Perkins Family of Hillmorton

[Bowkerfan]

I am trying to find some proof behind a much copied family genealogy with links to Hillmorton. Here is what i can find on the internet and some Perkins family books:

William Perkins b. c. 1430 son of Thomas Perkins of Ufton, Berkshire, married Joana Read b. in 1434 in Coventry.
William and Joana had a son Thomas b. 1485 in Hillmorton. He married Alice Unknown. All good from here down.
I need help confirming William was the son of Thomas Perkins of Ufton Manor.
Hope you can help,
Jeanie

[Waitabit]

Have you seen all of these mentioned on

https://en.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_deMorlaix


So many ideas I can understand why you need help to verify. Your William hard to trace with definie link to Ufton.

Perhaps some-one more knowledgeable will be along soon.

[Bowkerfan]

My opinion of Wikipedia plummeted when I read that article, it is a bunch of nonsense, that is why I have doubts about anything else written about the Perkins family. So many people post stuff without any kind of documentation to back it up. The give out dates of birth and marriage which I cannot account for. There were no baptismal or marriage records that I can find, so I thought maybe someone could shed so light on this family, maybe some private family records, something?
Jeanie

[Coromandel]

If family trees go back beyond the 1500s and claim to know exact years of birth, marriage and death, without giving any source references, I am straight away suspicious, for parish registers of baptism, marriage and burial did not begin until the 1500s. When everyone is born exactly 25 years after their parents it is even more eyebrow-raising.

I would just disregard all such trees. Look for ones that cite sources and are honest about the uncertainties.

You may if you're dealing with wealthy families be able to establish family connections (e.g. through wills) and to pencil in approximate dates, but for many families the trail will go cold. I haven't traced any of my lines back before 1600, despite 30 years' diligent research.

Wills remain a key source, as for later periods. I see from treetreetree.org.uk/Perkins.htm (put 'www.' in front) that the will of Thomas Perkyns of Hillmorton was dated 3 April 1528 and proved 21 April 1528, so he must have died in 1528. So far I have not found anything that provides any documented evidence of his age or parentage. There are plenty of people who say he was the son of William Perkins and Joanna Read. I guess they are all copying from each other. Unless you can find a tree that says where the evidence came from, it is impossible to know whether this is fact or fantasy.

I would go back to the Thomas who died 1528 and try to find out more about him. There may be clues in the property he held at 'Fylds, Hillmorton and Lylborne (in co. Northampton)'. What property was this, and when/how did he obtain it?

Manorial records, if they survive, can hold crucial clues. They're not for the faint-hearted, though: they're usually in abbreviated medieval Latin, which is bad enough when the documents are in good condition but you may have to contend with fading, mould damage, etc.

For some other ideas for sources, see

https://www.
medievalgenealogy.org.uk/

and Paul Chambers' book, 'Medieval genealogy: how to find your medieval ancestors'.

[Jodakist]

I have just started to research my Perkins of Hillmorton line; starting with Marie Perkins who married John Bromwich in 1642 and I have to say that most of what I have read on-line and on family trees that I have looked at on-line appear for the most part to be pure fantasy.

The post above by Coromandel says it all; if the dates quoted are earlier than the parish registers then ignore or investigate them further for definite proof. In the case of the Hillmorton parish registers the earliest were started in 1564 so anything before this is open to doubt. There are now several wills available to view on ancestry.co.uk if you have a subscription; so these might help but you do need patience to be able to read and understand them.

One thing that seems plain to see is that the Perkins family have been in Warwickshire for hundreds of years and so far I have found no connection with Ufton Court in Berkshire or of any marriage between a Perkins and a member of the Astley family; but I have an open mind so might discover something one day but I would be very surprised if I did!