Parrott family boasts deep roots in Middlesex County

Life events — births, weddings, anniversaries and funerals — are generational events that are reminders that we are all a part of a much larger family.

For the ancient Middlesex County Parrott family the wedding of Jay Parrott and Brianna Phares in September brought Parrott family members from Georgia and North Carolina back to Middlesex to walk in the ancient footpaths of their ancestors.

Interestingly, the Middlesex County wedding location was tied to Brianna, whose parents, Willie and Cindi Phares, moved from Richmond here in 2015. “Jay had done some research on his family and realized we lived in Middlesex where some of the first Parrotts’ came to America from England,” said Cindi.

Permanent English settlement started in Middlesex in 1649. Richard “Perrott” received one of the first land grants on March 13, 1649. Somewhere in time the spelling changed from Perrott to Parrott. The original grant was for 400 acres and over time Parrott accumulated more than 1,000 acres in what was known as “Perrott’s Neck” and later known as “Nesting…”