Perry Family History
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GENEALOGY OF THE PERRY FAMILY & The Fortescue Ancestry 1016AD To The Present Compiled By Colin S Perry 1 PREFACE I have always felt it important, as well as interesting, to learn about one’s ancestors and lineage. It not only increases the knowledge of one’s family and where we came from, but also can bring many surprises with it. Forebears spring up in what seem to be the most unlikely places. For example, the writer emigrated to Australia with his parents in the 1950s, and for many years I was under the impression that apart from the three of us there were none of the immediate Perry family over here. Research and information received from others reveal we were latecomers in this regard, and many Perry family members preceded us. There are also branches in the United States and South Africa, and for all we know in many other parts of the world. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that we can trace our lineage right back to the time of William the Conqueror, as will be seen in following pages. Much of the information put together in this work has been gleaned by me through the Ancestry.com website, together with information from other relatives and recollections of conversations with my parents and with other family before we left England. However a huge and valuable amount information has come from other people researching the family, and they must receive an enormous amount of credit for their contributions. In no particular order, my sincere thanks to Rhiannon Edmonds, Colin Barker, Jean Griffiths, Fiona Eileen Perry and Marissa Clacy, and my apologies to those whose name I may have overlooked. In particular, writings by William Pagden Perry back in 1933 and made available by Rhiannon have been particularly valuable and welcome. The Internet has, of course, also provided a source of much background information on the Fortescue ancestry. It is inevitable in a work like this that errors of omission and commission, and perhaps even principle, will occur. Where possible I have identified definite provenance for some of the information; in other cases the law of probability has been applied; in yet other cases educated guesswork has been used. When all else has failed, I have accepted information given to me on its face value and in good faith. If the reader disagrees with anything that appears, or can contribute further to the fund of knowledge, please, please let me know. Colin S Perry North Rocks NSW July 2009 Version 1.2 eMail: [email protected] 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE - THE FORTESCUE CONNECTION 4 PART TWO – THE JOHN PERRY LINEAGE 14 Christian Krebs Perry Lineage 14 The Phillis Emily Perry Line 18 The William John Perry Line 22 The Lillian Perry Line 36 The Florence Harriet Perry Line 37 Clara Jane Perry Lineage 40 Richard Alexander Perry Lineage 46 The James Drummond Perry Line 49 The Frank Perry Line 52 Others Of Richard Alexander Perry’s Lineage 53 Others of John Perry’s Lineage 56 PART THREE – THE JANE PERRY LINEAGE 58 The Gibson-Morley Line 63 Others Of The Gibson Line 67 PART FOUR – THE WILLIAM FORTESCUE PERRY LINEAGE 70 The William Pagden Perry Line 73 The Stephen Edward Perry Line 76 Others Of William Fortescue’s Lineage 78 PART FIVE – FROM 1066 AND ALL THAT! 82 ADDENDUM 93 • The Killen Family 93 • The Krebs Family 94 • Castle Hill, Filleigh, Devon 94 INDEX OF NAMES 97 3 PART ONE - THE FORTESCUE CONNECTION 4 Hugh Fortescue The House of Fortescue has a history stretching back several centuries and dates to before the Battle of Hastings (1066), where Richard le Fort saved the life of William the Conqueror by the shelter of his shield, thereafter to be known as Fort- Escu ("strong shield"). His descendants have taken for their motto, Forte scutum salus ducum - "A strong shield is the safety of leaders." Hugh Fortescue was born on 12 March 1753 at the family home, Castle Hill, in Filleigh, near Barnstaple in Devon, the eldest son of Matthew, 2nd Baron Fortescue of Castle Hill, and Anne Campbell. He was educated at Eton College and University College, Oxford University, from where he matriculated on 10 May 1770 aged 17. Hugh was 28 when he fell in love with and married a 20 year old ladies maid, Amy Collings, in 1781 at Castle Hill, North Devon, and it is possible that this may have been a secret marriage. A son, William, was born in 1782. Within one year of marriage, Fortescue had annulled the marriage, and the son William Fortescue took on his mother's maiden name, Collings. However in the blood line, so to speak, Hugh Fortescue was the writer’s great great great great grandfather. In modern times a marriage contract cannot be put aside and treated as null because of inaccuracy as long as the bride and bridegroom are of age and are sane. However in 1781 a very different state of affairs existed and the most trivial misstatement such as an incorrect name or age rendered the marriage invalid. Within a year, Hugh must have taken advantage of a legal flaw to set aside the marriage. Why he did so remains unknown, but it could well be that family pressure over him marrying below his station was a factor. Whatever the cause, he must have discovered some irregularity that was adequate and justified him in treating the marriage as if it had never existed. As to the validation that these events took place, in his writings in 1933 William Pagden Perry stated that he had seen ample proof and that he had been struck by his own father’s distinct resemblance to a steel engraving of his grandfather Hugh. What that proof was he did not say. For the writer’s own part, I can clearly remember my own grandfather, William John Perry, telling me that our line was descended from the illegitimate son of a nobleman, although this far out I cannot remember if the Fortescue name was mentioned. Another clue is the number of times the name Fortescue appears among the descendants of William Perry. It will now be difficult if not impossible to obtain documentary proof of the marriage and annulment, but in my opinion the truth cannot be doubted. Hugh Fortescue later married Hester Granville on 10 May 1782 at St James' Church, Westminster, London, the daughter of the Rt. Hon. George Grenville, who was Prime Minister of Britain between 1763 and 1765. They had ten children. He was the Member of Parliament for Beaumaris, Wales, between 1784 and 1785, and on 1o July in the latter year he was created 3rd Baron Fortescue of Castle Hill following his father’s death. On 1 September 1789 he was created 1st Viscount Ebrington, of Ebrington in Gloucestershire and 1st Earl Fortescue, titles he held until his death when he was succeeded by his son, also Hugh Fortescue. He 5 also held the offices of Lord Lieutenant and Vice Admiral of Devon from 1788 until 1839. He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.) and invested as a Fellow, Society of Antiquaries (F.S.A.). Hugh Fortescue died on the 16 June 1841 at Castle Hill. The ancestry of Hugh, 1st Earl Fortescue, will be covered in detail in Part Five of this work. Amy Collings Amy Collings was born in 1761, the daughter of a farmer, Daniel Collings, and his wife Joan, who lived at Bere Ferrers in South Devon. As mentioned above, she married Hugh Fortescue and they had a son, William, but the marriage was subsequently annulled, therefore making William legally illegitimate. In 1790, she married William Perry at Stoke Damarel, Devon, and her son took on his stepfather's name of Perry. Amy Perry is said to have died of consumption in 1838. Assuming she died in Hardway, Hampshire (see William Perry following), no Death record has been found. William Perry ((TheThe Stepfather) William Perry was a mariner of His Majesty's ship Carnatic . HMS Carnatic was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 21 January 1783 at Deptford. On 17 May 1815, she was renamed HMS Captain . The Captain was broken up in 1825. William died in 1838 and there is a record of a William Perry having died in the first quarter of 1838 in Alverstoke, Hampshire (reference Volume 7 Page 7), which could well be the William in question, as he and his wife Amy were by then living with his son William at Elson, near Hardway, which is adjacent to Alverstoke. This has been confirmed by information from J H Stead, Undertaker of North Street, Gosport. William was by then a retired Warrant Officer in Her Majesty's Navy, and the cause of death natural decay. HMS Carnatic Figurehead 6 Castle Hill was built in 1730 as Earl Fortescue's family home, in which his descendants are living. The Palladian House is set in a magnificent 18th century park with many original follies, a sham castle and Triumphal Arch. The woodland gardens are planted in abundance with magnolias, camellias, rhododendrons, eucryphias and many rare trees. The formal gardens include the Millennium Garden designed by Xa Tollemache and a "Topiary" water sculpture by Giles Rayner. The house has beautifully decorated elegant rooms, some of which are used for weddings and entertaining. "FILLEIGH , a small village, pleasantly situated 3½ miles W. of South Molton, and 8 miles E.S.E. of Barnstaple, has in its parish 395 souls, and 2200 acres of land, including about 826 acres in the large and finely wooded park of CASTLE HILL, the beautiful seat of Earl Fortescue , who has another seat at Ebrington Hall, Gloucestershire.