cathedral in 1793, Rector at Uffington between 1798 and 1803, and the office of Prebendary of Bangor Cathedral between 1799 and 1803.

He was the Minister at the Oxenden Chapel, a daughter church of St Martin-in-the-Fields before holding incumbencies in Wootton Bassett, Uffington and Kewstoke.

Personal life On 1 December 1777, Layard was married to Elizabeth Ward (d. 1796), a daughter of Joseph Ward and Ruth (née Carver) Ward of Greenwich, Kent. Together, they were the parents of:

Brownlow Villiers Layard (1779–1861), the eldest son, an army officer who served as aide-de-camp and Chaplain to The Duke of Kent. Charlotte Susanna Elizabeth (1780–1858), married, as his second wife, Albemarle Bertie, 9th Earl of Lindsey. After his death in September 1818, she married, the Rev. William Peter Pegus in April 1821. Henrietta Margaret Layard (1782–1855), who died unmarried. Sophia Catherine Layard (1784–1785), who died unmarried. From her second marriage, he was, again posthumously, a grandfather of Maria Antoinetta Pegus (–1893), who married Charles Gordon, 10th Marquess of Huntly (the widower of Lady Elizabeth Henrietta Conyngham, the eldest daughter of Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham), in 1844.

Through his son Charles, he was a grandfather of Sir Charles Peter Layard (1806–1893), the first Mayor of Colombo and the Government Agent for the Western Provinces of Ceylon. Sir Charles was the father of Charles Peter Layard (1849–1916), the 18th Chief Justice of Ceylon, and the grandfather of Sir Herbert Layard Dowbiggin (1880–1966), the British colonial Inspector General of Police of Ceylon.

Through his son Henry, he was a grandfather of Austen Henry Layard, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.