Thomas Perrot

Sir Thomas Perrot (1553 – 1594) was an Elizabethan courtier, soldier, and Member of Parliament. He campaigned in Ireland and the Low Countries, and was involved in the defence of England against the Spanish Armada. He was imprisoned several times, on one occasion to prevent a duel with Sir Walter Raleigh, and on another occasion because of his secret marriage to Dorothy Devereux, a Lady-in-waiting to the Queen, and sister of the Queen's favourite, the Earl of Essex. Perrot's only daughter, Penelope, married Sir Robert Naunton, author of Fragmenta Regalia, which claimed that Perrot's father, Sir John Perrot, was an illegitimate son of Henry VIII.

Thomas Perrot was the son of Sir John Perrot by his first wife, Anne Cheyne (d.1553), the daughter of Sir Thomas Cheyne, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and his first wife, Frideswide Frowyk (died c.1528), daughter of Sir Thomas Frowyk, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.

By his father's second marriage to Jane Prust (d.1593), widow of Lewis Pollard (d.1563) of Oakford, Devon, and daughter of Hugh Prust (d.1559) of Thorry, Devonshire, Perrot had a half-brother and two half-sisters:

Perrot also had at least four illegitimate siblings, Sir James Perrot, John Perrot (born c.1565), Elizabeth Perrot, and another sister whose name is unknown.

Perrot saw his first service as a soldier when he accompanied his father to Ireland in 1579. He was knighted when the English forces landed at Waterford. On his return home he was imprisoned in the Fleet to prevent a duel with Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1581 he took part in a tournament in the tiltyard at Whitehall Palace before the Queen and French ambassadors; Perrot and 16 other defenders led by the Earl of Oxford withstood a challenge to the Castle of Beauty by the Earl of Arundel and Sir William Drury. Shortly thereafter Perrot was again imprisoned in the Fleet for his secret marriage to Dorothy Devereux, one of the Queen’s ladies in waiting.