PERROTT, Herbert (c.1617-83), of Wellington, Herefs. and Haroldston St. Issells, Pemb.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

2 Aug. 1660
14 Aug. 1677

Family and Education

b. c.1617, 1st s. of Robert Perrott of Moreton-on-Lugg, Herefs. by Fortuna, da. of Richard Tomkyns of Monnington-on-Wye, Herels., wid. of Walter Pembridge of Mansell Gamage, Herefs. educ. Brasenose, Oxf. matric. 21 Feb. 1634, aged 16; G. Inn 1635-at least 1639, called 1651. m. (1) bef. 5 Sept. 1643, Jane (d. 9 Jan. 1667), da. and coh. of Thomas Lloyd of Cilciffeth, Pemb., 3s. d.v.p.; (2) Hester, da. of George Barlow of Slibech, Pemb., 1da.; (3) 1668, Susanna, da. of Sir Francis Norreys of Weston on the Green, Oxon., s.p. suc. to Pemb. estate of Sir James Perrott 1637, fa. 1657; kntd. 14 Aug. 1660.1

Offices Held

Commr. for association, S.W. Wales 1644, assessment, Pemb. and Haverfordwest 1648, Pemb. 1649-52, 1657, Jan. 1660-80, Herefs. Aug. 1660-80, Haverfordwest Sept. 1660-3, 1677-80, militia, Pemb. 1648, Herefs. and Pemb. Mar. 1660; j.p. Pemb. 1650-d., Herels. 1658-70, 1673-d., Haverfordwest 1659-?d.; dep. lt. Herefs. 1661-2, Pemb. 1676-d.; sheriff, Herefs. 1661-2, Pemb. 1665-6; receiver of taxes, Herefs. 1661-3, commr. for recusants 1675; mayor, Haverfordwest 1677-8.2

Gent. pensioner extraordinary 1662-?d.3

Biography

Perrott’s ancestors were undistinguished minor gentry, living at Moreton-on-Lugg as tenants of the prebendaries of Hereford. His father was a clerk in the Exchequer, and it is doubtful whether he really belonged to the well-known Pembrokeshire family whose estates he inherited. Perrott was a parliamentary sympathizer in the Civil War, though he rejected the appellation of Roundhead, and held local office under every regime from 1644 to his death. As a cousin of the Cavalier Thomas Tomkyns he represented the family interest of Weobley in the general elections of 1659 and 1660, but in the latter was denied the poll. On his petition the election was declared void and Perrott and Tomkyns were returned. He proved an inactive Member of the Convention, in which he was named only to the committees to exempt ex-soldiers from apprenticeship and for two private bills. He made no speeches, but probably voted with the Presbyterian Opposition. He signed the petition against the re-establishment of the court of the marches at Ludlow.4

Perrott does not appear to have stood in 1661, and was omitted from the lieutenancy in Herefordshire in the following year, probably because of his nonconformist sympathies. He gave a farm to the ejected minister Peregrine Phillips, which became a centre for the Pembrokeshire dissenters. His receivership of taxes brought him into conflict with the formidable John Birch, who was building up his own interest at Weobley, and insisted on Perrot’s responsibility for the arrears. However, he seems to have passed his accounts by 1669. He returned to the House in 1677 after a contested election at Haverfordwest, the family borough which his Pembrokeshire property adjoined, and was noted as ‘worthy’ by Shaftesbury. He was again inactive in the Cavalier Parliament, being appointed only to the committees considering the maintenance of St. Asaph Cathedral, the reform of the poor laws and the estate bill of Sir Trevor Williams. He is not known to have stood again, and died on 1 Aug. 1683, aged 67. His only son, a clever satirist, had been stabbed to death after using ‘provoking language’ at the Devil tavern in 1678, and his estates were inherited by his daughter, who brought them to her husband, Sir John Pakington, 4th Bt. His widow married, as his second wife, Sir Cyril Wyche.5

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: M. W. Helms / Edward Rowlands

Notes

  • 1. C. J. Robinson, Mansions and Manors of Herefs. 287; Arch. Camb. (ser. 3), xi. 128; xii. 175; Pemb. Hist. iv. 59.
  • 2. Cal. Treas. Bks. i. 676; ii. 144; Arch. Camb. (ser. 3), xii. 177.
  • 3. Beaufort mss 600.2 (clerk of the cheque’s bk.).
  • 4. Cooke, Herefs. iv. 176; Court of Chivalry Reps. (Harl. Soc. cvii) 44; Military Mem. of Col. Birch (Cam. Soc. n.s. vii), 142; CJ, viii. 90; BL Loan 29/88.
  • 5. Calamy, Continuation, ii. 842-3; Cal. Treas. Bks. iii. 82; CSP Dom. 1678, p. 186; Cooke, iv. 178; Robinson, 54.