Note Type
1992 Inventory NotesNote
20:15 William Bennett Perot, Esq. Oil painting, 23.65 x 19.75, by an unknown artist, in ornate gilded frame size 31 x 27. William Perot was born in 1790. Although his main claim to historical fame is because of his appointment as the first Postmaster General of Hamilton - and issuer of the famous, unique and now very rare philatelic Perot Stamp - he was also a Colonel of the local Militia and a distinguished member of the House of Assembly for many years. He died in 1871.
The Perots were descendants of French Huguenots (Protestants) who, after the massacre at La Rochelle and elsewhere in France at the hands of zealous Catholic-led militants, fled France and settled elsewhere in Europe, as well as North America. The first Perot in Bermuda was James, or Jacques, of Huguenot parentage, who was born in New Rochelle, New York, and baptized in the French Protestant Church there. He arrived in Bermuda in 1740 as a silversmith and married Frances Mallory, of Port Royal, Southampton. Five of his children were christened by the Rev. John Moore (see details of Moore's painting in this section). James and Frances Perot lived in Southampton in the Great Sound-side house now known as Waterlot. The nearby island became known as Perot's Island. Two of their sons, James and William, ran a jewellers' and silver business at The Lane, Paget. William, finding the journey from Southampton to The Lane too long, bought Avocado Lodge, in Paget.
William's son, William Bennett Perot, bought Par-la-Ville in 1814 for himself, his wife (see below) and children. (For a more complete summary of the history of Postmaster General William Bennett Perot and his family, see the BHS publication Beyond The Rubber Tree described in section 1 of this inventory.)
This portrait is on display in the Somers Room, on one side of the door exiting the building.