Home > Carew Castle > Elizabethan Period > Sir John Perrot
John Perrot
- Born in November 1528 --> OTHER SOURCES SAY 1530, late Elizabethan period
- Parents: Mary Berkely, wife of "prominent Pembrokeshire landowner and courtier" Sir Thomas Perrot of Haroldston who was possibly and illegitimate son of Henry VII
- Introduced to the Court in the autumn of 1549 and knighted
- Good relationship with courts of Henry VIII and Edward VI
- Claimed to be an illegitimate son of Henry VIII
- Protestant during the reign of Queen Mary (1553-58) and briefly imprisoned by her for "sheltering Protestant heretics"
- Left the country, joined a military expedition in France to evade more trouble
- Mary granted Perrot Carew Castle and lordship
- Built wing of Carew Castle that extends the full length of the North side and included great windows and a 150 ft long gallery
- Had road re-routed and tenants moved so that the Castle's view would not be ruined
- Worked closely with Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) when Mary died
- Divided time between court and Pembrokeshire (using Carew as his country house) but created enemies at both
- Appointed first lord of Munster in 1571 by Elizabeth
- Returned in 1573, after two years in Ireland and developed his estates in Pembrokeshire
- Appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1584 --> OTHER SOURCE SAYS 1589
- Returned in 1588 from Ireland, a brutal but wealthy man, enemies conspired against him
- Arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London in March 1591
- Sentenced to death for high treason on 27 April 1592 because of "indiscreet remarks about the Queen"
- Died of poor health (poisoned?) on 3 November, though Queen may have considered pardoning him because he was her supposed half-brother
Sources: http://www.carewcastle.com, http://www.castlewales.com/perrot.html