William Pring of Devon Born circa 1777

[grimpring]

Looking for information regarding a William Pring, Born c 1777, Labourer/Husbandman/Public House Keeper, married 27 Nov 1807 to Elizabeth Taylor, born 9 May 1786 in East Budleigh, Devon (parents Thomas and Jane/Jenny Taylor).
William, along with three children, Robert, Harriet and Elizabeth all drowned on 26 Jan 1837 in the River Exe at Exmouth.
Henry, born 1906 and William, born 1916 both went to Australia and died there.
Charles, born Feb 1808 in East Budleigh, Anna Maria, born 1810 and Mary Ann Pring born 1812, both born in Littleham, Exmouth, Devon I know nothing about.
Any information would be appreciated.

[cemetery friends]

Only about 60% of Devon parishes are included on the IGI Family Search which means that you or a research agent may need to search baptism records at the Devon Research Centre for parishes not on the IGI. Check out the Vanstone map and see Littleham [pink = not covered] and East Budleigh [green = only records of chapel not full cover]. The parishes in blue are covered and it is evident that most of the neighbouring parishes are pink or green. http://www.vanstoneweb.co.uk/maps/devonigi.gif so you have much searching to undertake.
The surname Pring is commonly found in Devon and William one of the most popular male forenames. If you search the parish records of both EB and L  in the first instance then the neighbouring pink parishes you may possibly find a baptism although you may well find more than one eg a cousin for example.

[grimpring]

Dear Cemetery Friends,
I have spent quite some considerable time in the Devon Records Office and found some records, however there appears to be no baptism records for William in areas around Devon that I could find that were relevant.
I have also chased up all Parish records I can find.
Thank you for your input.

[Darwin]

On Family Search here's a William Pring baptised in Ottery St Mary in 1779 - parents Samuel & Bridget - that's only 10 miles from East Budleigh so possible he moved for work.

Are you sure the William you're looking for was born c1777? The William who was buried with children Robert & Harriet in 1837 is recorded as 52 years old in the parish burial register.

[grimpring]

Dear Darwin53,
Thank you for your reply, which I found amazing.
I was in Devon about 5 years' ago on a holiday from Adelaide, South Australia and spent quite some time looking at records in the Devon Records Office as well as what I could find in parish registers plus graveyards and could not find this information now available at Family Search.
My estimate on birthdate for William was based on an Exeter Flying Times report of the accident with details, where it said William was about 60 in 1837.
The report also said he was buried in Littleham along with three children, however I could find no records or headstones at that stage.
I would love to see copies or notes taken from the parish burial register and the baptism along with some form of verification.
Thank you very much for your effort.

[cemetery friends]

Devon FHS will supply copies [photocopy] of enties in registers see http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/shop/
click subject button on right hand side [Copies of Parish Registers]

[Darwin]

You could also buy a copy of the Littleham (Exmouth) Burial Book (transcribed not photocopy) for £2 - get the PDF version & you'll be sent an instant copy via email.

http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/shop/product_list.php?cat_id=1&q_alpha=l

On Find My Past, you can see the actual burial register entries.

Re: William's baptism possibly now being c1784/5, you could try these parishes in the area:

East Budleigh (he's not there) online here: http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/EastBudleigh/EastBudleighBaptisms1759.html

Littleham (Exmouth) - pre 1800 parish records available from The Devon Record Office
Withycombe Raleigh - ditto

Bicton - Online Parish Clerk Ros Hickman invites look-ups and covers your dates http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/Bicton/#Genealogy
Otterton - ditto
Colaton Raleigh - ditto

[hanes teulu]

William's age in the burial register is clearly 52 - born c. 1785?.
FindMyPast has a baptismal record (image/transcription) for a -
"Wm son of Thomas and Mary Pring, born and baptised 8 Dec 1784 at the Church of Saints Martin and Mary, Chudleigh, Devon .

Chudleigh is across the estuary from Exmouth.

The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette carried a short report of the tragedy - 8 deaths in a small boat ferrying the family ashore.

[cemetery friends]

As DOB's suggested 1784/5 make him much younger than originally supposed on marriage in 1807 [ie about 22]. This is quite possible but certainly less than the average age of a male for marriage and unless he was of a well off family he would be of a very low income to support a family.