James Perrott (1697 - bef. 1726)

Ancestors

Biography

James may have been born in 1697, the son of John Perrott and Darneline (Row) Perrott. His father could have been a member of the Haverforwest Quaker Meeting in 1699 ^[1]

James Perrott was a Quaker whose widow, Mary (Stafford) Perrott, also 'a convinced Friend', left lands in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire as a Quaker burial ground, and a cottage to use as a meeting house.

Below is the transcription of a title deed of 1726 for a Quaker Burial Ground in Laugharne purchased by Mary (nee Stafford) widow of James Perrott of the town. In 1742 Mary's nephew and devisee, John Stafford, leased land nearby, formerly in her possession, for the erection of a Meeting House for Friends. It was duly built but sold in 1824 and by 1905 no remains were visible. There follows an 1840 sketch of the interior of a 'Quaker cottage' which is very likely the same building. 'Carmarthenshire People Called Quakers' by Geo Eyre Evans 1906

1726 Lease for 'Perrott's Yard'

In 1827 Walter Perrott (1744-1833), son of James Perrott (1716-c1757), who is my direct ancestor, wrote the following letter about his grandfather's brother, James Perrott a Quaker of Laugharne. His widow Mary had made lands over to the Society of Friends a century before and is the person identified in the document above.

Walter Perrott's letter about his Quaker grandfather + 1908 extract from 'The Welshman'

Archdeacon Edward Tenison's 'Visitation of Carmarthen' in 1710 records the following about Laugharne:
"In the Parish are two Meetings one of Quakers & another of Presbyterians. They are both of a long standing. The Quakers have continued ever since the reign of K. Charles II, & the Presbyterians were here in K. James's reign, the reason the Presbyterians give for going to Meetings when the present Minister came first to the Parish was because they had no Sermons at Church in a language they understood, this within a quarter of a year after his Induction induc'd him to take an Assistant to preach in Welsh, which has had a very good effect upon the Dissenters by reducing the number of Presbyterian Families from 16 to 4. The Quakers are two families, & there are besides two other Dissenters that call themselves Antinomians." ^{[2] [3]}

Research note

Conjectured son of John and Darneline only. If James, who married Mary Stafford in 1720 and died before 1726, was their son we know that my ancestor Walter was his brother.

Sources

1. ↑ p 38/95 Quakers of Pembs by David Salmon
2. ↑ A Visitation of the Archdeaconry of Carmarthen, 1710
3. ↑ see "Quakers of Pembs" West Wales Historical Records Vol 12 p 117

• Family Record Sources –(Perrot(t) Family in Wales Archive)

• Laugharne Parish Registers