Thomas Perrot (abt. 1382 - 1460)

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Died 10 Apr 1460 at about age 78 in Bristol

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Biography

Sir Thomas Perrot (cal 1382 - 10 April 1460 in Bristol) of Eastington and Haroldston

• Moved family to Haroldston sometime after 1442
• Turvey: "Knighted sometime between 1442 and 1446, Perrot occupied high office in the earldom for more than twenty years, serving as sheriff and steward of the county." Either he or his son was employed as one of the councillors of Jasper Tudor. Note that although Sir Thomas was said to be in the battle of Mortimer's Cross, 2 February 1461, he was already dead, so it had to be his son, Thomas, who appears in the roster.
• Barnwell: "To this Sir Thomas, in connexion with Henry Malefant, a commission (14 Nov., 4 Hen. IV) was issued by Sir Francis A'Court to raise certain sums in Carew and other places, and to pay £200 in silver to Owen Glendwr, on condition of a cessation of hostilities. The money was first to be transferred to Stephen Perrot and John Castlemartin. The Henry Malefant here mentioned is probably the nephew of Stephen Malefant, who married Alice Perrot.
• Married Alice (b ~1400; d 31 April 1441), daughter of Sir John ap William ap Thomas ap Sir William Picton (aka John Picton, d 1440) ca 1440, by whom diverse descents of inheritance came to the Perrot family. Next married Joane, daughter of John Arnold and widow of Llywelyn Warren of Warren. Her deed is dated 1465.
• Son Thomas
• Son Stephen, d 20 June 1461.
• Daughter Emma, wife of Sir Richard Newton (aka Cradock; d 1444), of Newton Noyes, Llanstadwel, Pembrokeshire, Wales, who became Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1439
• Daughter Margaret, second wife of Gruffydd ap Nicholas, who died during the battle of Mortimer's cross, fighting for the Yorkists. She next married John Vytere.
• Daughter Joan 1st, married Gruffudd ap Nicolas (b ~1400) of Llandeilo Fawr, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. 2 Feb 1461, Battle of Mortimer's Cross, Herefordshire, England.
• Daughter Joan 2nd, married Sir Harry Wogan of Cas-wis, Pembrokeshire, Wales; d 1469, Battle of Edgecote Field, Banbury, Oxfordshire, England.
• Daughter Jane/Jonet, married Philip Eliot of Erwer, Amroth, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
• There were 3 Jane Perrots from 3 straight generations who married into the Elliott family, generating confusion.
• Daughter Annes, married Hywel ap Dafydd (b ~1400) of Gwernant, Troed-yr-aur, Cardiganshire, Wales.
• Daughter Agnes, married William Warren of Warrington
• Daughter Ellen, maried first Richard Wyriott of Orielton, Hundleton, Pembrokeshire, Wales; then Lewis Davy
• Son John, possibly married to Ellen; fate unknown. Turvey (1990) thinks is the John who founded the Perrot family in Woodstock.
• Son Henry- owned Caervoriog. Married Isabella Laugharne of Pembrokeshire, Wales. His widow returned it to Haroldston.
• Daughter Anne (b ~1430) married William Waring, (b ~1400; d 1484) of Tre-wern, Nyfer, Pembrokeshire, Wales
• Son Stephen Perrot

^[1] From Notes on Henry Perrot of Caervoriog who became subject to dispute and legal proceedings in 1502. He was the youngest son of Sir Thomas Perrot by his second wife Joan, the widow of Lewis (or Llywelyn) Warren of Trewern in Cemais. Sir Thomas was a member of the county’s powerful elite being one of a small cabal of ministers on whose shoulders fell the burden of governing the shire on behalf of their lord, Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke. It was an unstable period in English politics with the dynastic rivalry between the houses of York and Lancaster threatening to plunge the kingdom into civil war. When war did break out in 1455, labelled by some historians as the Wars of the Roses, the Perrots allied themselves to the Lancastrians but with catastrophic results for in April 1461 Sir Thomas, became one of its earliest casualties. He died in Bristol of wounds received two months before at the battle of Mortimer’s Cross and was succeeded as head of the family by Thomas, his eldest son from his first marriage to Alice Picton. Sir Thomas left no less than eleven children, four boys and seven girls, of whom Henry appears to have been among the youngest. In a remarkable marriage policy to rival that of any would-be potentate, His daughters were wedded to men belonging to some of the most powerful families in Pembrokeshire – Elliot, Newton, Warren, Wogan and Wyrriot. Nor did this mix of marriage and politics end at the borders of Pembrokeshire for in casting his net wider Sir Thomas succeeded in attracting a suitor for his daughter Margaret, who was arguably among the most powerful men in south Wales. The ambitious and aggressive Gruffudd ap Nicholas, of Dinefwr in Carmarthenshire, was a man to be reckoned with and though a Lancastrian like his Perrot father-in-law, self interest tended to dominate this Welshman’s agenda. Sir Thomas did not neglect to see to the needs of his sons for whom suitable brides were found from within the county, for example, the eldest, Thomas, was married to Jane, the daughter of John Wyse, whilst Henry was betrothed to Isabel, the daughter of Thomas Laugharne of St. Brides. Primogeniture ensured that Henry,Stephen and John, were unlikely to inherit a fortune and so had to make their own way in the world. That said, it does seem that their father had made some provision for them for it is evident that during the latter half of the fifteenth century Henry and his brothers were comfortably settled on the family’s outlying estates. It is possible that in an effort to provide for his sons, Sir Thomas may have invested them with a modest property of their own, whilst entrusting each of them with the management of a family estate. Thus, whilst John could be found managing the Perrot manor of Woodstock in the lordship of Wiston, he was given possession of property in the lordship of Llansteffan. Similarly, Stephen appears to have been settled in Canaston in the lordship of Narberth whilst his half brother, Henry, was packed off north to Pebidiog or Dewsland, the lordship of the bishop of St. David’s. It is here, in the late 1450s, that Henry first enters the historical record transacting business with his employer, the bishop of St. David’s, John de la Bere.6 The bishop agreed to renounce his rights to lands held by Henry Perrot who is described as the former constable of Pebidiog and keeper of the forests of Llwydarth and Grasswood.

In view of his family connections and administrative responsibilities it is perhaps surprising to find that Henry’s landholdings and property interests were relatively modest. The centre of his landholdings, and the place he called home, was the small manor of Gwar-y-Coed near Solva but his property interests ranged further afield. He owned land at nearby Hendregruffudd and managed Perrot property at Whitchurch and Caerforiog. Henry was a man in whom people placed a great deal of trust for in 1469 Philip Lloyddyn issued a letter of attorney appointing him, as the chief tenant, to hold the manorial courts of Whitchurch and Gwar-y-Coed.13 Presiding over the manorial courts and accounting for rents, and fines, must have done much to enhance Henry’s status and reputation. Henry’s interests were not confined to rural estates for it is clear he owned property in the episcopal borough of St. David’s in which he later became a burgess. Henry’s burghal and mercantile interests extended as far as Haverfordwest for in the summer of 1464 he was busy conveying a burgage in High Street together with three and a half burgages and gardens in Goat’s Street, to John Waryn and his wife Gwenllian.14 Waryn, a wealthy tailor in the town, was to hold the properties for life, paying his Perrot landlord an annual rent of 18s. That Henry and his wife Isabella effected this transaction to Waryn jointly suggests that the properties may have come into Perrot’s possession through marriage. The Laugharnes were merchants of some consequence in the town and for much of the fifteenth century they were active in the property market. Waryn was clearly a successful businessman for he was able later to purchase property in Llawhaden and take up the life of a country gentleman. He and Henry would later transact business in the lordship of Pebidiog since there is evidence to suggest that Waryn had acquired an interest in Caerforiog and its environs. However, as events were later to prove, it was a transaction that was to sour relations between Waryn and Henry’s heir, his nephew, Sir William Perrot.

Henry’s interests in Haverfordwest notwithstanding, his primary focus remained those estates he owned and those he managed on behalf of his family in the bishop’s lordship of Pebidiog. Caerforiog was a substantial manor and it is here that he first settled when he came north to manage the Perrot estates.15 This explains why he is sometimes referred to as being ‘of Caervoriog’ but once he acquired Gwar-y-Coed in his own right he moved and settled there. Gawr-y-Coed still exists but the original manor house is no more and has been replaced by a modern, possibly Victorian, farmhouse. It was here, at Gwar-y-Coed, that Henry made his will before his death in the spring of 1491. Henry’s date of birth date is not known but he was dead by 12 April 1491 when his will was proved in the local ecclesiastical court.16 It is evident that he and Isabella were not blessed with children, which explains why he willed that his wife would enjoy his estates during her lifetime but that upon her death they were to pass to his nephew Sir William Perrot of Haroldston. Isabella outlived her husband by some eleven years and was almost certainly dead by the summer of 1502.17 A few years before her death, in March 1498, she returned those properties her husband had been entrusted to manage on behalf of his family.18 Although Henry had only a life interest in Caerforiog his widow was allowed to continue to hold the estate for some seven years before agreeing to convey it to her husband’s nephew. The last we hear of ‘Harry Perrotte … late of Caerveriocke Esquyer’ is as an incidental reference in a legal dispute between Sir William Perrot and John Waryn of ‘Lauhaden Gentilman’.19 The two were in bitter conflict about property and rents in and around Caerforiog which had been granted to Waryn by Henry but which Sir William was seeking to recover. The property and sums involved were not huge, some ten acres with rents attached, amounting to 52s. 10d., but it was sufficient to warrant a commission to settle the matter. Unfortunately, the original petition is missing and all that remains is the findings of the arbitrators, headed by Richard Raithor, doctor of law, and assisted by two local esquires, Trahearn ap Morgan and John Walter. The document was drawn up on 19 July, after which it was witnessed and sealed at Haroldston a few days later and the disputed properties and rents were returned to the Perrots metime after his appointment to the see in 1447.12 It is possible that Henry’s appointment to office may have coincided with his brother-in-law’s running of the bishop’s administration. In view of his family connections and administrative responsibilities it is perhaps surprising to find that Henry’s landholdings and property interests were relatively modest. The centre of his landholdings, and the place he called home, was the small manor of Gwar-y-Coed near Solva but his property interests ranged further afield. He owned land at nearby Hendregruffudd and managed Perrot property at Whitchurch and Caerforiog. Henry was a man in whom people placed a great deal of trust for in 1469 Philip Lloyddyn issued a letter of attorney appointing him, as the chief tenant, to hold the manorial courts of Whitchurch and Gwar-y-Coed.13 Presiding over the manorial courts and accounting for rents, and fines, must have done much to enhance Henry’s status and reputation. Henry’s interests were not confined to rural estates for it is clear he owned property in the episcopal borough of St. David’s in which he later became a burgess. Henry’s burghal and mercantile interests extended as far as Haverfordwest for in the summer of 1464 he was busy conveying a burgage in High Street together with three and a half burgages and gardens in Goat’s Street, to John Waryn and his wife Gwenllian.14 Waryn, a wealthy tailor in the town, was to hold the properties for life, paying his Perrot landlord an annual rent of 18s. That Henry and his wife Isabella effected this transaction to Waryn jointly suggests that the properties may have come into Perrot’s possession through marriage. The Laugharnes were merchants of some consequence in the town and for much of the fifteenth century they were active in the property market. Waryn was clearly a successful businessman for he was able later to purchase property in Llawhaden and take up the life of a country gentleman. He and Henry would later transact business in the lordship of Pebidiog since there is evidence to suggest that Waryn had acquired an interest in Caerforiog and its environs. However, as events were later to prove, it was a transaction that was to sour relations between Waryn and Henry’s heir, his nephew, Sir William Perrot.

Sources

Permissions See #3

1. ↑ Perrot Main Lineage by Wayne Parrott