Hello All,
With your help, regarding the ancestry and early life of Mary Parker, née Pugsley, I have arrived at the following conclusion:
Most likely, Mary Parker, née Pugsley was born in Combe Martin, North Devon, as reported in “A Parker Genealogy” of 2007 by Philip & Elizabeth Caddey, née Morse and daughter of Mary K. Parker. Combe Martin was the place of origin of her grandfather, Humphrey Pugsley (see more below). Mary Pugsley was probably born out-of-wedlock to Harriet Pugsley, in the 3rd qtr 1856, and Mary’s father was not named. This year of birth is consistent with age on her death certificate of 85 in Nov 1942 and being "of full age" when married in 1876.
In 1861, Harriet married John Perrin in West Buckland, the latter becoming Mary’s stepfather. Mary resided with them at least until 1871 and possibly until her marriage to George Thorne Parker in Feb 1876. On 9 Feb 1876, a notice appeared in the Western Times (Exeter, Devon) newspaper of the marriage of George Parker to Polly (a diminutive of Mary) Pugsley, only daughter of Mrs Pugsley. George was born in Broadwood Kelly, West Devon in 1850, to John Parker, a farmer and Ann Thorne. John had two farming properties and the Parker family is mentioned in White's Devonshire Directory (1850) as being one of the prominent land-holding families in the Broadwood-Kelly parish.
England Census records inform us that both Mary (5 yrs) and George (9 yrs) resided in Tudeley Village, W. Buckland in 1861, so they may have known each other as children. In 1871, Mary Pugsley was residing with John and Harriet Perrin in the South Molton sub-reg’n dist., at age 14, with relationship “daughter” (of Harriet). George T. Parker at 20 yrs of age was in the same district.
Mary & George had two children in Devon, Frederick in 1876 and William in 1878, then George went to South Australia in or after Dec 1879 (on a transport ship, tending a stallion for Moorara Station, Wenworth Shire, SW NSW; vessel unknown), with Mary and the two boys following, in Apr-May 1880 on ss “Cotopaxi”, arriving The Semaphore, South Australia. Their third child, James Moorara Par-ker was born on 26 Sep 1880, in Pooncarie, Riverina Dist., NSW (Bill Monfries, via E & P Caddey, 2007). James’s middle name was that of a sheep and cattle station on the east bank of the Darling River in the district, and possibly place, of his birth.
Mary’s paternal line may never be found. Harriet Pugsley may have been born in West Buckland 1824-1825, with baptism 27 Jan 1825, reg'n Barnstaple Wesleyan Circuit; her parents were Humphrey (cir 1794 or 1801-1880) and Grace (cir 1803-d) Pugsley, née Gould, who married 26 Jan 1820 in West Buckland. Humphrey was born in Combe Martin parish, lived there in 1841 and was buried there. Her Pugsley pedigree includes great grandparents William and Margaret Pugsley. Grace’s parents were John (1754-1849) and Jane (1759-d) Gould, née Conibear. The Gould pedigree has been traced by a contributor to FamilySearch to John Gould (1642-1718); this tree includes George T. and Mary Parker, née Pugsley, supporting the latter’s pedigree, as described above (
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/portrait/LJKT-V6G).
