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SIR JOHN PERROT (c. 1S27–1592)

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 184 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIR See also:JOHN See also:PERROT (c. 1S27–1592)  , See also:lord See also:deputy of See also:Ireland, was the son of See also:Mary Berkley, who afterwards married See also:Thomas See also:Perrot, a See also:Pembrokeshire See also:gentleman . He was generally reputed to be a son of See also:Henry VIII., and was attached to the See also:household of See also:William See also:Paulet, 1st See also:marquess of See also:Winchester . He was in this way brought to the See also:notice of Henry VIII., who died, however, before fulfilling his promises of See also:advancement, but Perrot was knighted at the See also:coronation of See also:Edward VI . During Mary's reign he suffered a See also:short imprisonment on the See also:charge of harbouring his See also:uncle, See also:Robert Perrot, and other heretics . In spite of his Protestantism he received the See also:castle and lordship of See also:Carew in Pembrokeshire, and at the beginning of See also:Elizabeth's reign he was entrusted with the See also:naval See also:defence of See also:South See also:Wales . In 1570 Perrot reluctantly accepted the newly created See also:post of lord See also:president of See also:Munster . He landed at See also:Waterford in See also:February of the next See also:year, and energetically set about the reduction of the See also:province . In the course of two years he hunted down See also:James Fitzmaurice See also:Fitzgerald, whose submission he received in 1572 . Perrot resented the reinstatement of Gerald Fitzgerald, 15th See also:earl of See also:Desmond, and after vainly seeking his own recall See also:left Ireland without leave in See also:July 1573, and presenting himself at See also:court was allowed to resign his See also:office, in which he was succeeded by See also:Sir William See also:Drury . He returned to his Welsh See also:home, where he was fully occupied with his duties as See also:vice-See also:admiral of the Welsh seas and a member of the See also:council of the See also:marches . Al-though in 1578 he was accused by the deputy-admiral, See also:Richard See also:Vaughan, of tyranny, subversion of See also:justice and of dealings with the pirates, he evidently retained the royal confidence, for he was made See also:commissioner for piracy in Pembrokeshire in 1$78, and in the next year was put in command of a See also:squadron charged to intercept See also:Spanish See also:ships on the Irish See also:coast . The recall of See also:Arthur See also:Grey, Lord Grey de See also:Wilton, in 1582, left vacant the office of lord deputy of Ireland, and Perrot was appointed to it See also:early in 1584 .

Sir See also:

John See also:Norris became lord president of Munster and Sir Richard See also:Bingham went to See also:Con-naught . Perrot's See also:chief instructions concerned the See also:plantation of Munster, where the confiscated estates, some 600,000 acres in extent, of the earl of Desmond were to be given to See also:English landlords at a nominal See also:rent, provided that. they brought with them English farmers and labourers . Before he had had See also:time to embark on this enterprise he heard that the Highland clansof Maclean and See also:MacDonnell were raiding See also:Ulster at the invitation of Sorley Boy MacDonnell, the Scoto-Irish See also:constable of Dunluce Castle . He marched into Ulster, but Sorley Boy escaped him, and crossed to See also:Scotland, only to return later with reinforcements . The lord deputy was roundly abused by Elizabeth for under-taking " a rash, unadvised See also:journey," but Sorley Boy was reduced to submission in 1586 . In 1585 Perrot succeeded in completing the " See also:composition of See also:Connaught," a See also:scheme for a See also:contract between Elizabeth and the landholders of the province by which the See also:queen should receive a small quitrent . During his career as lord deputy he had established See also:peace, and had deserved well of Elizabeth . But a rash and violent See also:temper, coupled with unsparing See also:criticism, not to say abuse, of his associates, had made him numerous enemies . A hastily conceived See also:plan for the See also:conversion of the revenues of St See also:Patrick's See also:Cathedral, See also:Dublin, to provide funds for the erection of two colleges, led to a violent See also:quarrel with See also:Adam See also:Loftus, See also:archbishop of See also:Armagh . Perrot had interfered in Bingham's See also:government of Connaught, and in May 1587 he actually struck Sir See also:Nicholas Bagenal, the See also:knight See also:marshal, in the council chamber . Elizabeth decided to supersede him in See also:January 1588, but it was only six months later that his successor, Sir William See also:Fitzwilliam, arrived in Dublin . After his return to See also:England his enemies continued to See also:work for his ruin, and a forged See also:letter purporting to be from him to See also:Philip II. of See also:Spain gave See also:colour to an See also:accusation of treasonable See also:correspondence with the queen's enemies, but when he was tried before a See also:special See also:commission in 1592 the charge of high See also:treason was chiefly based on his alleged contemptuous remarks about Elizabeth .

He was found guilty, but died in the See also:

Tower in See also:September 1592 . Elizabeth was said to have intended his See also:pardon . A See also:life of Sir John Perrot from a MS. dating from the end of Elizabeth's reign was printed in 1728 . Sir James Perrot (1571-1637), writer and politician, was his illegitimate son .

End of Article: SIR JOHN PERROT (c. 1S27–1592)
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