Much of what I have gathered so far about the Perronet and Briggs comes from two
sources, an extract from
"The History of Norfolk" and a Sells family tree
created by hand prior to the 1930s.
The Perronet family came from France via Switzerland. One reference referred to
the family as "French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution".
The oldest Perronet family member I have found is
Jean Perronet. All I really know about him is that he is from Chateau-d'Oex,
Pays d'en Haut Vaudois, Switzerland (say that 10 times fast!). He was alive around
1650 according to the Norfolk history extract referred to above.
David Perronet was one of Jean's sons.
He immigrated to London in 1680, thus bringing the Perronet family England.
David was married to Philothea Arthur.
There is some sketching information on her parentage.
According to the Norfolk history extract: Philothea's paternal grandfather was "cousin-german
to Countess-Doweger of Dartmouth". Her father "had a considerable post in the Star
Chamber under King Charles I" and "lost a large estate near Devizes in the Civil
Wars". I'll look into the significance of this at some later time. If you can shed
some light on this information, please
me and I'll incorporate it here.
One of David's sons, Vincent Perronet,
is a person of some historical significance. He spent most of his life as the Vicar
of Shoreham in Kent. During that time, he became a close friend of
John and Charles Wesley, founders of Methodism. He was not active in the
Methodist movement, but provided counsel to the Wesley. Some sources refer to him
as the "Archbishop of Methodism". One of his books is available today, "A Second
Vindication of Mr. Locke" (ISBN: 185506118X). Click
here for a biography.
Two of Vincent's sons, Edward and
Charles, were also close to the Wesleys. Edward is remembered in his own
right as the lyricist of the hymn "All
Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name"
The Briggs and Perronet families were brought together when Vincent's daughter,
Elizabeth, married
William Briggs.
The Briggs family goes way back in English recorded history. At least one
Briggs family web site exists. It describes Briggs' family history as far
back as the Viking era in England.