John Perrot
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Sir John Perrot (* 1527/1530 in Haroldston House , Haroldston St Issell's , † before September 26, 1592 in the Tower of London ) was an English politician and military man. From 1584 to 1588 he was Lord Deputy of Ireland .
Origin and youth
Perrot was believed to be born in Haroldston, southwest Wales, to Sir Thomas Perrot and his wife, Mary Berkeley . The year of his birth varies from 1527 to 1530. His mother, a daughter of James Berkeley of Thornbury , was a royal maid , and since her husband was knighted by King Henry VIII on the occasion of his wedding , it is often speculated that Perrot was the illegitimate son of the king. However, there is no evidence to support this assumption. Sir Thomas Perrot died in 1531. His widow married Thomas Jones from Abermarlais in Carmarthenshire . His mother had other children with her second husband, including Henry and Richard Jones . John Perrot claims to have been raised in St Davids . At the age of 18 he came into the household of William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester and so to the royal court.
Courtier and exile in France
The young Perrot enjoyed the favor of the old King Henry VIII. As early as 1547 he represented Carmarthenshire as Knight of the Shire in the House of Commons . Heinrich's son and successor Edward VI. proposed him on November 17, 1549 to the Knight of the Bath . Perrot was sheriff of Pembrokeshire from 1551 to 1552 . During the reign of Edward's half-sister Queen Maria , he was MP for Sandwich in October 1553 and 1555 . However, he did not support the attempt to re-Catholicize England and hid persecuted Protestants in his home in Haroldston. However, he was denounced, arrested, and briefly held in Fleet Prison . After his release he went into exile and served under the 1st Earl of Pembroke in France, where he took part in the Battle of St. Quentin in 1557 . The Earl of Pembroke enabled him to purchase Carew Castle in Pembrokeshire in 1558 , which he expanded into his main residence. He returned to England shortly before Queen Mary's death.
Rise to Pembrokeshire's Most Powerful Man
With the accession of Maria's half-sister Elizabeth I to the throne , Perrot became a favorite of the queen. He was one of the four courtiers who carried the canopy during their coronation. The Queen forgave him a guilty sentence and quickly gave him important and profitable offices in the administration of Pembrokeshire. In 1559 he became administrator of the estates of Narberth and St Clears Castle , in addition he received further property in Wales and England. In 1561, however, he had to answer before the Star Chamber because he had illegally appropriated possessions of the dissolved priory of Haverfordwest . However, his possessions were confirmed by the Star Chamber. In 1561 he was able to successfully claim the property of Rhys ap Gruffydd FitzUrien, dispossessed in 1531 and related to his father. In the general election in 1559, he was elected MP for Wareham , probably through the intervention of the 2nd Earl of Bedford , under whom he had served in France . At the next election he was Knight of the Shire for Pembrokeshire in 1563. From 1560 to 1561 he was mayor of Haverfordwest. In 1562 the Queen made him Vice Admiral of the South West Wales Coast and Overseer of Haverfordwest Prison. These and other offices had made him the most powerful man in Pembrokeshire, but his multitude of offices and unbridled temperament made him numerous enemies, including the Philipps family from Picton Castle , the Owen family from Henllys and the Barlech family from Slebech . Nevertheless, he was again mayor of Haverfordwest for one year in 1570.
Lord President of Munster in Ireland
Following the example of Connaught , the Queen appointed Perrot Lord President of the Irish Province of Munster in 1571 . He was also the commander of the English troops there and put down the first Desmond rebellion in checkered expeditions . Perrot acted ruthlessly against the rebels, executing 1,000 rebels within two years until James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald surrendered in February 1573. In July 1573, however, he had to return to Wales because of his poor health.
During his absence in Ireland, his opponents in Haverfordwest had run an opposing candidate in the 1571 general election. Still, thanks to his influence, Perrot's henchman John Wogan was chosen. In the election of 1572, however, William Philipps , the candidate of his opponents, was chosen, whereupon his supporters, the Wogan and Bowens families, violated his opponents in Haverfordwest for over a year. From Ireland Perrot sent discharged soldiers to Haverfordwest to support his followers there. Philipps died in 1573, and John Wogan was re-elected as MP in a by-election.
Landowner in Wales
After returning from Ireland, Perrot lived as a country nobleman on his Welsh estates for the next ten years. As Vice-Admiral he had been replaced in 1574 by Sir William Morgan from Pencoed , whose deputy in the west of England was Richard Vaughan from Whitland . Perrot, however, was appointed in 1575 by the Privy Council to chair a commission to combat piracy on the coasts of Pembrokeshire. This led to constant disputes over competence with Richard Vaughan. In September 1579 he became the commanding officer of a small squadron of five ships, including the Revenge , which were supposed to fight piracy and prevent Spanish ships from landing on the west coast of Ireland. However, he was only able to raise one pirate ship during his venture. Since the expansion of the coastal fortifications to protect Milford Haven stalled, his opponents accused him of inaction in court. Perrot was acquitted, but he was repeatedly the target of accusations over the next several years. However, he was covered by the Earl of Leicester , who had two of his opponents jailed for defamation. During this time Perrot was able to further expand his property. As early as 1575 the Queen had given him Laugharne Castle in Carmarthenshire, which he converted into a country house. In 1581 the Privy Council had to settle a dispute between him and Griffith Rice , the son of Gruffydd ap Rhys FitzUrien and husband of Perrot's half-sister Elinor Jones. When Perrot acquired other properties in east Pembrokeshire, he had to answer again before the Star Chamber.
On a completely different mission, he was commissioned by the Privy Council in 1582 to investigate irregularities in the diocese of Saint David’s , against whose Bishop Marmaduke Middleton numerous allegations had been made. The investigations against Middleton dragged on until 1592, before he was deposed as bishop.
Lord Deputy of Ireland
Expedition to Ulster
In 1584 Perrot succeeded Arthur Gray, 14th Baron Gray de Wilton Lord Deputy of Ireland . His term of office was as turbulent as his work in Munster.
After his installation he went on a tour during which the Lords of Connaught and Thomond submitted to him. He installed Sir Richard Bingham as Lord President of Connaught and Sir John Norreys as Lord President of Munster in their offices, and he was en route from Limerick to Cork when he learned that a large number of Scots were from the Hebrides in Northern Ireland had landed. Norreys thought the size of the enemy force was excessive, but Perrot decided to return to Dublin . On August 26, he left for Ulster with the Earls of Ormonde and Thomond and with Norreys . In Newry they learned that the Scots had left Ireland again at the news of their approach. Several Irish nobles such as Turlough Luineach O'Neill held him hostage, but Perrot decided to crack down on him and drive the Scottish-Irish MacDonnell clan out of Antrim . He divided his army into two divisions. One half, under the command of the Earl of Ormonde and von Norreys, advanced on the left bank of the Bann , while the second division, under his command, advanced through Clandeboye . On September 14, 1584 he reached Dunluce Castle , which surrendered after a short defense. Sorley Boy MacDonnell fled to Scotland. An attack on Rathlin O'Birne Island failed due to stormy weather, and with winter approaching, Perrot withdrew to Dublin.
Arguments in Dublin
In Dublin, Perrot planned to convert St. Patrick's Cathedral into a courthouse, while the canons' houses would be used by lawyers. Church revenues were to be used to establish two colleges . This plan, of course, provoked opposition from Archbishop Adam Loftus . On January 3, 1585 Loftus informed him that he had significant objections to the plans, but Perrot refused to discuss his plans with the archbishop, whereupon the two remained enemies for life. Perrot was still unable to implement his plan. Another plan of his was to build seven cities, seven bridges and seven fortresses to rule Ireland. He wanted to put this oversized plan before Parliament , which Francis Walsingham thwarted. When Perrot planned another campaign to Northern Ireland, this was forbidden by the Queen. On April 26, 1686, the Irish Parliament was convened for the first time after a 16-year hiatus. Perrot's attempt to run parliament failed completely. His draft laws were rejected so that he could only postpone parliament. He then wanted to resume his campaign plan to Northern Ireland and set out on July 16, 1586 for Ulster. Already at Dungannon he had to break off the campaign due to bad weather and returned to Dublin at the beginning of September. A few weeks later, Dunluce Castle was retaken by Sorley Boy. Perrot asked for his replacement and eventually had to give in to Sorley Boy and make peace with him.
Hugh O'Neil, 3rd Earl of Tyrone , had first supported Perrot in Ulster, but had also expanded his power in the process. When he was planning to marry his daughter to Hugh Roe O'Donnell , Perrot stepped in and imprisoned O'Donnell in Dublin Castle in 1587. It was only after Perrot left Ireland that O'Neil was able to free him again.
Failure in Ireland
On April 26, 1586 the parliament met again, passed the laws confiscating the estates of the Earl of Desmond and the Viscount Baltinglass and was dissolved on May 14, 1586 again. Perrot's relationship with the other English members of the Council of Ireland , especially Archbishop Loftus and Judge Wallop , and finally Geoffrey Fenton, was increasingly strained. He could only count on the support of lawyers Nicholas White and Lucas Dillon , who had little influence. Perrot had a heated argument with old Marshal Sir Nicholas Bagnall. Sir John Norreys had long complained about his tyrannical administration, and Sir Richard Bingham also made Perrot an enemy. When a large number of Scots invaded Connaught at the beginning of September 1586, encouraging the Burkes from County Mayo , Bingham asked for reinforcements. Perrot then led a force to Connaught himself. After reaching Mullingar , he learned that Bingham had struck the Scots at Ardnaree and driven them back across the River Moy . Instead of breaking off his campaign, Perrot marched on to Galway . When the council criticized the high cost of the campaign, it reacted angrily and undiplomatically. In January 1587 he had Geoffrey Fenton arrested for debt and sent to prison. The Queen herself set Fenton free again. After another dispute with Bingham, Perrot resigned from the council on May 15, 1587. Perrot's successor as Lord Deputy was Sir William FitzWilliam , who did not arrive in Ireland until the spring of 1588. Perrot was only able to hand over the office to him on June 30, 1588 and set out on July 2 for Milford Haven in Wales.
Fall and death
Faced with the threat posed by the Spanish Armada, the Earl of Pembroke, as chairman of the Council of the Marches, appointed Perrot as his representative on his return from Ireland. This made it easier for Perrot to be elected to Haverfordwest in the 1589 general election. On February 10, 1589 he became a member of the Privy Council, and strengthened by this position he was more involved than before in the House of Commons. However, from the middle of the year its influence declined. His patron, the Earl of Leicester was dead, and the Earl of Essex , the Queen's new favorite, stood on the side of his opponents in Wales, despite his sister being married to Perrot's son.
Even in Ireland, his opponents had spread rumors of Perrot's lack of loyalty, which Archbishop Loftus probably passed on to the Queen. Forged letters were produced to prove his betrayal, but Perrot's numerous enemies also accused him of insulting the Queen. Lord Chancellor Christopher Hatton , whose daughter Elizabeth he is said to have seduced, was one of his enemies . The treason charge was likely unfounded, but his case was brought before the Privy Council. From March 1591 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. After a year in prison, he was found guilty of high treason on April 27, 1592 by Robert Cecil , Thomas Sackville , Henry Carey and other judges and sentenced to death. The Queen is believed to have hesitated to enforce the sentence, and Perrot eventually died of natural causes in the Tower. His body was examined on September 26, 1592.
Family and offspring
He married Anne († September 1553), a daughter of Sir Thomas Cheyney from Shurland, Kent. He had a son for me:
- Thomas Perrot ⚭ Dorothy Devereux , daughter of Walter Devereux, 2nd Viscount Hereford .
In 1566 he married Jane, daughter of Hugh Prust of Hartland in Devon and widow of Sir Lewis Pollard of Oakford . He had three children with her:
- William Perrot († 1597);
- Lettice Perrot, ⚭ (1) Roland Lacharn of Golden Grove, ⚭ (2) Walter Vaughan of S. Brides, ⚭ (2) Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester ;
- Ann ⚭ Sir John Philips, 1st Baronet (of Picton Castle).
He also had several illegitimate children, including:
- with Sybil Jones from Radnorshire he had a son and a daughter:
- Sir James Perrot;
- Daughter ⚭ David Morgan.
- he was believed to be the father of Elizabeth's daughter, a daughter of Christopher Hatton:
- Elizabeth ⚭ Hugh Butler from Johnston.
Perrot's widow, Jane, was granted a lifetime right to use Carew Castle. Despite his conviction of his father, Thomas Perrot was awarded most of the estates after six months, but he died in 1594. Both Thomas and his illegitimate son James died without surviving male descendants. In 1580 Perrot had donated land to the city of Haverfordwest, which is still known today as the Perrot Trust .
Literature and web links
- Arthur Herbert Dodd: Perrot Family. In: Dictionary of Welsh Biography. 1959 ( online ).
- ADH: Perrot, Sir John (1528 / 9-92), of Haroldston and Carew Castle, Pemb. In: PW Hasler (Ed.): The History of Parliament. The House of Commons, 1558-1603. London 1981 ( online ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christine Kinealy: History of Ireland . Magnus, Essen 2004. ISBN 3-88400-418-2 , p. 83
- ^ Castles of Wales: Laugharne Castle. Retrieved March 24, 2015 .
- ↑ Christine Kinealy: History of Ireland . Magnus, Essen 2004. ISBN 3-88400-418-2 , p. 86
- ^ RK Lucas & Son: Sir John Perrot Trust. Retrieved March 24, 2015 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Perrot, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Perrot, Sir John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English military and politician, member of the House of Commons |
| DATE OF BIRTH | between 1527 and 1530 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Haroldston |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 1592 |
| Place of death | Tower of London |