He studied under Henry Fuseli at the Royal Academy, and in 1811 gained the gold medal for historical painting, the subject being Themistocles taking Refuge at the Court of Admetus.
Perigal for some time practised portrait-painting in London. But about 1820 he appears to have gone to Northampton, and then moved to Manchester. He settled in Edinburgh, where he taught drawing, and from 1833 onwards exhibited portraits and landscapes at the Royal Scottish Academy.
In the 1830s Perigal is listed as living at 6 Street Vincent Street in the Stockbridge area of Edinburgh.
Perigal died at 21 Hill Street, Edinburgh, on 19 September 1847, aged 63. He is buried in Dean Cemetery near the north-west corner of the original cemetery.