Lydia Perkins

Notes:

TYLER'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE pp. 216-217
The immigrant ancestor of the Goochland PERKINS family which came from Henrico county is supposedly NICHOLAS PERKINS, who was transported to Henrico County, Virginia, in 1641 by Bryant Smith (EARLY VIRGINIA IMMIGRANTS, 1623-1666, by Greer). In 1650 he was granted land in Bermuda hundred, beginning in Cole's swamp, Henrico County, for the transportation of four persons into the colony. Mary Perkins, Wm. Owes, and Richard Hues and the three mentioned (CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS, by Nugent.)

There has been much speculation as to NICHOLAS PERKINS' ancestry and as to his marriage(s). His widow's name was Mary and after his death in about 1664 she married Richard Parker: In volume 10, 11, 13 (Charles City County, Virginia) of Virginia Colonial Abstracts, by Fleet, reference is made to the settling of NICHOLAS PERKINS' estate. His two youngest children, Elizabeth and Nicholas, are mentioned as well as his daughter Lydia.

DAUGHTERS OF AMERICAN COLONISTS LINEAGE BOOK Vol. 15 p. 80
NICHOLAS PERKINS born 1624 received a patent No. 2, 1643-51 of 170 acres in Henrico Co., Va.

DAUGHTERS OF AMERICAN COLONISTS LINEAGE BOOK Vol. 17 p. 180
A Hardeman descendant Mrs. Mary Jewel Burton Standefer
NICHOLAS PERKINS 1624-1656 received 500 acres of land in Charles City Co., Va. born in Bedfordshire, England

THE COMPENDIUM OF AMERICAN GENEALOGY Vol. 4
Mary, m. NICHOLAS PERKINS landed propr.. Bermuda Hundred and Henrico Co., Va., 1650 and later; shows son Nicholas Perkins.

THE DESCENDANTS OF NICHOLAS PERKINS by William K. Hall
By 1641 Virginia was well established...Many men eager for land would bring friends, relatives, servants, workers, and others to Virginia in order to qualify for the land grants...The fact that NICHOLAS PERKINS arrived in Virginia in 1641 under such circumstances does not reveal much about his background. However the entry is of interest as the first record of this PERKINS family in Virginia. it is on p. 783 of Land Patents Bk. 1 (1623- 1643) that the name of NICHOLAS PERKINS first appears. On Oct. 10, 1641, Bryant Smith was granted 100 acres in Henrico County for the transportation of two persons into the colony: NICHOLAS PERKINS and Gringall Delahaye.

Whether NICHOLAS was old or young, rich or poor, there is no way of knowing. The extant records reveal very little about him. Nevertheless, whether he had means when he arrived or whether he acquired means by thrift and industry afterwards, he was able nine years later to pay transportation costs of four persons into the colony and for this he was granted 170 acres. The patent is recorded on p. 262 of Land Patents Bk. 2 (1643-1651) and reads:

To all etc whereas etc Now Know you that I the Said Sr Wm Berkeley etc give and grant unto NICHOLAS PERKINS one hundred and Seventy Acres of Land lying in Bermuda hundred in the County of Henrico Bounded Viz:-beginning at a marked Oake in Coles his swamp and Running a Long Cunicott Path west forty Chaynes thence North west by North one hundred and twenty Chaynes thence along the Cart Path to the head of Coles Swamp and Soo along the Said Swamp to the Place where it Begun, the Said Land being due unto the said NICHOLAS PERKINS by and for the transporting of four persons etc to have and to hold etc which payment is to be made seven years after the first grant or seating thereafter etc dated the 30th of August 1650. Mary Perkins, William Owen, Richard Hues
The Mary Perkins mentioned in the patent was very likely the wife of NICHOLAS PERKINS. If so, either she was returning from a visit to England or else NICHOLAS had returned to England after his coming in 1641 because the children of NICHOLAS and Mary were born during the 1640's--but whether in England or Virginia is not known.

A hundred was a political subdivision of an English county which originally contained about a hundred families. The term was formerly used in Virginia and in Maryland and Pennsylvania and still survives in Delaware. Bermuda hundred was located where the Appomattox empties into the James. It is on the south side of the James River and not included within the present boundaries of Henrico County. When the original counties were formed in 1634 James City County included Jamestown and the site of Williams burg. Next up the river was Charles City County, and above that was Henrico County.

Although NICHOLAS PERKINS' land grant was to 170 acres in Henrico County, he seems to have lived in Charles City County and it was there that he died probably in 1656. On July 31, 1656, Richard Parker, intending to marry the widow of NICHOLAS PERKINS, signed an agreement confirming to her the estate of her late husband: "...I Richard Parker do freely give and consent to and with Mary Perkins that she shall make over unto herself all the estate which her late deceased husband left for & by his will doth appt both here & in England and further I do injoyne myself to bring her children up to Learning to ye true intent and meaning hereof..."

This writing was produced in the September Court and recorded on p. 63 of Charles City Records 1655-1665. This record indicates that NICHOLAS PERKINS possessed property not only in Virginia but also in England and it tends to support those who claim that NICHOLAS PERKINS was a man of some means even prior to his arrival in Virginia. The document of Mar. 17, 1656 (the end of the Julian year), which speaks of other things or servants which shall be sent for his widow further at anytime, also indicates property in England.

Probably in August 1656, shortly after the agreement of July 31, was signed, Dr. Richard Parker and the widow Mary Perkins were married. Certainly NICHOLAS PERKINS was only recently dead--his will was not even offered for probate until the September Court--but with the scarcity of women in the early days of the Colony and the economic difficulties which faced a widow with children prompt remarriages were the rule of the times.

The will of NICHOLAS PERKINS was presented to the court at Westover in September 1656. Page 67 of the Charles City Records reads. "A probat of the last will and testamt of NICHOLAS PERKINS Decd this day proved in cort is granted to Richd Parker who married the relect and exex of the said decedt." Unfortunately a copy of the will has not been found in the existing records.

Another agreement made by Dr. Parker is recorded on p. 87 of the same records. it was made Mar. 17, 1656, and produced in Court and recorded Apr. 5, 1657: "Whereas I Richard Parker chirurgeon did formally freely consent and agree to the signing sealing delivery & in a... estate belonging to my now wife Mary Parker now know yee that I sd Rich Parker for divers good causes and considerations moving me thereto friendly & freely confirm to sd Deeds children by these...I so friendly and freely make over to my sd wife MARY all the crop that her two boyes or servts shall make this ensuering yeare and after so long as they have to serve or any other things or servts which shall be sent from her further at any time or times whatsoever. to have and to hold as her owne property and free the sd two servts wch goods or servants already sent out, to be sent unto my sd wife, unto her for ever without any let or hinderance of me the sd Richd Parker or any other person & ... In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seale this 17th day of March 1656." It was signed, sealed, and acknowledged in the presence of Daniel Llewellen and John Aste and recorded by Howell Pryse, clerk.

An account of the Parker family written in 1673 quoted on p. 422 of Vol. 5 of VIRGINIA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY states that Richard Parker was the son of James Parker and Katherine Buller. The account continues, "Rich'd, ye 9th child, Dr. of Phyzicke, went into Virginy, married a Londoner and had issue six children. Liveth upon S'nt James river in ye uplands of Cirginy & hath been High Sherife of ye s'd county." If, as seems likely, the Richard Parker who made a deposition April 3, 1660, and gave his age as 31 (p. 232 Charles City Records), was the son of Dr. Richard Parker, then the doctor must have been married prior to 1629. Very likely his first wife was the "londoner" by whom he had six children and his marriage to the widow Mary Perkins in 1656 was a second marriage for both of them. It seems reasonable to assume that he was born about 1600-1610 and that Mary was born about 1610-1620.
On March 3, 1661, Richard and Mary Parker deeded to Richard Taylor land on Powder Creek beginning at Barbado Island (p. 327 Charles City Records).

The Charles City County Court of August 4, 1662, ordered "that Richrd Parker shall not depart out of Sherf custody until he give cautions: for or the deliver the estate of ye orphans of NICHOLAS PERKINS decd..." (p. 333 Charles City Records).

By December 25, 1664, he had moved to Henrico County and on that date the Charles City County Court appointed the clerk "to request ye Cort of Henrico County to take security of Rich'd Parker for ye estate and education of the two youngest children of NICHOLAS PERKINS deced and satisfie the security so taken to this Cort whereby they may be discharged from the sd estate" (p. 499 Charles City Records).
In 1669 Richard Parker patented 350 acres of land on Four Mile Creek in Henrico County. It was also on Four Mile Creek in Henrico County that his stepson NICHOLAS PERKINS later owned land.

These few brief items are about all that is definitely known concerning the first NICHOLAS PERKINS and his wife. The references are almost all to the Charles City Records (1655-1665) of which a photostatic copy may be found in the Virginia State Library in Richmond. Many of the records pertaining to the PERKINS family are quoted in BURTON CHRONICLES OF COLONIAL VIRGINIA by Francis Burton Harrison, 1933.

In addition to the facts as shown by the extant records, various suppositions have been made about the PERKINS family. Miss Lucie Perkins Stone proposed an English ancestry for the family--see p. 524. Worth S. Ray in his book TENNESSEE COUSINS, 1950, suggested that the wife of NICHOLAS PERKINS was a Mary Burton, possibly the daughter of John Button and Lydia Fry.

The known children of NICHOLAS PERKINS and Mary his wife were:
Lydia Perkins (ca 1642 - ) m. John Howell
Elizabeth Perkins (ca 1643 - ) m. Jones
Nicholas Perkins (ca 1647 - ca 1712) m. Sarah Childers
At least one more and possibly other children.

Jannet Klinker of Abilene, Texas, sent information saying her cousin Ginger W. Stallings of Plano, Texas, did research on this line & that NICHOLAS PERKINS was born 1624 in Bedfordshire, England. He married ELIZABETH HARDYNGE the daughter of Constantine Hardynge. This would account for the names Harding & Constantine which are brought down through this family. I believe ELIZABETH died about 1850 & NICHOLAS remarried at this time.

NICHOLAS PERKINS was in Va 1641, children were born 1642-7, and Mary was transported over 1650. There was no indication the children came with her in 1650. I do not believe them to be Mary's children.

VIRGINIA COLONIAL ABSTRACTS Fleet 975.5 F, Vol 10, p. 48 C 10 page 62
This present writing witnesseth that I Richard Parker Do freely give consent to & with Mary Perkins that she shall make over unto her selfe all the estate which her late Dec'd husband left her by his will Doth appe, both here & in England & further I do enjoyne my sleft to bring her children up to Learning to the true intent & meaning hereof I the sd Richard Parker hereunto sett my hand Dated this last Day of July 1656
Test Richd Parker
Richard Delabere Recorded 7br 5 Seq
(5th Sept 1656)

p. 52 C 10 page 67 4 Oct 1656
A probat of the last will and testament of NICHOL: PERKINS Dec'd this Day proved in Court is granted to Richard Parker who married the relect and exerx of the sd Dec'edt
Vol 11 p. 18 C 11 page 159

Be it knowe unto all men by these presents that I Richd Parker having exchanged one cowe called Rose w'ch belonged to Elizabeth the orphane of NICHOL' PERKINS dec'd & delivered the same unto Capt otho Southcott for the use of Robert Rowse, which I hereby confirm unto him & his heirs exrs adm'rs & assigna for ever with all increase, Do therefore xx in lieu xx & for the better breed profitt & increase for the sd orphane give xx for the use of the sayd orphane one cow called Gentle xx & one cow calfe that came of her of the same mark: As also unto Lydia Perkins one heyfer of about two years & a halfe old named Coale xx To have hold & enjoy the sd cattell with all increase profitt & produce threof unto the sd children xx Witness my hand 8 br qr 1658
Wit Rich Parker
Wm Ffisher
Recognet: in Cur 8br 4 1658
rec 8br 27 Sequ
Note: 8br qr 1858 October 4, 1658
qr for quarter - fourth

Vol 13 Page 7-8
At a Court for Orphans at Westover. 15 Sept. 1664. C 13
page 498. Abstract. On petition of Elizabeth Perkins, and her discharge to the Court, order "that her porcon (w'ch she confesseth is ready for her) be rendered into her immediate possession".
page 498. Upon pet and request of Nicholas Perkins orphane and his release to the C'rt The Co'rt hath appointed Richd Parker to be guardian of the sd Nicholas Perkins and his estate, wch the sd Nicholas being of years of eleocon doth wholly intrust to his sd guardian
page 498. To the Worp'll com'rs of Charles Citty Com
The peticon of Nicholas Perkins
Humbly presenth
That your pet'r being now seaventeene years of age desires liberty to make choyce of his guardian and shall pay &c
Nicholas NP Perkins
Test m'ke
Ho: Pryse C1
Abstract. Court postponed from 3rd of Oct to 18th... page 499. To the Worp'll the Commissioners of Charles City Com
The peticon of Elizabeth Perkins
Humbly presenteth
That my father in Law Richard Parker did according to Act putt in security for the Deliv'ry of my estate now soe it is that I am now 21 years of age and desire to be possessed w'th what belongeth to me, it is ready for me if your Wor'pp's be pleased to give order for the delivery and I shall nowforthw'th discharge your Wor'pp's from the same estate and shall ever in duty pary &c
Elizabeth X Perkins
Test Ho: Pryse C1 her marke
Note: Indeed it was high time the children were educated. Elizabeth aged 21 and Nicholas aged 17 both make marks. And it might be remarked tha tit was high time Mr. Fleet learned not to transcribe the same word appearing twich in the same entry in two different ways. My appology being that at least one way must be right. I can prove that in either Co'rt or Court. B.F.

CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS Nugent 975.5N Vol 1, p. 129 Patent Bk #1 Part II
Bryant Smith 100 acs Henrico Co, Oct 10 1641 p 783 bounded W. upon the river, E. into the woods...
Trans of 2 pers: NICHOLAS PERKINS, Gringall Delayhaye
p. 202 Patent Bk #2
NICHOLAS PERKINS 170 acs Henroco Co, 30 Aug 1650 p. 262 Lying in Bermuda hundred, beg. in Cole's swamp running along Cunicott Path w, N, W. by N, thence along the Cart Path to the head of sd Swamp. Trans of 4 pers: Mary Perkins, William Owen, Richard Hues

Internet http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/goldenwest/pugh.txt is no longer a good address, but it previously stated that the existing records for Henrico County begin in 1677, and the first mention of Henry's [Pew] name occurs on the Tax List of 1679. The list was officially called "An account of ye several fortye Tythables, and was authorized on 25 April 1679. His name appears on deeds for land located near NICHOLAS PERKINS and John Burton

Nicholas married Mary Ann Burton in 1633 in , Goochland, Virginia, USA. Mary was born in 1618 in , Charles City, Virginia, USA; died on 4 Aug 1662 in , Charles City, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Perkins line back to Aden/Eden Perkins in Old Jamestowne Co mpany and his son Nicholas, born in either Charles City Co Va or Nottingham, Co Eng. Nicholas and his wife Mary Burton? Barton made at least two trips across from England being awarded 400 acres each person each time. Line goes back to Pierre de Morlaix, France or Peter of Morlaix, or Perkins Demorley, or just Perkins. Pierre was born in Morlaix around 1350 and moved to England where he married Agnes Taylor of Shopshire on the coast of England. 5 generations l ater Aden/Eden Parkyns was born
22 July 1582 Nottingham Co Eng. He married Mary Sylvester of Corsthorpe, N ottingham, Co Eng.

Aden Perkins was born and married in England. He was a grocer in the Olde Jamestown Company, in Charles City Co Va. book about Nicholas Perkins and his family written by Dr William Hall. Dr Hall's book was written from documents of immigration records, deeds, court suits, and wills. Dr Hall did not mention Aden Parkyns as I recall.

The Burton Chronicles were compiled by Frances Burton Harrison. the y were about our Nicholas Perkins.
These Chronicles relate about Nicholas Perkins dying fairly early and leaving provisions for his son to be educated. The widow Mary Burton Perkins married a Dr Richard Parker. He promised to have the son Nicholas educ ated and awarded so much land. The Burton Chronicles relates how one of the daughters married and didn't inherit. I believe she just refused her share. Dr Richard Parker was charged with spending his step-son's in heritance and consquencely went to prison. This was sad because in early immigration the father Nicholas Perkins Sr reportedly owned quite a bit of property in England besides the acreage he and his wife accrued by immigrating t wice. Mention of wills from Henrico Co, into Goochland Co Va. where the first 5 children of James Perkins and Judith Whitlow were on the Rev Wm Douglas's Registry. Records of a will of John Perkins of Moon Creek, Caswell Co NC. Our branch of the line came to Green Co Ky ca 1810 and have a very strong history since then.

From The Great Houses of Nottinghamshire and the County Families, (1881)by Leonard Jacks

BUNNY Park hall, a mansion of considerable importance, is owned and occupied by Miss Hawksley, niece of the late Mrs. Forteath, to whom the estate was bequeathed by Lord Rancliffe, the last of the barons of that title. The property originally belonged to the Parkyns , an old and distinguished family whose estates seem to have got into other hands, or to have been worn away by the friction of legal machinery. The baronetcy is still maintained, but the title does not carry any large rent roll. The family of which Sir Thomas Parkins, baronet, is the head, can claim long descent, and a distinguished and protracted connection with this county. Towards the latter end of the sixteenth century Richard Parkyns, Recorder of Nottingham and Leicester, who was by no means dependent upon the emoluments of his office, purchased the manor of Bunny, then as now of considerable extent. His descendant, Mr. Isham Parkyns, also of Bunny, held the rank of colonel during the Civil Wars, and in consideration of the determined and courageous resistance he offered to the power of the Usurper, which is said to have implied his own impoverishment, his son was created a baronet in the year 1681. In 1795, little more than a hundred years later, the family acquired a higher rank, and Thomas Boothby Parkyns was made Baron Rancliffe, an Irish peer. On the death of the second Lord Rancliffe, in 1850, who succeeded to the Bunny estates, the peerage became extinct. By marriage the family is connected with several distinguished and titled houses. Mr. Mansfield Parkyns, who formerly lived at Woodborough Hall, married a daughter of Lord Chancellor Westbury, and one of the daughters of the first baron was espoused to Sir Richard Levinge, an Irish baronet.George Augustus Henry Anne Parkyns, second and last Baron Rancliffe, who died at Bunny Park, has not been dead long enough to be forgotten by Nottingham people. His political connection with the county town was as memorable as that of the late Sir Robert Clifton, and between the two there is something in common. For a long period Lord Rancliffe represented Nottingham in Parliament, and his popularity was as remarkable as it was long-lived. At the age of fifteen he was the bearer of a title and the possessor of very considerable property to which he subsequently contrived to add the ancient belongings of the Parkyns family. The newly fledged lordling was brought up into the immediate care of Lord Moira, who considered that he could have had better training than that to be obtained in a fashionable regiment. On his marriage with the Earl of Granard’s daughter, the young lord left the army and became equerry to the Prince of Wales, afterwards George the Fourth. As soon as he reached manhood’s estate, Lord Rancliffe was returned to Parliament for Minehead, under the good old system of purchase which obtained them. Lord Rancliffe sat for this place for seven months, and it is said that his constituents never saw him or knew what lie was like. In 1812 there was a vacancy in the representation of Nottingham on the resignation of Mr. D. P. Coke, and a number of persons interested in the election went to Bunny, and induced Lord Rancliffe to stand in the Whig interest. A sharp contest ensued, and Lord Rancliffe was returned, his success being largely due to the influence exercised upon the constituency by Lady Raneliffe. The other successful candidate was Mr. John Smith, who was returned at the head of the poll. In 1818 and again in 1826, Lord Rancliffe was returned for Nottingham, and he did not withdraw from Parliamentary life until four years later, after representing the borough for twenty-eight years. He died at Bunny, in 1850, at the age of sixty-five, and of him, one of the principal biographers says:—" Lord Rancliffe was what might be considered a good party man, but by no means a good political leader. He was neither fitted by natural endowments, nor yet by the habits he cultivated for the post of a leader; still his views were sound and constitutional on most political subjects, and his votes, which were uniformly in accordance with his professions, were calculated to advance the cause of social progress and the diffusion of civil and religious liberty throughout the world."There is very little at Bunny to remind one of Lord Rancliffe’s connexion with the house. Either lie or those who followed him evidently contemplated enlarging the place, and commenced the necessary alterations. But the plan was never carried out, and Bunny is an unfinished mansion at the present time. The introduction of a new staircase or flight of steps was contemplated, and amongst the litter of a partially finished apartment there are some of the pieces which were to form this new work, so long since abandoned. Not that Bunny Hall requires any enlargement. It is a large and spacious mansion with, on the ground floor, a continuous suite of rooms said to be among the biggest in the whole county. These, the drawing room, the library, and the dining room, are entered from a long corridor lighted from above, terminating in a billiard hall, and ornamented at intervals with glass cases containing birds. In one ease is an albatross; in another the graceful form and exquisite plumage of a flamingo. At the end of the suite of rooms is a small conservatory opening into the drawing room, which is furnished in sumptuous fashion. The walls are decorated with graceful designs and in lively colours, and the furniture is bright and elegant. There are some rare old cabinets here, amongst them a Louis Quatorze and one of Florentine Mosaic, and some valuable pieces of china. The fireplace is the work of Italian artists. It is supported by slabs of marble of exquisite purity, bearing on either the perfectly sculptured form of some beauteous goddess. Both drawing and dining rooms are destitute of pictures ; it was never intended that those walls, so expensively and artistically decorated, should be hidden by picture frames. In the dining room there is another fine cabinet and a number of quaint high-backed chairs, which are said to have been made and carved in the reign of Elizabeth. The windows overlook a square of cheerful gardens enclosed by a low and open wall. The library is between the drawing and dining rooms, and there are in it a great number of books. On one of the tables there is a small bust of the First Napoleon, engaged in sketching a plan of the battle of Marengo. A special value is attached to this ornament. The house contains a number of portraits, about which one is able to get but little information. They are all of them said to be members of the ancient family of Parkyns, and one which hangs over the antique mantelpiece in the billiard hall, a gentleman in armour, may, perhaps, be safely described as that of Mr. Isham Parkyns, who took such a prominent part in the Civil Wars. Possibly Vanderbank’s portraits of Sir Thomas and Lady Parkyns are among the collection, part of which has been consigned to the housekeeper’s room. The family, of which these portraits remind one, at one time had great influence in the county. They were settled in Berkshire before they came here, but they should certainly be classed among the old Nottinghamshire families. One of them, buried in the fine old church at Bunny, the Sir Thomas Parkyns of the last century, was an extraordinary man. He was a great wrestler, he studied physic for the benefit of his neighbours, and he wrote in dead and living languages. He distributed scraps of Latin over the parish with becoming impartiality, and tombstone and horse block were alike inscribed with the language of Maro and Flaceus. It was his mission to encourage the spread of muscular Christianity, and to give a classic turn to bucolic life. The whimsical epitaph on his monument is not inappropriate, applied, as it is, to a worshipper of muscle, who once said, "I receive no limberham, no darling sucking bottle who must not rise at Midsummer until eleven of the clock, till the fire has aired his room and clothes of his colliquative sweats, raised by high sauces and spicey forced meats, where the cook does the office of the stomach with the emetic tea table set out with bread and butter for breakfast; I’ll scarce admit a sheepeater none but beefeaters will go down with me." The Parkyns’ were good friends to Bunny. When they lived at the hall they built and endowed schools and almshouses in the parish, restored the church, and they are said to have dispensed charity and hospitality with a lavish hand. What is generally called a tower gives an imposing appearance to Bunny Ball. This is an elevated piece of brickwork, which in the distance looks like the tower of a church. It rises to a considerable height, and from its summit, which is reached by an oak staircase, you may see objects that are very far away. The brickwork is old and it is evident that the house is old too. On the front of the brickwork is a coat of arms, and the date recorded on the stonework is 1723. The lower part of the tower is ivy-grown, with here and there some odd sprays of ragwort.

Aden married Mary Ann Powden (Or Slveyter) on 6 Apr 1613 in St Michael Bassishaw, London, England. Mary was born in 1582 in , Nottinghamshire, England; died in 1633 in Placé, Mayenne, Pays de la Loire, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Francis married Anne Plowder in 1570 in Bunny Park, Nottinghamshire, England. Anne was born in 1553 in , , , England; died in 1635 in Bunny Park, Nottinghamshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Anne Tattershall in 1517 in Ufton, Berkshire, England. Anne was born in 1490 in Ufton, Berkshire, England; died in 1550 in , , , England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]