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The P*rr*tt Society is a registered one-name genealogical society for those interested in the study of the family origins of the names Perrott, Perrett, Parrett, Parrot, etc. Members of the Society receive the quarterly Family Notes journal and have access to the Society’s considerable research data. These pages are updated regularly with Society news as well as information likely to be of interest to researchers on the world-wide web. New members are always welcome and membership details are given on these pages.
P*rr*tt Society - Mid-term Meeting Biddenham - Saturday 24th October 2009
Saturday 24th October 2009 From 10a.m. – 4p.m.
Biddenham Village Hall Biddenham is a village just to the East of Bedford on the A428. Biddenham Village Hall is situated opposite the Three Tuns Pub on Main Road in Biddenham. Nodders Way is a turning opposite the pub and the car park is on the right. A warm welcome awaits you in Bedford which has many famous sons including John Howard, the penal reformer. The BBC was evacuated here during the war which has set up a rich musical background so there are many concerts. Bletchley Park the nerve centre for cracking the Enigma code is nearby. There is a delightful river on which The Bedford regatta takes place and where many rowers have honed their skills for success in the Olympics. At 11.30 John Pestell from the Bunyan Meeting will give a talk about John Bunyan, the great 17th century preacher whose book, The Pilgrim’s Progress has been published worldwide. This is the opportunity to research data and glean advice from our experienced genealogists for all P*RR*TT surnames and a chance to sort out problems face to face. A buffet lunch will be available at £6.50 a head. Booking Form for this is enclosed with the Journal.
Introduction
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To maintain an association of those interested in the origins, history and development of the various branches of the family, the various spellings of whose names are shown on the letterhead of the Society. |
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To hold meetings once or twice a year at places of special interest to members of the Society, to include an Annual General Meeting, usually in the Spring of each year. |
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To circulate a quarterly journal to inform members about matters of topical interest relating to the family, and to publish genealogical and biographical information. |
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To encourage the study of the history of the various spellings of the name shown on the the letterhead of the Society and to encourage the publication of definitive research where this is appropriate. |
Sixty Minute Special!
I came across the following 3 year old letter on a genealogical enquiry site: ‘I’m trying to find out more about my father’s family. His name was Trevor William Parrott and he died in January 2000 in Maidstone, Kent. His mother was Marjorie Parrott and I believe she passed away in 1987 either in Liverpool or Oxford.
I’m not sure of my grandfather’s Christian names but I know he passed away in Oxford in the late 1960s or early 1970s. My parents divorced when I was very young and I know so little about my father’s family, so any information or help would be very much appreciated.’
Not much information there, I thought. Sitting at home I wondered how much I could find out in the course of an hour? Right - phone off the hook, office door closed - and here’s the result!
The death of Trevor William Parrott in Maidstone in 2000 was quickly found using www.findmypast.com. It also gave his date of birth as 10 February 1936. Four minutes gone!
The next step was to find Trevor’s mother’s maiden name. Easy, I thought, since I knew precisely his date of birth and the GRO birth indexes give the mother’s maiden name. No, it turned out not to be easy – he wasn’t in the index of births. My first set back! Seven minutes gone.
However Trevor’s marriage was quickly found, dated September 1964 in Tiverton, Devon, to a Miss Brewer. Looking for a Brewer who married a Parrott in the GRO marriage index showed she was Margaret J. Brewer. Eleven minutes gone.
A different approach was needed to find Trevor’s birth. I tried www.ancestry.com under the heading of ‘Public Family Trees’. The name came up immediately with the date of death as 1 January 2000 in Ditton, Kent. Best of all it gave his birth details – a big surprise – and the names of his parents. He was born, not in the UK but in India, in Kalimpong on 10 February 1936. His parents were named as William Parrott and Lilian née Burns. This immediately raised a question – who was the ‘Marjorie’ described earlier as Trevor’s mother? Solve one problem and another comes up and wipes the smile off of your face! 20 minutes gone
At this stage data from ‘FAMILY NOTES’ came to the rescue. I remembered that some years ago Ruth Newman contributed a couple of articles on British baptisms and marriages in Bengal, (Births, Sep 1991 issue, Marriages, March 1992 issue), transcribed from the records held at the India Office in London. By a remarkable stroke of good luck Trevor’s details were there. They were: Born 10 Feb 1936, bapt. 19 Jul 1936 in the Lahore Cantonement, son of Sydney and Marjorie Parrott. Sydney was the assistant manager of the Military Dairy Farm. Thirty seven minutes gone.
St. Andrew’s Church, Lahore, formerly in India, now in
Pakistan
The details of the parents marriage on 27 Oct 1930 were: Sydenham Desmond Basil Parrott, occupation ‘Military’, bachelor aged 28, lived Military dairy farm, Lahore Cantonement. He married Marjorie Alicia Catherine Burns, spinster, 28, living 99 Brackenbury Road, Lahore. The ceremony took place at St. Andrew’s church, Lahore. The witnesses were E. Barnett, T. Barnett and under the heading ‘parents’ were ‘Captain William Fred Parrott and Anthony Edwin Burns, RN.’ Wikipedia says that St Andrews Church in Lahore was built by the British in 1899 for Christian employees of the railways in the Neo Gothic style of architecture prevalent at that time.’ 45 minutes gone.
This explained who ‘Marjorie’ was. Whoever researched the family tree on Ancestry’s ‘Public Family Tree’ got it wrong! Going back to Marjorie’s generation nothing was found in the GRO births under the name Sydenham B.D.Parrott, nor for Marjorie A.C.Burns. 55 minutes gone.
I searched in the GRO births for grandfather William Fred Parrott until I reached the 60 minute barrier but to no avail. 60 minutes gone. However, it had been possible to find father, mother, and 2 grandfathers and to put right an incorrect, published, family tree. Not too bad for an hour’s work?
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P*RR*TT PHOTO GALLERY
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Taken in about 1916 this photo shows Elizabeth Perrett (née Jupp) who married Thomas Francis Perrett in 1863. At the time of their marriage Thomas and Elizabeth were both ‘in service’ at different addresses in Castle Avenue East, Marylebone. The child is their daughter, Margaret Elizabeth. ‘FAMILY NOTES’ September 2000, page 63 gives an account of the imprisonment of Thomas for embezzlement in 1867 in Gloucester gaol. |
| Joseph and Elizabeth Parrott with their children photographed sometime around 1915 -1917 Back row: Leslie, Reginald, Harold; Front row: Constance, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Sydney. Joseph Parrott was born 1864 in Wootton, and married Elizabeth Garratt Lay in 1896 in Bedford. In the 1901 census his occupation is given in greater detail than usual: ‘Church official, sexton of cemetery, garden (not domestic) worker.’ The family emigrated to Canada and Joseph died in 1948 in Oshawa, Ontario; his wife died there in 1952. The family sailed from Liverpool on the ‘Empress of Britain’ and arrived in Quebec on 12 Oct 1906. The ship’s papers list Joseph as a gardener. The couple travelled with their children Harold (9), Reginald (7), Constance (4) and Leslie (2). |  |
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