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PERRY FAMILY
(continued) Mary Sherwood's nee Perrys Parents Mary and her siblings were the third generation of Perrys to live in Fowlmere. They were preceded by their father and grandfather both of whom were named James. To trace Mary's origins we begin with her parents James and Harriet Perry, nee Wilson. They were married on 24 November 1812 at St. Marys in Fowlmere. Mary was born seven weeks later. James was a bachelor and Harriet a spinster when they married. Witnesses to the marriage were William Course, James's brother-in-law (William married James's sister Elizabeth) and Thomas Godfrey a wheelwright from the village. Very little else is known of Mary's mother Harriet apart from the fact that she was buried in Fowlmere on 6 November 1834, age 44 years. No cause of death was given. The Wilson name does not appear in either the Fowlmere parish or Fowlmere Independent church records. In December 2000, I got an e-mail from June Tucker of Adelaide. June is a great, great, great grand-daughter of James and Harriet Perry. June found a christening for a Harriet Wilson on 29 August 1790 at Duxford St. John, in Cambridge. This is very close to the time our Harriet was born given that she died age 44 years in 1834. Duxford is only 5 kilometres from Fowlmere. The challenge is to find enough evidence to connect the two Harriets. The Duxford Harriet's parents were Timothy and Mary Wilson nee Housden. They were married on 20 October 1776 at Duxford St. John. Timothy was christened on 20 April 1755 at Duxford. His parents were James and Mary Wilson nee Nottage. They were married on 2 October 1739 at Ickleton, Cambridge. Ickleton is 3 kilometres from Duxford. When Harriet died in 1834, James was left with five young sons to care for. William was 16, Thomas 14, James 9, John 4 and Frederick just 3 years old. According to Mary's grandson Charles Sherwood (1836-1915) her father James was a maltster. A maltster makes malt from barley which is then used to make beer. Mary's Grandparents Mary Sherwood’s grandfather James Perry (c.1753-1834) was the first of the Perrys to live in Fowlmere. He is first mentioned in the Fowlmere parish church records February 19, 1783 when he married Sarah Fison. There is no record of the Perry family in Fowlmere prior to this date. Clearly James came to Fowlmere from another Cambridgeshire parish or perhaps another county. When James married Sarah Fison in Fowlmere he was recorded as a widower. The death of his first wife must have occurred sometime prior to 1783. 1783 being the year James married Sarah. So who was James’s first wife and where did he come from before he settled in Fowlmere? It seems very likely that James was born in Thaxted, Essex and that his first wife was Susan Webb. According to the Great Shelford (Cambridge) church records a James Perry of Thaxted and Susan Webb of Great Shelford were married in Great Shelford, November 4, 1776. Witnesses to the marriage were Sam Hagger and William Sutton. Given that James Perry who married Susan Webb was from Thaxted, I checked the Thaxted church records to see if his wife Susan had died there sometime prior to 1783. I found that a Susanna Perry was buried there in 1781. The burial entry in the church register reads… 29 April, 1781 ‘Susanna Perry wife of James a labourer, of a consumption aged 24. So where did Susan/ Susanna come from before she married James in Great Shelford? There is no baptism entry for a Susan/Susanna Webb in the Great Shelford church records, suggesting she wasn’t born in Great Shelford. When Susanna Perry died in Thaxted in 1781 she was 24 years old. This indicates that she was born about 1757. In the Thaxted church registers a Susannah Webb, daughter of Henry and Mary Webb, was baptised May 13, 1759. This I felt answered the question as to where Susanna Webb was born. I was now convinced that the Thaxted James and Susanna were the same couple who married in Great Shelford in 1776. Soon after marrying they returned to Thaxted where they had two daughters. Their first child Mary was baptised December 14, 1777. A little less than 5 months later Mary died. She was buried May 9, 1778. A second daughter Sarah Perry was baptised April 25, 1779. So how do we connect the Thaxted James Perry with the Fowlmere James Perry? In the Fowlmere church records there is a burial entry for Sarah Perry. Sarah was just 7 years and one month old when she died. She was buried in Fowlmere October 9, 1784. Figure 1. Burial entry for Sarah Perry. October 9, 1784. Age 7 years 1 month. If we subtract Sarah’s age from the date she died then she was born in 1777. This is very close to the time that James and Susanna’s daughter Sarah would have been born in Thaxted. It would appear that soon after Susanna died in 1781 James and young Sarah moved to Fowlmere. Fowlmere is about 24 kilometres northwest of Thaxted. James was about 30 and Sarah was 4 or 5 years old at the time. Why they chose to live in Fowlmere is not known. They may have had family or friends already living there. James met and married Sarah Fyson the daughter of a Fowlmere wheelwright in 1783. James’ daughter Sarah died the following year when she was just seven years old. Within the space of eight years James had lost his first wife and two young daughters. I am quite convinced that the James Perry who married Susan Webb in Great Shelford in 1776 was the same man who married Sarah Fison in Fowlmere in 1783. Both men were widowers, and both were about the same age. Both had daughters named Sarah who were born at or very close to the same time. I’m also confident that his first wife Susanna was born in Thaxted about 1757, the daughter of Henry and Mary Webb. At some stage prior to marrying, Susanna left Thaxted and settled in Great Shelford. James followed and they were married soon after. Sometime after Susanna’s death, James moved to Fowlmere where he married for the second time. A Closer Look Work started on the construction of the Thaxted parish church, St. John the Baptist in 1340. The church was completed in 1510. It is by all accounts one of the most beautiful churches in Essex. It was built on a hill over looking the town. The church spire is built from stone and is 24 metres high. Eight bells hang in the 15^th century west tower. The church is decorated with stained glass the oldest which is a picture of a knight dated 1341. The church has kept baptism, marriage and burial records since 1538. According to the baptism registers two James Perrys were baptised in Thaxted at about the same time. One was James Perry the son of Stephen and Rebecca. He was baptised the 25 December 1750. The other was James Perry the ‘base’ son of Sarah Perry. He was baptised 5 August 1753. So which James is ours? Was he the son of Stephen and Rebecca Perry or was he the illegitimate son of Sarah Perry? I suspect he may have been Sarah’s son. I have no hard evidence for this apart from the following. According to the Fowlmere church records, our James Perry was 81 when he was buried in Fowlmere 29 May 1834. This would suggest he was born in 1752 or 1753. If James’ age (81) was correct at the time he died, then he was too young to be the son of Rebecca and Stephen Perry who was baptised in 1750. Sarah Perry’s son James was baptised 5 August 1753. Assuming that James’ mother was Sarah Perry, I looked for her baptism entry in the Thaxted church. The search revealed that a Sarah Perry was baptised in Thaxted July 29, 1726. She was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Perry nee Mason. She had an older sister Mary who was baptised July 23, 1720. A third child Ruth was baptised at Thaxted January 5, 1733. James’ mother Sarah died in Thaxted in 1774. She was buried there on the 27 August. James Perry’s grandparents Thomas and Mary Perry were married in the Thaxted parish church January 14, 1719. If Thomas was at the very least 21 years old when he married in 1719, then he was born no later than 1698. In all probability he was a few years older than 21. A check of the Thaxted church records shows that four Thomas Perrys were baptised at about this time. 1695, Thomas son of Thomas and Rebecca Perry 1689, Thomas son of Thomas and Margaret Perry 1687, Thomas son of Thomas and Susan Perry 1684, Thomas son of Oliver and Ann Perry As you can see it is very difficult to say which Thomas Perry is ours. If I had to guess, and that is all it would be, then the Thomas Perry son of Thomas and Rebecca who was baptised in Thaxted in 1695 could be the man who married Mary Mason in Thaxted n 1719. He would have been about 24 years old when he married. Mary Mason was about 21 when they married, having been baptised November 23, 1698. James’ grandmother was Mary Mason. She was baptised in Thaxted 23 November 1698. Mary was the daughter of William and Mary Mason, nee Martyn. They were married in Thaxted November 24, 1697. James’ great grandfather William Mason was baptised March 25, 1671. He was the son of Thomas and Mary Mason nee Cro…? (name too hard to read in register). They were married 30 August 1668 in Thaxted. This couple had at least 3 other sons, William baptised 25 March 1671, Thomas who was baptised June 2, 1674 and Richard Mason who was born September 2, 1681. Check year. Thomas Mason, James’ great, great grandfather was baptised 30 June 1650. His parents were William and Mary Mason both born about 1625. The earliest mention of the Mason name in Thaxted is that of Nichus? Mason, March 28, 1559. I have not been able to find Mary Martyn’s/ Martin’s baptism entry in Thaxted c. 1670. Susanna Perry When James’ first wife Susanna Perry nee Webb died of consumption (tuberculosis) there was no cure for it. The disease is caused by a bacterial infection and is spread by coughing. In the past because no effective treatments were available, family members could do little more than sit and watch as the sufferer deteriorated and eventually died. Because of the infectious nature of the disease it was not uncommon for other family members suffer the same fate. It’s quite possible that young Sarah who died in Fowlmere in 1784, also succumbed to the disease. Susannah’s parents were Henry and Mary Webb. They were married about 1756 most likely in Thaxted. Susannah appears to have been the eldest of at least four children. Susannah’s brother John was baptised in 1761 and sisters Mary and Elizabeth in 1763 and 1765. All were baptised in the Thaxted parish church. Susanna’s father Henry was baptised in Thaxted May 25, 1736. He was the son of Henry and Mary Webb. Henry had at least one other brother Jacob who was baptised September 9, 1733 in Thaxted. The ‘Naming Pattern’ seems to have been followed when James and Susanna baptised their two daughters. According to this tradition, the first daughter is named after the mother’s mother and the second daughter after the father’s mother. Mary their first-born was named after Susannah’s mother Mary and Sarah was named after James’ mother Sarah. The Family of James and Sarah Perry nee Fison James Perry. C.1753-1834. Sarah Perry nee Fison. C.1758-1820 James Perry’s second wife was Sarah Fison. James’s first wife Susannah died in 1781. When James married Sarah Fison in Fowlmere on 19 February 1783, Sarah’s youngest sister Elizabeth Fison and Richard Carrington were witnesses. Richard Carrington was baptised in Fowlmere in 1743, the son of Athanasius and Mary Carrington. Of James and Sarah's seven children two were sons they named James, and two were ons they named Thomas. The first James and Thomas died as infants. It was not uncommon in those times to use the name of a deceased child for a subsequent child. James and Sarah’s eldest child child Elizabeth married William Course in Fowlmere in 1804. The Course family carried on a tradition as tailors in Fowlmere for over 150 years. Elizabeth and Thomas's descendants maintained this tradition. Further reading on this subject can be found in a short article 'A Tailoring Monopoly in Fowlmere' by Dennis Hitch. The article appeared in the Cambridgeshire Family History Journal, November 1995, Pages 151-152. James and Sarah’s youngest daughter, Sarah married Edward Sayer. Edward was from St. Edward in Cambridgeshire. They married in 1822 at Fowlmere. Witnesses to the marriage were William Course (Elizabeth's husband) and Thomas Morley. Thomas later married Charles Sherwood's sister Jane in 1835. James Perry senior suffered the tragic loss of not only his first wife Susannah at the age of 24, but also the deaths of four of his children. Two daughters from his marriage to Susannah, Mary and Sarah died as infants. James and his second wife Sarah, lost two sons. James who was just one year old and then Thomas who was not quite two. In spite of all this James went on to live until 81. He lived long enough to be surrounded by his grandchildren and great grandchildren. His second wife Sarah died in Fowlmere in 1820. The impression I get of those early generations of Perrys who lived at Fowlmere is that of a close family who struggled to make ends meet. In the parish church registers the word ‘poor’ appears next to James and Sarah’s names when their son Thomas was baptised in 1794. More than fifty years later, in 1851, three generations of the family were living together in housing provided by the church for the poor. Ten years on Mary’s father James is listed as a ‘registered pauper.’ There is no doubt that the difficult economic conditions which existed not only in Fowlmere, but also throughout Britain forced many families to emigrate to Australia. Mary and husband Charles were part of this migration in 1856. Following not long after were Mary’s brother Frederick Perry, her sister Susan Harrup and her family. Mary's great grandparents William and Mary Fison James Perry senior married into the Fison family. He married Sarah Fison (Mary's grandmother) who was born about 1758 in Fowlmere. Sarah was the second youngest of William and Mary Fison's seven children. The Fison family was living in the village from at least the middle of the 18th century. The first mention of them in Fowlmere is in the parish church records. Their eldest and only surviving son William was baptised there in 1746. The surname in the baptism register is spelt Fyson. It is also spelt this way with the baptisms of William and Mary's other children. And yet when William senior and his son William sign as witnesses to at least fifteen Fowlmere marriages, they sign as Fison. This suggests that the correct spelling of the surname is Fison, and that the spelling of the name as Fyson was a result of it being misspelt by the ministers who performed the baptisms. The pair witnessed marriages in the village from 1754 through to at least 1788. It would seem that when William senior died the role of witnessing the village marriages was carried on by his son William. This tradition of the son following in his father's footsteps was evident in the work the two men did. William and his son were wheelwrights by trade. It is quite possible that father and son worked together, with the skills learned by the father passed onto the son. It was the job of the wheelwright to make and repair the wheels of the farm and village carts and wagons. It was a specialised craft that required skill, strength and precision workmanship. The wheelwright fashioned the rim, spokes and hub of the wheel out of wood. The rim was then bound with an iron tyre to give it strength. Each wheel had to be well made, strong and able to withstand the rigors of the ruts, potholes and cobblestones that made up the roads and lanes of the village. In 1773 William senior was struck down by smallpox, a contagious and often fatal virus. It had the reputation as one of the worst diseases ever to plague the human race. It was passed on from one person to another by tiny airborne droplets from the mouth and nose or through contact with articles used by the victim such as clothing or bedding. A few days after exposure to the virus William would most likely have experienced some if not all of the following symptoms; severe headaches, backache, chills and fever. After several more days these symptoms would be replaced by a rash of hard red lumps. The rash develops into small blisters that itch and are very painful. Once smallpox was contracted there was no cure. Almost half the victims died, those that survived were left with pits and sores on their flesh and quite often went blind. It wasn't until 1796 that an English surgeon by the name of Edward Jenner developed a vaccine for the disease. It was to take almost 200 years before the smallpox virus was officially proclaimed as being eradicated. William was buried in Fowlmere 9 July 1773, age 47. He was survived by his wife Mary, son William and his four daughters Ann, Mary, 15-year-old Sarah and 10-year-old Elizabeth. William's widow Mary lived to be 84, she died in Fowlmere in 1810. Living in Fowlmere at this time was a Philip Fison. He may have been William senior's brother. Philip is first mentioned in church banns in 1759. Banns were called on three consecutive Sundays prior to a marriage. The calling of banns was a public announcement of a couple's intention to marry. Philip and his wife Ann Mailin were not married at Fowlmere. Ann was according to the banns 'Of Cherry Hinton, Cambridgeshire.' The wedding may have taken place there in 1759. When their first three children were baptised in Fowlmere, their address was given as Chrisall Grange, which was then in Essex. Boundary changes in 1965 included Crisshall Grange in Fowlmere parish. When daughter Mary was baptised in 1764, no address was given but they may still have been living at Chrishall Grange. Subsequent children Philip, Ann (2) Rebecca and Sarah were baptised at Babraham, Cambridgeshire. Babraham is close to Cherry Hinton. © R J Sherwood. 2001 Return to start of Perry family.