Thank you so much for the info about Elizabeth Perrins, which is very interesting, because I knew that her husband Price was a whitesmith and according to my grandmother he beat her up and she threw herself on the protection of Lt.Thomas Molyneux, at Halifax Nova Scotia, who had joined the Army as an Ensign in the 6th Foot, 27th September 1786 against his father's wishes and had gone out to America. They remained there till 1793 when he was sent to the West Indies as a Lt. in the 1st Batt. Light Infantry and was present at the taking of Martinique, St. Lucia and Guadaloupe. During this time Eliza gave birth to several children all of which were 'natural', because according to my grandmother William Price was still alive.
The family returned home ( Ireland) in 1794 and Thomas Molyneux was made a Captain Lt. in the 5th Dragoons and purchased a Majority in the Caithness Fencibles in December, with which Regiment he served till the conclusion of the Rebellion in Ireland in September 1798, when he exchanged to the half pay of the 104th Regiment. He was appointed Lt.Col. by brevet on the 1st of January 1800 and placed on the staff of the Severn District as Inspecting Field Officer of the Yeomanry and Volunteers in June 1807 until May 1813, by which time he had become a Major General., living in Monmouth. Meanwhile Eliza was producing more children, (the wives of Thomas Molyneux and his brother John who lived in Ludlow, had thirty two children between them, but only about half survived). I had managed to find an entry of their marriage circa 1800 at Claines, where they were living in Common Hill House at the time and Eliza signs herself with an X. So their first nine children were 'natural' and the rest 'legit'. The children never knew any thing about this till after the death of their father in November 1841, which was the result of a law suit between his sons and the youngest George born in 1813 at Monmouth proved his claim to be the rightful heir.
However according to your information the Perrins seem to be a colorful family too, with plenty of natural children to boot. I wonder what became of William Price. Ellen Perrins, born 1843 and Christened on the 8th January 1843 at Kinver, who was one of the daughters of Samuel Perrins married a Charles Price, living afterwards in Stourbridge.
Thank you again for your input and I wish that my mother was still alive to have know about this, she recently died near 100. Her family were from the Black Country, her gt.grandfather was the political reformer George F. Muntz M.P. for Birmingham.
