vital records sources
go to Mary Denton's page

I've found nothing about Philip's origins. The name Protheroe, which is uncommon, is apparently Welsh or Cornish. The earliest record I've found is his "clandestine" marriage in 1751. It took place in a private chapel in the house of Rev. Alexander Keith. He performed marriages without the need for banns or licenses, making him very popular. The registers are among the parish records for St. George's Chapel, Mayfair, apparently. Keith's "chapel" was on the northeast corner of Curzon and Chapel Street East, (across the street from St. George's). Philip and Mary may have done this because she appears to have been about a month into a pregnancy, unless their daughter Mary was premature.
     A 1755 court case calls him a tailor and victualler of St. James, Clerkenwell.1 With his wife Mary, they brought suit against widow Amy Smith for assault and a midemeanor. Another court document from September 1763 listing Thomas Jackson and Philip Protheroe as providers of bail says he was a victualler of St. James.2
     Philip doesn't appear as a tenant in London tax records. The term "victualler" has several inferences. One was someone who provisioned ships with food and drink, which isn't likely, given he was not near the Thames River. Another is a licensed liquor seller, or something similar to running a public house (pub). This is more likely, although I don't find his name associated with any of the pubs or inns in Clerkenwell. There were several on Clerkenwell Green close to Thomas Jackson's home and shop. This may be how they came to help Richard Webb, in another case of assault, with his bail. They were associated well enough for Thomas's son and Philip's daughter to marry in 1771.
     Philip's likely burial record in St. James, Clerkenwell, parish says he was living on Islington Road, which is just north of Clerkenwell, and that he was 50. He was buried in the "Old Ground," which I assume is the cemetery next to the church. This is now a park, and only a few gravestones have been preserved and are lined up along a walkway.

child of Philip Protheroe and Mary Denton:

Mary b. 31 May 1752

vital records sources: his marriage: both of St. James, Clerkenwell, Publications of the Harleian Society, Registers, vol. 15, The Registers of Baptisms and Marriages at St. George's Chapel Mayfair, ed. George J. Armytage, London 1889, p. 198. His burial is in the parish records of St. James, Clerkenwell.

1. londonlives.org, "London Lives 1690 to 1800," Middlesex Sessions: Sessions Papers - Justices' Working Documents (London Metropolitan Archives).
2. Ibid.