Peake/Arthur....

[garthur]

HELP!!!!!  PLEASE!!!!

Looking for husband's family again!!  We have unearthed such an incredible amount of information thanks to a surviving relative in Oz but now have hit a dead end.

We have got as far back as:
John Arthur (Born 4 March 1825 at Wisbech St Peter)
Father was Simon PEAKE and Mother was Ann ARTHUR (nee Conquest).  Simon Peake was given as a Bargeman with residence at "Horsefair" Wisbech.

John married Elizabeth Harrod on 30 Sept 1856 (Elizabeth was sometimes known as Bush and her father was given as Robert Bush; mother Harrod)


Then everything goes to pot....

We know that Peake is an important name within the family - we have a copy of "Fore and Aft" a private publication by William Arthur, youngest son of John and Elizabeth - and the Peake name was carried on thru him.  Apparently the family had "expectations"...
We know that the Peake family are buried within the Chancel Cemetery  "...I found the Chancel Cemetery with its old church half destroyed.  Most of the graves were in bad shape; but...one large section, separated from the rest by a heavy, iron enclosed railing, was intact - eight graves in all; and each had the family name of Peake!"   (taken from Fore and AFt)- the old cemetery in Barnwell (?). 

Apparently, at the time of George II, John Peake - son of Simon Peake - had gambled the family estates on the turn of a card and lost!  There is,or was, an old Will of John Peake that named Barnwell, Smithwick and Oundle as points of Peake family origin and property holdings.

So why the change of names?  Was it commonplace for the children to take the mother's name or was the name Peake dropped because of shame? 

We are hoping to get down to the area in the summer (if we have one!!) and do a bit of research but ANY help would be appreciated!!

If it is the same Peakes, then there is also a connection to Denbigh and the Civil War when one of the Peakes was taken by the Roundheads....

Many thanks in advance, again!!

Glenys

[ricky1]

Hi Glenys

was it your Simon Peake that died in 1839 at Wisbech.

ricky

[garthur]

Hi!!  I was just on my way up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire, down Sheet Lane to Blanket Fair....

I don't honestly know.  The information for this generation (ie. Simon) is so very limited.

John Arthur - his son - was born in 1825;  We don't even know if there were any other children!

We do know that Simon resided at "Horsefair" (which now seems to be a shopping centre), Wisbech; occupation "Bargeman".

His wife was Ann Arthur (nee Conquest)...

I would hazard a guess and say it could well be the same Simon Peake.

Thanks for the reply.
Glenys

[Dave Francis]

Yes there was at least one other child...

Sarah Ann d/o Simon and Ann Peak
chr 5 Jan 1827 at St Peter's Wisbech

[Source: IGI, extracted record]

[garthur]

Which would explain the repetition of the names again.  John Arthur, son of Simon Peake, had a daughter (his eldest child of 12 children) who was also called Sarah Ann.  She was born in 1859, again in Wisbech.

She married Harry(?) Currington in 1878

[garthur]

And so the soup thickens...

Sarah Ann was Sarah Ann Peake.  So she was born in wedlock.

Simon Peake and Ann Arthur were married on 21st June 1825

John, their son, kept his surname as Arthur.

There is an old will, that of Simon's father (whose name was also Simon..)It is, I believe, very old and in a fragile condition.  It is The Last Will and Testament of Simon Peake [the elder] in which he refers to "my son Simon's children, that is to say my grandson Simon (yes, another one!!), Grandson John, Grand-daughter Sarah, and Grandson Richard"

Elsewhere on the will in states "Copy Probate of the late Simon Peake in the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon"

We are getting there, as you can see, but it's difficult as the Will is in Australia with the daughter-in-law of my husband's great-grandfather's 3rd marriage...or something like that!!

Any ideas would be wonderful! 

Many thanks!

[bedfordshire boy]

Have you tried Cambridge and Huntingdon Records Offices to see if they are holding a copy of the will?

David

[garthur]

Thank you!  I wasn't sure which offices the copy (if any) may be held at!!

Hoping to get down to the Wisbech area later this year to do a bit of looking around.  I believe that there are still some relations, albeit distant by now, from the maternal line i.e. Drew, Conquest, Harrod, Bush. 

Glenys

[ricky1]

Hi Glenys

This is the site for the records office in Cambridge

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/archives/visiting/crocambridge.htm

If you come to Wisbech, most of the local records are held at the Musuem, and they charge £5 per hour for you to look at the records, and you have to book in advance, and tell them what you need.

regards
ricky