Belmont Perry was born in Flemington, New Jersey, 14 March 1854, the son of Edward Perry, a lawyer, and his wife Elizabeth. He followed his father into the law, and was for many years prosecutor of the pleas of Gloucester County, New Jersey, residing in Woodbury. In 1899, he removed to Santa Ana, California, where he purchased the Santa Ana Standard; in 1901 he is listed as owner of the Valrosa fruit ranch, "one of the finest in Southern California". By 1903 he had moved to Pasadena, where the he remained until at least June 1911. At some time afterwards, he returned to Woodbury, where he died on 10 October 1912. On 25 September 1877, in Woodbury, he married Anna Elizabeth Thackara, born in New Jersey on 7 February 1850; she died in Woodbury on 12 October 1920. The couple had no children.