Place Name
The Pettiward family have held land in Putney since around 1630 when a John Pettiward married Sarah White, daughter and heiress of Henry White a baker who held land around the town. In 1653, during the Commonwealth John was appointed by Parliament as Sheriff of Surrey. However, his allegiances appear to have been with the Royalists, and following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, he had little trouble adapting to the return of the old regime. Either through the direct male line or, failing the birth of any male heirs, to the eldest male cousins who as part of the inheritance would be obliged to change their names to perpetuate the Pettiward lineage, the family’s ownership of parts of Putney and West Brompton continues to this day. There have been a few notable Pettiwards over the centuries. In 1763 Reverend Roger Pettiward gave the parish of Putney a piece of ground adjoining the road from Wandsworth to Richmond, for the purpose of a cemetery, now Putney Old Burial Ground. Another Roger Pettiward (1754 – 1833) was Master of the Worshipful Company of Stationers, when he died the land was passed to a cousin Robert John Bussell, who changed his name to Pettiward as per the will, since Roger and his wife Jane had no surviving male heirs. Shortly before he died in 1908, Robert began developing his Putney interests. In 1893 on the agricultural land immediately east of Erpingham Road he built an athletic track and concrete cycling velodrome, the first of its type in the United Kingdom. In 1904 houses were built on the land. Roger Gamelyn Pettiward (1906 – August 19, 1942), served in World War II with the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment and was killed in action during the Dieppe raid whilst leading a troop from No. 4 Commando against German coastal guns.
