Maude Petre is a somewhat neglected figure mentioned today chiefly in regard to her association with the Catholic Modernist, George Tyrrell. The aim of the thesis will be to strive to retrieve her from this neglect by showing that she was a significant figure in her own right with a substantial body of published work. Attention will be given in particular to her writings in the later years of her life in which little interest has hitherto been shown. The thesis will endeavour to trace her main ideas as expressed in her published works and see how they developed over the course of her long life. The issue of authority and liberty in Church and society will be highlighted as one of the dominant themes of her writing. Her life and thought will be placed in the context of her age and its many changes both in Church and society and her writings will be related to the events of her own life as recorded in her own diaries. An attempt will be made in conclusion to evaluate the wider significance of her life and thought.