Thomas Perry and Maria Jane Watlington

Photo © John Salmon (cc-by-sa/2.0)

St George, Bloomsbury, Saturday, 6 October, 2012

Photo available for reuse under this Creative Commons licence.

Thomas Perry Esquire (b. 13 Jun 1781 at Blackwall, Middlesex), Bachelor of the Parish of St Mary-le-bone, in the County of Middlesex, fourth son of John Perry and Elizabeth Brown, married Maria Jane Watlington (b. 10 Apr 1798, bap. 12 May 1798 at St Clement Danes, City of Westminster), Spinster, daughter of George Watlington and Charlotte Nevinson at St George's, Bloomsbury, on 6 Mar 1823. There were four witnesses to their marriage: George Watlington and Charlotte Watlington, Maria Jane's parents; and Phil Perry and Charlotte Perry, who were Thomas' brother and sister.

Thomas' paternal grandmother was Ann Watlington, so the pair were no doubt already related, but Ann was one of 12 children and had eight brothers who lived to maturity, so I've yet to determine exactly where the link might be.

The Chronicles of the Blackwall Yard (PDF) by Henry Green and Robert Wigram (published 1881), merely tells us that "The third son [actually the 4th son of John Perry], Thomas, went to India in the Civil Service". This was "The East India Company (EIC) Civil Service, an elite, covenanted administrative body whose members signed a covenant (formal agreement) with the Court of Directors promising good behavior and exclusive service in exchange for high pay and pensions." Thomas Perry, according to Google, was an early 19th-century British East India Company judge and magistrate in Etawah and Mynpoori [Mainpuri], India, who played a significant role in identifying and prosecuting early cases of "thuggee" (banditry) around 1808–1810. He investigated widespread looting and, in 1808–1809, found dozens of disfigured corpses, leading to the interrogation and confession of local thugs. [See also Acting in the “theatre of Anarchy” 1: The ‘anti-thug Campaign’ and Elaborations of Colonial Rule In Early Nineteenth-century India (PDF) by Tom Lloyd, School of History & Classics, University of Edinburgh]

His time in India also accounts for why Thomas Perry married late, at 42.

Thomas and Maria Jane Perry then had five children:

1. John Watlington Perry b. 7 Dec 1823, bap. 3 Mar 1824 at St Marylebone Parish Church, Marylebone Road. (Later took the name John Watlington Perry-Watlington, was first elected Conservative MP for South Essex)
2. Fanny Maria Perry b. 7 Nov 1825, bap. 3 Jan 1826 at Saint Mary, Bryanston Square, the family address listed as Montagu Square. Fanny Maria Perry died, aged 15, on 28 Dec 1840 (1841 M Quarter in EPPING UNION Volume 12 Page 83) at The Recotory, King's Cliffe (home of her Aunt Charlotte Bonney, her father's sister) and was buried on 5 Jan 1841 at St Mary & St Hugh, Old Harlow with her late parents.
3. Mary Jane Perry b. 3 Aug 1827, bap. 22 Aug 1827 at Saint Mary, Bryanston Square. Once again, abode is Montagu Square
4. Louisa Philippa Perry b. 7 Jul 1829, bap. 29 Jul 1829 at Saint Mary, Bryanston Square. Once again, abode is Montagu Square
5. Emily Ann Perry b. 22 Feb 1832, bap. 11 Apr 1832 at Saint Mary, Bryanston Square. The family's abode was 15 Bryanston Square

Thomas Perry of Moor Hall, Harlow, Essex, died, aged 51, on 15 Oct 1833 and was buried on 23 Oct 1833, at St Mary & St Hugh, Old Harlow. 

Maria Jane Perry died at 40, on 26 Feb 1839, at Brighton, Sussex (1839 M Quarter in STEYNING UNION Volume 07 Page 305). Maria Jane Perry of Moor Hall, Harlow, relict of T PERRY Esqr, was buried, on 7 Mar 1839, also at St Mary & St Hugh, Old Harlow, along with her late husband.

During the course of my research into this family, I came across this George IV English sterling silver quart tankard (which is currently for sale if you have a little spare cash). The tankard, which dates to 1825, "displays a coat of arms of a saltire with roundel, above three bars wavy. These arms are a variant of the family of Watlington, of Caldicot Hill, Aldenham in the County of Hertfordshire." Given the date, this was almost certainly made for Maria Jane's father, George Watlington (1769-1848), who, in 1841 was indeed living at Caldicott Hill, Aldenham, Watford, Hertfordshire.

i. John Watlington Perry was still alive when the Chronicles of the Blackwall Yard were published in 1881. Therein, it says that Thomas Perry, "was in due course succeeded by his son, the present Mr. John Perry-Watlington, who, after the death of his wife's father added to his own name his wife's family name of Watlington. Mr. John Perry-Watlington, as already mentioned, is the present head of the Perry family." They seem to have got themselves in a twist over whose relation was what. It was John Watlington Perry's mother's father - his grandfather George Watlington - who died in 1848, which was when he appended that family name. Perhaps if I dig deep enough, I'll find that this was because he then became the head of that branch of the Watlington family.