There is no record of Anthony Perrey's birthplace, or from where he emigrated to Plymouth Colony. His will indicates that he was born around 1615, but there are no other details of his early life given anywhere in the archives.
Very little is known about Anthony Perrey's family, particularly relating to his parents and siblings. Anthony Perrey was married to a woman named Elizabeth, by whom he had at least four children: Samuel Perrey, Elizabeth Perrey Bruff, Nathaniel Perrey, and Mary Perrey Kendrick. Elizabeth and Samuel were his eldest daughter and son.
At the time Perrey made his will, he had three grandchildren: Jasiel Perrey (son of Samuel Perrey and Mary Miller), Jasiel Kendrick (son of Thomas Kendrick and Mary Perrey), and Mehitabel Perrey (daughter of Samuel Perrey and Mary Miller).
The Rehoboth mortuary records include the burials of Jasiel and Mehitabel Perrey, both in September 1676. Although their parents are not indicated, the dates suggest that both may have been the children of Anthony and Elizabeth Perrey.
There is no explicit record or evidence of what Anthony Perrey's occupation(s) was. The mention of cider and orchard related items, as well as livestock and basic farm implements, in his will and inventory suggests he was likely a farmer, and a farmer of diverse agriculture.
Perrey was probably a literate man, as there were ten shillings worth of books listed in his probate inventory.
Anthony Perrey was a very wealthy resident of Rehoboth. His estate at the time of his death was valued at nearly £400, and his landholdings, worth about half of that sum, totaled nearly 300 acres. Interestingly, Perrey owned "A Hundred and Sixty pounds estate of Commonage in Rehoboth," i.e., land surrounding the central village green.
According to his will and estate inventory, Perrey owned twenty-seven livestock, eighty-three acres of land "in the home Lot", an orchard, £55 in silver money, and sixty bushels of Indian corn.
Anthony Perrey served the colony well throughout his life in municipal offices. He was a regular juror (1654-1676), Constable (1665), and Surveyor of the Highways (1679), all for the town of Rehoboth. He became a freeman in 1658, and was elected deputy in 1673.
1654 June 6. Anthony Perrey served on the "Grand Enquest". [PCR 3:47-49]
1658. Anthony Perrey took the Oath of Fidelity, i.e., became a freeman. [PCR 8:178]
1658 March 1. Report of the coroner's inquest, impaneled to investigate the death of Nathaniel West of Rhode Island. Anthony Perrey served on this jury, which found that West accidentally drowned, by falling through ice while on his way to Providence town. [PCR 3:155-158]
1664 August 7. Report of the coroner's inquest, impaneled to investigate the death of Elizabeth, daughter of Philip Walker, Sr. Anthony Perrey served on this jury, which found that she, "being sent to school," accidentally drowned in a river. She was supposedly two and a half years old. [PCR 4:81-84]
1665 June 7. Anthony Perrey elected Constable of Rehoboth. [PCR 4:90-91]
1670 May 29. Anthony Perrey listed as a freeman of Rehoboth. [PCR 5:274-278]
1672 June 5. Anthony Perrey served on the "Grand Enquest". [PCR 5:89-91]
1673 June 3. Anthony Perrey elected deputy at the General Court of Election. [PCR 5:112-114]
1673 November 11. Report of the coroner's inquest, impaneled to investigate the death of Roger Annadowne. Anthony Perrey served on this jury, which was convened because of potential foul play in Annadowne's death. Although there was publicly-known "strife between his wife and him" before his death, the jury found no evidence, "no wound or bruise", that might suggest an untimely demise. [PCR 5:137-141]
1673 November 20. Anthony Perrey and Philip Walker, Sr., took inventory of and appraised the estate of Roger Annadowne (see above). Annadowne owed Perrey "a bushel and an half of corn," worth five shillings. [Plymouth Colony Wills]
1676 June 7. Anthony Perrey served on the "Grand Enquest". [PCR 5:194-196]
1679 June 3. Anthony Perrey elected Surveyor of the Highways, with John Wilmott. [PCR 6:9-12]
1679 October 10. Inventory taken of the estate of Philip Walker, Sr. Anthony Perrey was one of four appraisers, with Daniel Smith, John Pecke, and Nicholas Pecke. [Plymouth Colony Wills, Vol. 4, Part 1, Folios 34-36]
1683 February. Death of Anthony Perrey.
1683 March 1. Burial of Anthony Perrey. [PCR 8:78-79]
1683 March 6. Court proceedings regarding disposal of Anthony Perrey's estate. Oaths administered to witnesses of his will and estate inventory. [PCR 6:103]
1683 March 15. Inventory taken of Anthony Perrey's estate, by Daniel Smith, Captain Peter Hunt, John Peele, Lieutenant Nicholas Peck, and William Carpenter, Jr. [Plymouth Colony Wills, Vol. 4, Part 2, Folios 30-32]
Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories, Vols. I-VII, 1670-1685. Unpublished compilation, ed. Patricia E. Scott Deetz. Department of Anthropology, University of Virginia, 1999.
Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England [PCR], 1855-61. Ed. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer. New York: AMS Press, 1968