Who is Miss Perrett?
On 22 September 1902 an advertisement appeared in the Jersey Evening Post proclaiming that:
A 9 DAYS’ MISSION WILL BE CONDUCTED BY MISS PERRETT IN THE PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHURCH (AQUILA ROAD), COMMENCING ON SUNDAY NEXT, SEPT. 28 TH 1902. SERVICES AT 11 a.m., 3 and 6.30 p.m. SPECIAL SERVICES WILL BE HELD EACH EVENING (SATURDAY EXCEPTED), Children’s Service from 6.30 to 7.30. Adults’ Service commencing 7.30. YOUNG PEOPLE ESPECIALLY ARE INVITED.
A few days later, the newspaper asked the question “WHO IS MISS and offered the explanation that she is “an Evangelist set apart by the Primitive Methodist Conference to work especially among the young” adding that she had conducted a successful mission in England and her services were so much in demand that she was usually booked twelve months in advance. The paper goes on to say that she is an attractive speaker whose success depends on “the forceful and winning way in which she presents the truth.
Whilst this might have provided Jersey’s residents with some insight into what they might expect at these services, it doesn’t provide much helpful information from a genealogical perspective. The newspaper goes on to report on the services, noting that they were very well attended and giving details of the subject matter covered, but no further biographical detail. Then, on 9 October 1902, the Jersey Evening Post promises that Miss Perrett is going to relate “The Story of Her Life” at a public meeting that evening …
The following day, there is a report from the public meeting. Miss PERRETT mentions that Jersey reminds her of her birthplace, Torquay, where she was “brought up in a Christian home, by godly and describes how the death of a beloved sister led to her desire to find Salvation. She goes on to say that her father’s death led to her taking on duties of conducting family worship when she was only a young girl and then, aged 17, she opened a private school and ran prayer union meetings at her home. There is also a story about her mother being “miraculously cured by faith, after being a cripple for over 12 years”. She had later been on a mission to Halifax and continued in such work ever since.
There are some useful clues here for someone familiar with this family, but quite a few P*RR*TTs in the Torquay area and we can’t be sure of her age from this account … perhaps one of our members whose P*RR*TT ancestors hail from this part of Devon might be able to answer the question “ WHO IS MISS PERRETT?”