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.

James Prescott and Mary Ann Stone

Tiverton : Gold Street
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Lewis Clarke - geograph.org.uk/p/1658721

James Prescott (b. 1858 in Washfield, Devon), son of John Prescott and Jane Gage, married Mary Ann Stone (bap. 5 Feb 1860 in Ashbrittle, Somerset), daughter of Henry Stone and Mary Ridgeway, at St Peter's, Tiverton, on 6 Mar 1882. Witnesses were Henry Stone and Harriet Stone, Mary Ann's sister.

By 1881, Mary Ann (21) had left home and had been working, as a General Domestic Servant, for Alfred T Gregory, Newspaper Proprietor, in Gold Street, Tiverton, hence marrying in the town. (Alfred Gregory was publishing titles such as the Tiverton Gazette and East Devon Herald, Western Observer and affiliated papers for South Molton and Crediton. (The Tiverton and District Directory for 1894-5 lists them as, Gregory, Son, and Tozer.)

However, the couple were married for little more than a year, when Mary Ann Prescott died, tragically aged just 23, on 14 Apr 1883, in Chapel Street, Tiverton, from Acute Phthisis Pulmonalis (Tuberculosis (TB) 18 days - I'd suspected this when reading that Mary Ann had been present at the death of her brother, John Stone, when he had died from Phthisis, in August 1882. Her mother-in-law, Jane Prescott, was present at Mary Ann's death.

My connection was broken once Mary Ann died, however:

Not unsurprisingly, James Prescott remarried quite quickly, to a Jane Davey (b. ~1858) in Q1 of 1884, also in Tiverton. James and Jane had one son Charles Prescott b. 1884 S Quarter in TIVERTON Volume 05B Page 435.

In 1891, James Prescott (32) Labourer, wife Jane Prescott (33) and son Charles Prescott (7) were living in Eglwysilan, Glamorganshire, Wales.

In 1901, James Prescott (44) Navvy Ganger; Jane Prescott (44), Charles Prescott (17), with Berty Snooke (31), Albert Tilley (22) and John Jenkins (31) - the three being lodgers - were living in Staines, Middlesex.

Charles Prescott married Elizabeth Ann Long (b. 1880 in Barton Regis), daughter of Richard Long and Mary Ann Lewis, in Bristol, in 1907.

Charles and Elizabeth Prescott had three children:

1. Dora Jane Prescott b. 18 Sep 1907 (1907 D Qtr in BRISTOL Vol 06A Page 221), bap. 21 Nov 1907 at Westbury on Trym, Holy Trinity
2. Charles James Prescott b. 1909 J Quarter in PORTSMOUTH Volume 02B Page 491, bap. 25 Apr 1909 in Portsea St John. Died, aged 3, in 1912 J Quarter in PORTSMOUTH Volume 02B Page 598
3. George Richard Prescott b. 15 Mar 1910 (1910 J Qtr in PORTSMOUTH Vol 02B Page 483), bap. 13 Apr 1910 in Portsea St John

The mother's maiden name on the three births was LONG.

In 1911, James Prescott (56) Dock Labourer, was at 15 Unicorn St, Portsea, Portsmouth, with Jane Prescott (57), and six Dock Labourers (presumably boarders/lodgers): Alf Smith (49), George Bailey (31), Art Bailey (27), Charles Bailey (23), Fred Andrews (29) and George Hopkins (35). Charles Prescott (26) Railway Labourer was living at 11 1/2 Unicorn Street, Portsmouth with Elizabeth Prescott (29ish), Charles J Prescott (2) and George Prescott (1). Dora Jane Prescott (3) was a Visitor in the household of her grandmother, Mary Ann Long (69) Widow, Laundress in Westbury-on-Trym. (James' parents, John and Jane Prescott were still living in Tiverton.)

James Prescott died at 57 in 1913 D Quarter in TIVERTON Volume 05B Page 480 was buried on 22 Oct 1913, in Uplowman. (James predeceased both his mother who died in 1914 and father who died in 1916.)

In 1921, Jane Prescott (62) Widow, was Housekeeper to William Talley Wood (79) Gentleman at Gaddon House, Gaddon, Uffculme, Devon. Charles Prescott (36) Pile Driver was living in Westbury on Trym, Gloucestershire with Elizabeth Prescott (40) and George Prescott (11). Dora Prescott was also still living in Bristol, along with her grandmother, Mary Ann Long.

Charles Prescott died at 43 in 1928 J Quarter in BRISTOL Volume 06A Page 56, predeceasing his mother by around 9 months. Jane Prescott (née Davey) died at 71 in 1929 M Quarter in TIVERTON Volume 05B Page 691. Elizabeth Ann Prescott died at 58 in 1939 M Quarter in BRISTOL Vol 06A Page 46.

Dora Jane Prescott married Walter Henry Tudball in Bristol in 1931. 

In 1939, Walter H Tudball (b. 30 Sep 1906) & Dora J Tudball were living in Eastfield, Bristol and living with them was George R Prescott.

Dora Jane Tudball died, aged 57, in 1964. 

George Richard Prescott died in Bristol, in 1995.