Pressdee family of Alfrick

[pimpernel]

I wonder if anyone can help clarify some details of the Pressdee family based in Alfrick and Suckley in the 1700's.

I believe Ann Pressdee married William Wood in April 1811, the National Archives has a marriage settlement, though it's not been transcribed so I've only seen the index reference for it here:

Nat. Archives C 107/180 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7029081 "WOOD v SHALLARD: Copy of marriage settlement of William Wood and Ann Pressdee, 1811 and papers relating to mills at Suckley: Worcs"

I'm not sure why this is listed as Wood v Shallard, any ideas?

I've fair confidence this is the correct marriage, Ann's brother John Pressdee (1778-1862) and his daughter Eliza are witnesses to the 1845 marriage of Ann & William's daughter Rebecca Wood. However I've not found any 1811 marriage record for William Wood and Ann Pressdee yet. 

Nevertheless, assuming this is the correct Ann, an entry on the LDS site shows a baptism of 1st May 1780 in Alfrick, father John, mother Mary. This is the only record I could find for an Ann Pressdee. There is an entry in the 1841 census for William and Ann Wood living in Leigh (with Bransford), which ties in with records for their daughter, though Anne's age is rounded up to 55, which would suggest a later birth than 1780.

I was convinced that Ann's parents were John Pressdee born 1731, and Mary Butler (1749-1825) of Alfrick, who had a substantial family of boys, but it seems only one daughter - at least according to the records I've found! According to the baptism record  John's parents were James & Mary, who I took to be James Pressdee (1701 Doddenham -1777 Suckley) and Mary Medens (1701-1760, Suckley).

But I'm not so sure now. I've found a lot of un-sourced trees mentioning these individuals, but few actual records that confirm anything. I made some assumptions based on the limited number of records I could find online, but other trees seem to show there were more than one James=Mary families in the region. Suddenly I'm going back over my evidence for Ann Pressdee and wondering if it's flimsy!

So, questions - can anyone help to 1) confirm Ann's marriage to William Wood in 1811? 2) offer any pointers to confirm/deny her parentage to John & Mary Butler? 3) Clarify the James & Mary parents of John?

Many thanks!

[ciderdrinker]

Hi
Have you looked at the wills for Preedees at Suckley and Alfrick?

John Pressdee 5.7.1806 of Suckley hopefully her father (burial 1731-1.7.1805 Suckley)
John Pressdee 9.6.1828 at Alfrick presumably her brother other name in Death Duty index Joseph as as beneficary?

Catherine 9.11.1839 at Suckley presumably her sister bapt  1.2.1778
Elizabeth 12 Dec 1795 Alfrick
William 23.4.1831 Suckley  burial 1764-28.10.1830 Suckley
James 15.3.1794 Alfrick

Ciderdrinker

[pimpernel]

Many thanks Ciderdrinker, no I haven't had chance to see wills, I don't think my basic Ancestry subscription allows access (apart from their open days!). Do you have a source? It has been confusing, as I'm seeing various unreferenced trees on Ancestry and other sites listing a wider circle of family members in the area than the records I could find. Even though lot of them, I suspect, are simply copied from other trees, it still indicates sources I've not uncovered yet. Ancestry doesn't list the parish records for Alfrick, I thought perhaps they are lost!

[mazi]

There is this marriage on Familysearch

https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&query=%2Bsurname%3APressdee~%20%2Bmarriage_place%3AWorcestershire~%20%2Bmarriage_year%3A1760-1811~&offset=40

Not sure why it’s listed under Warwickshire parish registers when the place is Worcestershire
Sixth one down

Mike

[pimpernel]

The John Pressdee will certainly sounds like it matches the John Pressdee Alfrick born 1738 I traced on the LDS site, which I assumed was the father and the other children you mention, married to Mary Butler in 1776. I'm trying to ignore other trees now because of all the confusion, many list a 1748 Leigh born John Pressdee, claiming the same wife and a range of children including those mentioned. Leigh is very close to Alfrick and Suckley, so I'm no longer sure which of these Ann, and her siblings, are related to.

[pimpernel]

Checking entries on Rootsweb, there seem to be at least two clearly distinct Pressdee families in Alfrick/Stuckley, and Leigh (with Bransford), which are being confused in a lot of trees. e.g. these on Rootsweb ( https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:3244247&id=I14325 and https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:3244247&id=I14337 ) indicate that Edward (chris.21 Nov 1785) and John (born 1776, bapt.24 FEB 1777 in Leigh) were born to parents John Pressdee (B.14thApr 1747, Leigh) and Mary Pursil (b.17th Mar 1754, Leigh). Trees on Ancestry and other places claim this John was married to Mary Butler, and assigned all the LDS listed children to them. Clearly, mistakes have been propagated.

These are all modern transcriptions though, I've not found any original sources for these claims at all, no parish records listed on Ancestry, so it's all just opinion.

[ciderdrinker]

Hello Pimpernel
No I'm afraid the Wills aren't online.
The originals are at Worcester Archives at the Hive on the 2nd floor.They can be viewed on Microfilm.Just grab the right year and put it on.
I don't know where you live but if that's too far ,then the death duty records for the two Johns are on the National Archives website.
The John Pressdee the older can be found using their search facility and a copy of his Death duty record including an extract of his Will costs £3.50.
It's three pages and from the preview it looks like there isn't much detail but there should be a list of beneficiaries and so long as Mrs Ann Wood is one of them,you're ok.

The death duties are harder to find for the younger John and you'll need to look through how to look up the records and work through the instructions on the site.
Apparently they are free once you do but I've never actually managed to find the records I was looking for.
The reference is PCC and County Courts  year  1828    IR27/206

Ciderdrinker

[pimpernel]

That's great, thank you for the notice! Unfortunately I'm a very long way from Worcestershire and currently am unable to visit the area, so the web is my only recourse at the moment.

I found the 1805 John Pressdee of Suckley will on the National Archives website and downloaded as suggested - unfortunately the age of John isn't mentioned, and his only beneficiaries are two children Sarah (Meeke) and William Pressdee, so no connection to my Ann.

I'm still hunting for the other one mentioned!

Many thanks!

[pimpernel]

Cutting things back to the evidence I'm confident of with my family... 

Evidence for Ann: Rebecca Wood's marriage certificate was witnessed by John & Eliza Pressdee. Her father William Wood married an Ann Pressdee. I'm thus assuming John Pressdee was Rebecca's uncle, a brother of Ann. The most likely candidate for John is an 1778 born individual, born in Alfrick/Suckley, working as a flour dealer in Worcester in the 1841 census, which ties very neatly with William Wood's profession as a miller of Leigh. It seems probable that William Wood and John Pressdee were connected in business. John's wife is recorded as Deborah in 1841 (and 1851), which must be the 5th Apr 1810 marriage to Deborah Bullock listed with LDS. 

Their eldest daughter is Eliza Pressdee, baptised in 1813, thus confirming Rebecca's marriage witnesses.

LDS indicates in the 1778 baptism this John's parents as John & Mary Pressdee. Likewise the 1780 listing of Ann's baptism.

This all ties up very neatly, the problems start when I try to pin down the mutual parents of Ann and John - i.e. John & Mary Pressdee.