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Family Notes - June 2012
This is a sample of the information provided to members of the P*rr*tt Society in the most recent edition of Family Notes. Family Notes is a 56-page printed magazine that is distributed to society members every quarter.
What's New on the Web Part 2 : A Detailed Search A Further Look at Some of the Databases outlined in Part One Freedom of the City Admission Papers on Ancestry and the Medway ‘P’s I found a splendid Apprentice indenture for a James Thomas Perrett, son of James Perrett of 4 Gunpowder Alley, Shoe Lane, Fleet Street, which I saved, mainly I have to admit because I have this predilection for Gunpowder Alley. It is one of my aims in life to find one of my London ancestors living at this desirable address. I have come close, with the Swindall family living in a turning off the Alley, but never quite made it. If you get access to this set of records this particular indenture is worth looking at as it is in full colour. I also found the application for James Parratt MD, Saint Andrews, of Mount Street and son of James Parratt, for admission by redemption to the Company of Apothecaries. Unfortunately, I could not find my 3x GGF Clark the silversmith in these records, nor his son-in-law’s Freedom by redemption, ie ‘Cross our hand with silver and you’re in, mate’, so I abandoned my search. It may be that Ancestry has only loaded some of the data, as has happened with some of their other large sets of data, so I’ll keep looking. Instead I had another look at the P*RR*TTs living on and around the Medway to see whether I could make any progress by getting further back or by linking more families together or simply adding more information. Somehow I found myself looking at John Parrett who was married to Ann Tanner. Initially I thought that this might be a mis-transcription of Turner as at least two of their descendents have Turner as a second name so I looked for the parish register on Medway City Council’s site, City Ark under Medway Ancestors. The couple were married in All Saints at Frindsbury but Ancestry has them marrying at Dartford. The million dollar question is whose son is John? Some trees have him as the son of Joseph and Frances Lett and others as the son of John and Diana. A grand daughter named Frances or Diana would be a helpful indicator but I could not find one. Can any member provide a definitive answer to this question? John was a shipwright and his older children were baptised at St Mary the Virgin at Chatham. They were Charlotte (1796), Benjamin John (1797), Charles, who died young (1799-1800), Joseph (1801), John (1803), Daniel (1804) and Hester (1806). Two other children, Robert (1815) and Charles (1820) were born at Woolwich. Remembering what Philip MacDougall said to us at the Rochester/Chatham meeting in 2011, it looks as though John may have been loaned or transferred to Woolwich. This was still the era of a job for life and a pension. The gap between the births of Hester and Robert is a puzzle, but the later census returns do not show any children born between 1806 and 1815. Perhaps John moved without Ann and she joined him later. Their elder two sons Benjamin John and Joseph were also shipwrights and might have been apprentices at Chatham at the time of John’s move. Woolwich may not have had vacancies for two apprentices and therefore they had to stay behind with their mother - who knows? None of the public trees show a death for John so an age in a burial register or even a memorial inscription which might help to fix his year of birth and possibly his parentage would be very helpful. I followed his family to see where they went and where John might have lived before his death. Benjamin John stayed in Charles Street in Woolwich and left a will. Joseph also stayed in Woolwich until his death in 1852. I searched for the other children baptised to John and Ann and most, if not all of them, had moved to London. Amongst the references for Daniel’s name was one for the City of London Freedoms. Greatly intrigued I clicked on the link and read: 17th day of Septr 1844 I Daniel Parrett (Son of John Parrett, of Walworth, Surrey, Shipwright, Deced ) occupying premises No 45 Little Britain in the City of London, and carrying on the Business of an Oilman & Grocer do hereby apply to be admitted to the Freedom of the City of London, by redemption, in pursuance of the Resolution of the Court of Common Council of the 17th and 19th March, and 1st October, 1835, in the Company of Loriners of London and I hereby declare that I am not an Alien, nor the son of an Alien, and that I am above the age of 21 years. Daniel’s signature matches that on the marriage register at St Andrew Holborn, census returns confirm that he was born at Chatham and so we now know that John moved from Woolwich to Walworth, which is in the Newington registration district of Surrey, and that he died between 1820 and September 1844 in Surrey and not in Kent. Looking again at the Freedom of London records I could not find whether Daniel’s sons; Edwin and Leonard, were admitted as Freemen. However, Daniel’s nephew Frederic also applied for Freedom by redemption in 1860, and then his sons George William and Albert Edward Turner were elected to Freedom by patrimony in November 1887. In turn Albert’s sons Albert William Fuce and Frank Gerald followed their father, being elected in December 1920. I found Frederic’s name amongst the list of masters and looked to see who would be eligible for Freedom by serving an apprenticeship with him – and found the wheel had come full circle for I was staring at the indenture for James Thomas Perrett again. His father, James, was born in Wiltshire so perhaps they were descendents of Bartholomew. Was it coincidence that James approached Frederic, or were they related?
It's in the papers... Another selection of items found in old newspaper reports... Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW) 24 August 1931 CHILD CAUGHT ON A SHARK HOOK Melbourne, Monday: Playing in a shed at the rear of his home at Frankston, Ernest Perrott (10) became hooked by the ear to an 11 inch shark hook dangling on a chain from a rafter. He hung above the ground until his cries attracted his mother, who managed to unfasten the chain. Sydney Morning Herald, 27 October 1921: IN DIVORCE before Mr. Justice Gordon, Perrott v. Perrott The suit was continued in which Isabella Emily Bremner Perrott sued for judicial separation from Edward Montgomery Perrott on the grounds of cruelty. The petitioner complained that her husband persisted in flogging her, her wards, her maid servant, with a cat o’nine tails as a regular form of domestic discipline. Madame Montbenoit, a teacher of languages and formerly a teacher of French at the University of Sydney stated that she lived with Mrs. Perrott for 12 months during 1920-21 as a lodger. The respondent was at the place during 12 days and was intoxicated four times. On one occasion he locked his wife out of the house. Indianapolis Star, Indiana 28 March 1910: VOLCANOLOGIST SAYS ETNA MAY CAUSE AN EARTHQUAKE Catania March 27: While the quantity of lava from the craters of Mount Etna continues to decrease, the internal activity of the volcano was stronger today than yesterday. Frank A Perrett, the American vulcanologist, believes the decrease in flow of lava is due to obstructions in the new craters which prevent it flowing freely and that in a few days or perhaps in a week the molten mass will either force a passage or an earthquake will result.Unknown North American Newspaper, 1961: Evening Post, New Zealand 2 February 1933: CROSSING SMASH – TRAIN AND MOTOR CAR Auckland 1 February: 3 occupants of a sedan motor car had a miraculous escape from death when a car was struck at Jacob’s Ladder level crossing near Kaikohe by the south bound train this morning. The owner and driver of the car, W.Parrott, of Matarana, Mrs Parrott and T.Broomfield of Kaikohe received minor injuries and were taken to the Kaikohe hospital. The train struck the car on the driver’s side, just behind the front seat, hurling it off the line and completely wrecking it. The driver of the train pulled up promptly and backed the train to the scene of the accident. It was found that Mrs. Parrott was unconscious, bruised and suffering from shock. Mr. Parrott who had been thrown through the smashed roof was bruised and dazed and was also suffering from shock. Mr. Broomfield received bruises and scratches. The Jacob’s Ladder level crossing is about 4 miles south of Kaikohe on the Kaikohe – Whangarei road and is a particularly dangerous place, being on the hillside with the view of the approaching train obscured by a bend in the line.
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