Researching John Perry

Perry was born in Ballymote, County Sligo. He was educated at Ballymote National School and Corran College, Ballymote. Perry was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1997 general election for the constituency and retained his seat until his defeat in 2016. In 1997, he became Fine Gael Spokesperson on Science, Technology, Small Business and Enterprise, and the Border Counties. He was a member of Sligo County Council from 1999 to 2003, representing the Sligo–Strandhill electoral area. In June 2000, he was appointed Assistant Director of Organisation and Deputy Spokesperson with special responsibility for Border Issues. He held this post until February 2001.

Between September 2002 and October 2004, he was Vice-Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications and Natural Resources. He has also served as Chairman of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee. In October 2004, he was appointed to the position as party spokesperson for the Marine, in Enda Kenny's Front Bench. He was demoted from the Front Bench after a reshuffle following the 2007 general election. In July 2010, he was appointed as Spokesman on Small Business.

On 10 March 2011, he was appointed by the Fine Gael–Labour government as Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation with special responsibility for Small Business.

In July 2012, he was the subject of some controversy over his claims for mileage expenses for official duties including a claim for 4,417 km of mileage in a month during which he only had two official appointments and another monthly mileage claim which averaged 344 km per day for every day he was in Ireland. In that latter month he was abroad for 9 days.

On 22 July 2013, Perry and his wife consented to a judgment of €2.47m against them at the Commercial Court over unpaid loans to Danske Bank. In September 2013, Perry confirmed that he had reached an agreement with Danske Bank, in relation to his outstanding loans. In March 2013, it was reported that Perry hired his wife, Marie, as a parliamentary assistant, contrary to government statements on appointments.

He was dropped as a Minister of State in a reshuffle in July 2014. He was reappointed to the Public Accounts Committee in December 2014.

In October 2015, Perry was not selected as Fine Gael candidate for the Sligo–Leitrim constituency at the 2016 general election. In December 2015, he took a High Court action against Fine Gael challenging the results of the selection convention. On 22 December, the Fine Gael National Executive announced it was adding Perry to the Sligo–Leitrim election ticket.

He lost his seat at the 2016 general election. He ran as an independent candidate for Sligo–Leitrim at the 2020 general election. He was eliminated on the seventh count.

The Only Ones came out of London during the first wave of punk (1976–77) and, rather like the New York bands the Heartbreakers and Television with whom they later toured, suffered from being too musical for lumpen-punk but too "new" for conservative record business sensibilities. Though they were lumped in with the new wave vanguard, the band were too musically literate - not to mention long in the tooth - to be punks. Rather they were sophisticated guitar rockers whose sound embraced all flavors of 1950s and 1960s rock. Although never a huge commercial success, the band are highly influential.

Perry's guitar style is noted for a combination of attack and melody, a mixture that the UK music magazine Sounds described as being "very superb".

Perry was educated at Mill Hill School, the London College of Divinity and St John's College, Nottingham. He was made a deacon at Michaelmas 1959 (20 September) and ordained a priest the Michaelmas following (25 September 1960) – both times by Ivor Watkins, Bishop of Guildford, at Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral, Guildford. After ordination he was a curate at Christ Church, Woking until 1962,after which he held a similar post at Christ Church, Chorleywood before becoming vicar of St Andrew's in the same town in 1963; and in 1972 Rural Dean of Rickmansworth. From 1977 until 1989 he was Warden of Lee Abbey when he was appointed Bishop of Southampton, a suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester. He took up that See upon his consecration as bishop by Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 25 January 1989 at Westminster Abbey. Translated to Chelmsford in 1996 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Anglia Ruskin University in 2001 and retired to Shaftesbury two years later.

He was buried at St Matthias Old Church.

Ephraim Seehl, an apothecary and chemist, was married to his sister Sarah.

In 1796 his wife, Elizabeth, died, and less than a month later his second daughter, Sarah, married George Green, whom Perry had taken as apprentice a dozen years previously. In 1798 Perry married Green's sister Mary. He retired to Moor Hall, near Harlow and was appointed High Sheriff of Essex.

Perry's children by his two marriages included:*John and Philip, who followed him into the family business*Charles, first bishop of Melbourne, Australia*Thomas, father of John Perry-Watlington, MP for South Essex*Amelia (died 1874), managing committee for George Green's School

Perry has written several history books and articles on topics including Pacific Asia-US relations, the American occupation of Japan, and American expansionism toward the Pacific Ocean. His writing style has been characterized for artfully conveying history to the general reader with pith, wit, and clarity. The Japanese government awarded him the Imperial decoration of the Order of the Sacred Treasure for his contributions to US-Japan relations.

Perry's latest book Singapore: Unlikely Power, which explores the implausibility of Singapore's success, was published in January 2017.

Perry was educated at The Crypt School, Gloucester, the University of Leeds and the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield; and ordained in 1944. After a curacy at All Saints Church, Poplar, London he was vicar of St Peter's Hackney and then of St Dunstan's with St Catherine's Feltham. He was Rural Dean of Hounslow from 1967 to 1975 before his appointment as archdeacon, and afterwards Rector of Orlestone with Ruckinge and Warehorne. He died in June 2017 at the age of 97.