William Peryam

By writing to Sir William Cecil and earnestly petitioning the Privy Council, mentioning his wife and children and delicate state of health, Peryam seems to have been able to avoid the transfer to Ireland altogether.

She dyed ye 2 of May in ye yeere of our Lord 1605 being then of th'age of 38 & on(e) moneth & maried unto her husband 22 yeeres tenn monethes Mural monument in Heanton Punchardon Church, Devon, to Elizabeth Peryam (1571–1635), daughter of Sir William Peryam and wife of Sir Robert Bassett.

Within a lozenge at the top and on an escutcheon to the sinister are shown her paternal arms of Peryam: Gules, a chevron engrailed or between three lion's faces affrontes of the last.

The text is as follows: Memoriae Sacrum Dominae Elizabethae Bassett uxori Roberti Bassett militis clarissima stirpe oriundi filiae et cohaeredi Gulielmi Peryam militis Schaccarii Regii Baronis primarii Judicic integerrimi et religiosissimi piae prudenti justae patienti modestae castae temperanti constanti hospitali misericordi beneficae pauperum matri et medicae suae familiae conservatrici.

Arthurus Bassett armiger filius eius primogenit(us) debitae gratitudinis et observantiae ergo H(oc) M(onumentum) M(atri)?

Ita in fornacem prodiit aurum Which may be translated literally into English as: "Sacred to the memory to [14] Lady Elizabeth Bassett wife of Robert Bassett, knight, arisen from a famous stock, daughter and co-heiress of William Peryam, knight, Lord Chief Justice of the Royal Treasury, (he was) most impartial and duty-bound, (she was) pious, prudent, just, long-suffering, modest, chaste, temperant, constant, hospitable, compassionate, kind, a mother and healer of the poor, a preserver of her own family.

He died on 9 October 1604, in the year of his seventieth birthday, at his house at Little Fulford (renamed Shobroke Park in the early 1800s, demolished)[15] east of Crediton in Devon.

His monument exists in Crediton parish church to the north of the chancel, showing a life-like effigy of his recumbent figure his head propped up on his hand.

He had served at the Exchequer for eleven years and nine months, and his funeral and burial in Crediton Church appears to have been a significant event, as it was well attended, according to Prince not only by "The gentry, clergy, and others in these parts, but also with heralds at arms, marshalling all according to their rank and place".

It is situated to the north of the chancel, in the position of greatest honour, and shows a life-like effigy of his recumbent figure his head propped up on his hand.

Sir William Peryam (1534–1604), portrait made around the end of the 16th century.
Sir William Peryam (1534–1604), detail from his monument in Crediton Church, Devon
Sir William Peryam (1534–1604), by unknown artist, watercolour, c. 1600. Given in 1877 to the National Portrait Gallery, London, by the Society of Judges and Serjeants-at-Law. Ref: NPG 477
Arms of Sir William Peryam (died 1604): Gules, a chevron engrailed between three lion's faces or , detail from heraldic window c. 1924 in Crediton Church, Devon, south wall of south transept, bequeathed by Rev. W.M. Smith-Dorrien (died 1924), Vicar of Crediton
Peryam (right) and Tuckfield (left) monuments in Holy Cross Church, Crediton. The reclining figure at right is Sir William Peryam, of Little Fulford. The female seated figure at left is Elizabeth Reynell, heiress of Little Fulford, Creedy Wiger and the manor of Shobrooke, grand-daughter of Sir William's younger brother John Peryam and wife of Thomas I Tuckfield, shown in medallion to right
3 wives & 4 daughters of Sir William Peryam, detail from base of his monument in Crediton Church. In the foreground is his 3rd wife Elizabeth Bacon
Monument to Mary Peryham, Colyton Church
Monument to Elizabeth Peryam, Heanton Punchardon
Monument to Sir William Peryham (1534–1604), Crediton Church, Devon; north side of chancel
Heraldic achievement of Sir William Peryam (died 1604) atop his monument in Crediton Church