Perry’s Bankrupt and Insolvent Gazette is a specialist bankruptcy and insolvency journal, founded in London in 1826 by Thomas Walter Perry (1780-1868). It started out as a monthly publication and moved to weekly in 1862. Perry remained proprietor until 1856. His son William Robert Perry is listed as “proprietor of Perry’s Gazette” in the 1861 and 1871 censuses. He died in 1876. The Gazette continued to be published by W. R. Perry Ltd until 1964 when it was discontinued.
The journal has several changes of name in its lifetime: Perry’s Bankrupt and Insolvent Gazette (1828-61), Perry’s Bankrupt Weekly Gazette (1862-81), then Perry’s Gazette (1882-1964).
Perry’s contains information which could be of value to family historians. Until relatively recently being in debt was considered a crime, and in England 30,000 people were arrested for debt in a single year (1837). Earlier issues include the name of the bankrupt, the date gazetted, and their address and trade. Additional information can include whether the proceedings are taking place due to the bankrupt's own petition, or at the demand of petitioning creditors, whose names, trades and addresses are also given. In later editions the bankrupt is often merely referred to by name and trade.
Perry’s also included lists of dissolutions of partnerships gazetted in England and Wales. The names of the partners are given in full, followed by trade and address, and the date of the end of the partnership.
For this newspaper, we have the following titles in, or planned for, our digital archive:
- 1828–61 Perry's Bankrupt and Insolvent Gazette
- 1862–67 Perry's Bankrupt Weekly Gazette
