PRIDDLE FAMILY HISTORY

NOTES ON THE PARENTAGE OF HENRY PRIDDLE JUNIOR (1699/1700-1779)

When Henry (II) Priddle, progenitor of the main Priddle line in Tintinhull, married Mary Stower there on 30th June 1734, he was recorded as 'Henry Priddle junior'. He was again referred to in this way in the baptism of his son Henry (III) in 1740. This appears to connect him as son of the older Henry (I) Priddle who fathered at least another 11 children in Tintinhull between 1699 and 1719, although there is no surviving record in the main Tintinhull registers of Henry (II)'s baptism. When he was buried on 9th May 1779, Henry (II) was recorded as being 79 years old, placing his birth (if the age is accurate) between May 1699 and May 1700. There is a caveat here however, in that other researchers have recorded Henry (II)'s burial as 1778, which incidentally fits better into the recorded sequence in our own notes. If this is correct, then Henry (II) would actually (again, subject to an accurate age) have been born between May 1698 and May 1699 which would clearly affect the argument below.

There are two marriage entries in the Tintinhull register which appear to attach to Henry (I) Priddle. On 16th September 1698, Henry Priddle married Mary Tooke, and on 8th May 1699 Henry Priddle married Mary Apsy (dates and spellings from the SRO transcript). Given the apparent absence of alternative Henry Priddles, it would appear that Henry's first wife died between September 1698 and May 1699 and that he remarried. Oddly, the related burial entry appears under 1699, with the burial of 'Mary, wife of Henry Priddle' on 30th December and the baptism of 'Allies' their daughter on the same day. Given the apparent date inconsistencies, it may be that the baptism and burial actually took place in 1698 (although this would then be rather close to the first marriage !), or that the second marriage actually took place in 1700. A detailed revisiting of the original registers and any surviving bishop's transcripts would definitely be worthwhile.

Ignoring the caveat above, if we go for the 1698 burial / 1699 2nd marriage combination, it would be most likely from dates that Henry (II) was the son of the second marriage to Mary Apsy. With a 1699 burial / 1700 2nd marriage combination then Henry could just attach to the first marriage, but it seems odd that if he was born with Alice (1699) he would not have been baptised at the same time, and it seems unlikely that Mary Tooke could have fitted in two separate pregnancies between September 1698 and December 1699. On balance, it seems more likely that Henry (II) was the son of the second marriage to Mary Apsy, born sometime in 1700. Again, a cross-check in the bishop's transcripts may be worthwhile if they survive. This said, if we take note of the alternative burial date for Henry (II) as discussed above, he could be the first son of Henry (I)'s first marriage if Mary was already pregnant at the time of marriage. This is clearly a matter for some further discussion, research and analysis.

Beyond this, a general search of Priddle, Tooke and Apsy wills and land records may shed additional light on this issue.

This page was last updated 24 September 2002