John Edward Petit was born 22 June 1895 at Highgate, the son of Edward John Petit and Mary Bridget O'Dowd. He began his education at St Joseph's School, Highgate (1900-1910) and then at the age of fifteen went to Spain to complete his humanities and begin the study of philosophy and theology in the English College of St Alban at Valladolid (1910-16). The First World War made it impossible for him to remain in Spain after 1916 and in that year he returned to finish his theological studies at St Edmund's College, Ware (1916-18). He was ordained 9 May, 1918, as one of the first priests of the newly-erected Diocese of Brentwood. His bishop, who was the same Bernard Ward who had played a great part in the foundation of the House, sent him up to Cambridge for the Michaelmas Term of the same year. He resided at St Edmund's House (1918-21), read History as a member of Christ's College, took a Third in Part I and a 2:1 in Part II, and proceeded BA in 1921. For the next two years, except for a brief period in 1921 as secretary to Bishop Doubleday, the new Bishop of Brentwood, he was assistant priest at the Custom House in the East End (1921-23). After this he spent a brief year as parish priest at Maldon, Essex (1923-24) and then went to spend six years as Vice-Rector of the English College in Valladolid. He returned in 1930 to be priest-in-charge of North Dagenham 1930-31) and then parish priest of Grays, Essex (1931-34). In 1934 he was elected Master of St Edmund's House. After holding this office with great distinction for twelve years, Petit left the House in September 1946. He went immediately to stay with a clerical friend in the Nottingham diocese and, calling by chance one day on the bishop thereof, was invited on the spot to be the first Rector of a new Junior Seminary which Bishop Ellis intended to open at Tollerton. This appointment had no practical results: six months later, and long before the new Seminary could be opened, Fr Petit was nominated by the Holy See to be the fifth Bishop of Menevia. He was consecrated 25 March, 1947, at the cathedral in Wrexham, where he lived for the remainder of his life. His diocese was large and poor. It extended over the whole of Wales with the exception of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. He had 40,000 Catholics under his pastoral care, which was dominated by the same single-minded purpose which had sustained his work in Cambridge: an unremitting fight to bring Catholic children into Catholic schools. In 1968, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of his priesthood, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund's House. After ruling his diocese for twenty-five years and reaching the age of seventy-seven, he retired on 19 July 1972. He had less than twelve months of retirement and died 2 June, 1973. His funeral was marked by the same austerity and bluntness that had characterized his life: he had forbidden a panegyric and had enjoined that in its place there should be read a short posthumous message to his people that they should fight for their Catholic schools and preserve the faith of their children. His remains lie in the cemetery of the Franciscan Monastery at Pantasaph. [Notes courtesy of Garrett Sweeney, 'St Edmund's House, Cambridge: The First Eighty Years'.]