Middlesex County’s First From-Here

February 24, 1650 was a prestigious day in Middlesex history for it was the birth of the first
from-here. Little Richard Parrott, Jr. let out his first cry on the banks of Parrott Creek just off of
the juncture with the Rappahannock River near the northern end of our county lines.
His father, Richard Perrott Sr. born 10 Feb 1621 in Potton, Bedfordshire England arrived in York
Co. Va. in 1647. The name is found spelled Perrott, Parat, Parrett, and Perrott. He was a land
surveyor and worked in 1648-1657 for Captain W. Brocas Esq. to survey property in the
expanding York County.

He is a widower when he marries his second wife Sarah Keye Dale (b. 1615 in England), the
widow of Nicholas Dale, in 1648.

Richard Perrott becomes one of the first settlers of the newly formed Lancaster County. A judge
by trade, he patented 450 acres on the South Side of the Rappahannock River in 1649 in
Lancaster County, which Middlesex was a part of until 1668.

And then the happy news of the healthy birth. Richard Perrott Jr. is recorded in the Register of
the Church of England’s Christ Church “born 24th of ffebruary, 1650, Being the first Man child
that was gott and borne in Rappahannock river, of English parents.”

Richard became a very important member of the county. Richard was a member of the
Lancaster County Court in 1655; a Justice of the Peace and held court at his home December,
1655; was appointed Sheriff of Lancaster County in January 1657 and then elected High Sheriff
in June 1657. He was a Vestryman and Sidesman in 1657 of Christ Church Parish in Middlesex
County.

In March 1668, he patented 1,900 acres then called Mottram’s Mount, that later became
known as Parrott’s Quarter and Parrott’s Neck. He established a plantation currently known as
“Nesting”, located just below the Essex County line in the area known now as Jamaica. When
Middlesex County was formed from Lancaster County, Richard Perrott became the first Chief
Justice for Middlesex County Court. In October 1678 Richard Sr. was a member of the 10th
Virginia House of Burgesses. Richard died November 11, 1686 after living a very full life.

But it is of his first son that we speak today, our first Middlesex from-here. With such a busy
and connected father, it is no surprise that his son also held vital positions within the county.
Richard Jr. received 800 acres of land from the estate of Nicholas Dale in 1672 through the
estate of his mother and received more land in 1674. Richard Jr. was named to the Middlesex
County Court and Christ Church Parish Vestry by his father.

Richard Perrott Jr. married Sarah Curtis on November 11, 1672. She was born in Ware Parish,
Gloucester, Virginia in 1657, the daughter of Immigrants Major Thomas Curtis and Averilla
Curtis. She was the widow of William Halfhide. Richard and Sarah had Henry Perrott, born
January 25, 1675. He is followed by eight more children: Frances ‘Frank’ Perrott; Sarah
Jones; Richard Perrott, Ill; Averilla ‘Efforella’ Hardy; Robert Perrott; Curtis Perrott; Mary
Weekes and Penelope Galbarth.

Richard Jr. was prosperous with his family but sadly not with his investments. He was in and out
of court and was forced to forfeit all his personal property, servants and cattle simply because
he refused to pay a debt. Richard Jr. was also later sued for his Sheriff’s salary. He didn’t sit in
Court or at a Vestry meeting again until much later in his life. Nor was he asked to appraise,
audit or be a juror until later. He was passed over by his father Richard Sr. in his will in lieu of
Junior’s son Henry Perrott. It is Henry that inherited the “Nesting” plantation. Richard Jr.’s wife,
Sarah Curtis Perrott, died at age 36, possibly in child birth, on 26 December 1693. Junior died
one year later in October 1694 at age 44.

Our first from-here did not live a long life, but his children continued the line. The Perrott
children married into other well-known local families, such as Daniel, Paine and Montague.
Thus, the origin of this early American Ancestor began in Middlesex County, Virginia. Members
of this genetic line are still found near Middlesex County, proved by DNA analysis. We can trace
other members of this family as they relocated with neighbors to Granville, Halifax, Person and
other North Carolina counties around 1700. Family descendants can also be found in Louisiana,
South Carolina, Eastern Tennessee and Georgia. From this first from-here the seeds of
Middlesex have blown far.