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.