Henri Xavier Charles Périn was born in Mons on 25 August 1815. He was the son of Paul François Charles, Imperial Receiver-General in Mons, and Mary F. J. F. Gigault, who emigrated to Germany at the arrival of the French revolutionary armies. This resulted in a counter-revolutionary family tradition. After his secondary education in his hometown, he continued his studies at the Faculty of Law of the Catholic University of Louvain. He was strongly influenced by Charles de Coux, the first holder of the Chair of Political Economy, appointed as professor in 1834 at the newly created Catholic University. On 2 November 1842 Périn enrolled as a lawyer–trainee at the Brussels Bar under the supervision of the liberal advocate Dolez, also a native of Mons.