On This Day (03 Nov) in 1592, Sir John Perrot, Privy Councillor and Elizabeth I's former Lord Deputy of Ireland died in the Tower of London.
Perrot was born in Nov 1528, likely at the Perrot family seat near Haverfordwest, a major port town in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. His granddaughter Penelope's husband Robert Naughton later repeated rumours of Perrot being the illegitimate son of Henry VIII, given their similarities and temperament, however, there is no solid evidence to support this.
Perrot was educated at the cathedral school at St David's, Pembrokeshire, before being sent to court. However, very quickly his skills as a knight and soldier set him apart, and he commenced a long military and political career, in both Wales and Ireland.
Perrot had been arrested in Sep 1592, and held at the Tower, being convicted of high treason, following allegations made against him by his enemies in Ireland and Haverfordwest, where he was a Member of Parliament. Perrot was subsequently subject to an Act of Attainder, whereby all his properties were confiscated, and his family disinherited. Elizabeth I was reportedly apprehensive to sign his death warrant, and Perrot died a natural death in the Tower, although rumours regarding a death by poisoning surfaced at the time.
Perrot had come into possession of Syon House, in the parish of Isleworth, in Mar 1588, after purchasing the mortgage rights from Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and Thomas Crompton (long-time acquaintance of Essex, and Comptroller of Elizabeth I's Finances). Essex was the brother of Dorothy Devereux, who had been controversially and secretly married to Thomas Perrot, eldest son and heir of Sir John.
Despite the Act of Attainder against his father, Thomas Perrot had to wait until Mar 1593 until he was able to legally claim his inheritance; with support from his brother-in-law the Earl of Essex, he was legally restored by another Act of Parliament and subsequently able to reclaim the right to most of his father's properties, including Syon House.
Thomas Perrot died prematurely in Feb 1594, with no living male heirs; his goods and properties passed to his wife Dorothy and daughter Penelope, including the lease to Syon House.
Dorothy had remarried by the end of 1594, to Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland. The lease of Syon appears to have immediately passed to Northumberland upon their marriage, and the couple begin to reside there, making Syon one of their primary residences. In 1604, James I formally gifted Syon to the Earl and his descendants, making it the official residence of the Percy family.
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