General Notes

The Perkins family history starts with Peter Morley Perkins living in 1381 who was a Sargeant of Lord Hugh Despencer, he married Agnes Taylor, daughter of John Taylor of Shropshire. The family had a permanent feudal place with the Despencer. During this time Richard II was King, during his reign in 1381, a blacksmith named Wat Tyler led a peasants' revolt against forced labor and heavy taxation. Following the rebellion, Richard tried to rule without Parliament. The English people by this time had become used to certain rights contained in the Magna Carta signed in 1215 by King John. Richard II governed so badly that the country turned against him and he was forced to give up the throne. Parliament chose the Duke of Lancaster who ruled as Henry IV.