The Kent Plucks
Origins
This tree starts with Thomas Pluck and Ann Elborn who raised three children in Saffron Walden. Some time between 1800, when their youngest child, Lydia, was baptised in Saffron Walden, and 1816 when Ann was buried in Sheerness, the whole family moved to the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. The Kent branch was founded by the eldest son, William, and his wife, Sarah Ann Wilmott. The second son, Thomas, married Elizabeth Savery in Sheerness, where their first child (also Thomas) was born, but soon after they moved to Tonbridge where Thomas made a living as a plumber and glazier (see Tree 13 - Marylebone and Tonbridge branch).
Thomas's grandson, Charles Pluck, who was born in 1844, emigrated to New Zealand with his family on 18 April 1874. This branch of the Plucks can be found in Tree14.
Points of interest
Edward Pluck (PL311)
Edward Pluck died on the 27th May 1893 aged 65. There was an inquest on 29th May 1893 which determined "suicide by drowning. Mental derangement through loss of employment". The death certificate gives his place of death as "Grand Surrey Canal near East London Railway St Paul Deptford".
There is more to this story than meets the eye at first since Edward's death was mentioned in the House of Commons on 13th June and 3rd July 1893 by no less than Keir Hardie. It appears that Edward signed a petition asking for the contracted labourers at the Deptford Victualling Yard to be paid for the four statutory holidays - the same terms as those fellow workers who were directly employed by the Admiralty. Shortly afterwards he was dismissed from his employment. The details can be found on the Hansard website or you can read a summary in the History Section.
I am grateful to Sarah Long, great great granddaughter of Edward, for supplying this information.
"Orphans"
This section does not cover orphans in the true sense, but children who were born and died between censuses, and therefore, without a birth certificate, can not definitely be assigned to their correct parents.
Name |
Born |
RD |
Died |
RD |
Notes |
| Edward | Q4 1850 | Sheppey 5 494 | Q1 1851 | Sheppey 5 329 | |
| Minnie Matilda | Q4 1885 | Sheppey 2a 889 | Q1 1886 | Sheppey 2a 638 | age 0 |
| Jessie | Q3 1888 | Thanet 2a 906 | Q2 1889 | Thanet 2c 493 | age 0 |
| Sarah Matilda | Q4 1892 | Sheppey 2a 818 | Q4 1892 | Sheppey 2a 506 | age 0 |
| William Edward | Q3 1896 | Thanet 2a 928 | Q1 1898 | Thanet 2a 687 | age 1 |
| Percy | Q1 1899 | Thanet 2a 985 | Q1 1899 | Thanet 2a 643 | age 0 |
| Arthur William | Q1 1899 | Thanet 2a 985 | Q1 1899 | Thanet 2a 646 | twins? |
| John | Q2 1900 | Sheppey 2a 950 | Q2 1900 | Sheppey 2a 590 | age 0 |
| William Charles | Q1 1902 | Sheppey 2a 963 | Q1 1902 | Sheppey 2a 782 | age 0 |
| Henry Daniel | Q4 1904 | Thanet 2a 1052 | Q3 1909 | Thanet 2a 506 | age 4 |
Notes
PL No |
Surname |
Forenames |
Notes |
| 3118 | ALLARDYCE | Ivy Edith M | No children found. |
| 0323 | BERRY | Matilda | C1851; C1861; C1871; C1881: a charwoman (wid) living with her son Walter. The cemetery record notes that she lived in Alma Road. |
| 2314 | BIGGS | Jane | 1891: "married, with a daughter (see note for husband, Robert; C1901). |
| 1103 | BISHOP | Louisa | Louisa had two children by a previous marriage, Charles and Louisa, both born c 1984 in Ramsgate (1901 census). |
| 0316 | COCK | Rachael | C1871; C1881; |
| 0335 | COLLET | Elizabeth Ann | C1881. Elizabeth died and was buried on 11 August 1882; her husband died and was buried on 24 May of the same year. The local paper records that she died in the Minster Union on 19 August 1882 - there seems to be a discrepancy between her dates of death and burial. Elizabeth and Edward lived in Blue Town. |
| 3108 | CORNFORD | Minnie | No children found. |
| 0619 | ELBOURN | Ann | burial record: her age was 48. |
| 3119 | HARVEY | William Richard | C1901: sergeant R M |
| 2312 | HORTON | Rosa Elizabeth | C1901: born St Lawrence, Kent |
| 3130 | HORWOOD | Mabel | C1901: a widow, living in Plumstead with her wid. father and three unmarried sisters. She may have remarried in Q4 1901 (Woolwich 1d 2051) to either Henry Edward CRAYFOURD or Thomas James HAWKINS. |
| 0935 | JOY | Eliza Ann | C1881: b Sheerness c. 1853; C1891; C1901; |
| 2308 | NEWBY | William | C1901: b. Sheerness c.1845 |
| 3126 | PEARCE | Charlotte Rebekah | C1911: living in Dover. |
| 3099 | PEARCE | Robert Dunstan | C1861: dockyard labourer, born in Wales c 1834. |
| 0923 | PEARCE | Sarah | C1851; C1861; C1871; C1881; C1891; C1901: NF |
| 0932 | PLUCK | Alfred | C1861; C1871: NF; C1881: hammerman; C1891: hammerman (smith); C1901: hammerman; |
| 1696 | PLUCK | Alfred Benjamin B | Death index records dob: 8 July 1912. |
| 3129 | PLUCK | Alfred James | Assignment to this family is slightly speculative. The only other likely possibility is that he was born illegitimately to one of his "sisters. His death closely followed that of his father. |
| 0936 | PLUCK | Alfred William H | C1881; C1891; C1901: shipwright; |
| 0315 | PLUCK | Alice | C1851; C1861: aged 19, a dressmaker, living with her aunt, Jane Wilmott; C1871: dressmaker, married, 2 children, living in Yorkshire; C1881: 7 children, living in Liverpool. |
| 0321 | PLUCK | Arthur D | C1881; |
| 0938 | PLUCK | Bertie | C1891; C1901: shipwright apprentice; |
| 2313 | PLUCK | Charles Arthur | C1901. The death record is for a Charles S, however, there isn't any other Charles with a suitable birth year in the birth index. Probably a transcription error. No marriage found. |
| 0313 | PLUCK | Daniel | C1841; C1861: Living with his aunt, Jane Wilmott (together with his sister, Alice); C1871: bricklayer, married, living in Temperance Cottages in Ramsgate; C1881; |
| 0311 | PLUCK | Edward | C1841;C1851: Living with wife's sister, Mary, also born in Wales, a bricklayer; C1861; C1871; C1881: one year old grandaughter Maud Phelin is living with them - her surname is erroneously recorded as Fielding; C1891. |
| 0926 | PLUCK | Edward | C1871; C1881: NF. |
| 2316 | PLUCK | Edward Robert | Known only from 1901 census, birth not found in GRO index (either under Pluck or Biggs) |
| 0336 | PLUCK | Elizabeth Emma | C1881; not found in any later records. |
| 0326 | PLUCK | Emily | C1851; C1861; C1871: NF. I can not guarantee that this marriage is correct. Free BMD lists 3 people who are married in Q2 1864, Sheppey, 2a, 1074. These are: George Cuckow, Rebecca Ellen Long and Emily Pluck. I can not find Rebecca Cuckow in later censuses but there is an Emily Cuckow in the 1881 census who fits, apart from being 5 years too young (not unusual) and born in Ashford (where she was living with her husband George and 4 children). |
| 0929 | PLUCK | Emily | C1881: domestic servant; C1891: NF; C1901: now living in Falmouth, with 2 children. |
| 2317 | PLUCK | Emily Maud | She was 1 week old at the time of the 1901 census, and unnamed. Rotherhithe is in the St Olave RD. She did not marry. |
| 0924 | PLUCK | Emma | C1861; C1871: NF; C1881: married, living in Minster in the same house as her parents, 2 sons and 2 daughters. |
| 0937 | PLUCK | Ernest Arthur G | C1891; C1901: boiler maker's assistant; |
| 0309 | PLUCK | Esther | C1841: NF; |
| 0927 | PLUCK | Esther | Esther's husband, Edward Phelin, was a seaman in the Royal Navy. C1871. |
| 3120 | PLUCK | Esther | Cemetery record notes address as East Lane. |
| 0922 | PLUCK | George | Known from the 1841 census. Birth not found in the GRO index. He is in the 1841 census, but not in 1851. He probably died in 1847. |
| 0931 | PLUCK | George | C1871; C1881; not found subsequently. He died during the Boer War: PLUCK G Private 2873, 2nd Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). Died of disease at Bloemfontein 9th June 1900. [http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Boer/] |
| 0307 | PLUCK | Henry | Not found in 1841 and 1851 censuses |
| 3121 | PLUCK | Henry | Lived in Charles Street (cemetery record) |
| 3122 | PLUCK | Henry Martin | I have not been able to find a birth registration for Henry Pluck in the GRO index, however, there is a registration of Henry Martin Cock in the Thanet RD in Q2 1861. C1871; C1881: a grocer's shopman, boarding in the house of John Ovenden, a butcher, a few yards away from his parents, together with his sister, Sarah. |
| 3125 | PLUCK | Henry Martin | C1911: living in Dover. |
| 0312 | PLUCK | Jane | C1841; C1861: married with 3 children; |
| 0317 | PLUCK | Jessie | C1871; C1881; |
| 0940 | PLUCK | Lottie Eliza | C1891; C1901; |
| 0322 | PLUCK | Louisa Jane | C1881; |
| 0072 | PLUCK | Lydia | C1871: widowed, age 71, living with her son. At least six children (Gillian Rodie). |
| 2305 | PLUCK | Mary Ann | C1871; lived in Charles Street (cemetery record). |
| 0314 | PLUCK | Matilda | C1841; C1851: age 15, a dressmaker; C1861: now married, still living in Minster, with a four year old daughter, also Mathilda. |
| 2304 | PLUCK | Matilda | C1871; C1881: a domestic servant, a visitor to the Cavanaghs - neighbours in East Lane; C1891: NF; |
| 0319 | PLUCK | Minnie | C1871; C1881; |
| 0925 | PLUCK | Rebecca | C1871: domestic servant; C1881: domestic servant in Lewisham; C1891: married with 3 daughters and 2 sons. |
| 0310 | PLUCK | Richard | Not found in censuses or GRO death index. |
| 0928 | PLUCK | Robert | 1871; C1881: unmarried, living with parents, general labourer; C1891: a bricklayer, now "married to Jane; C1901: gashouse labourer. The marriage is rather late in the day but there is no doubt about the two parties involved. I have known later marriages. |
| 0939 | PLUCK | Roland Leopold | C1891; C1901; |
| 0318 | PLUCK | Rose Ellen | C1871; C1881; C1891: cook and domestic servant; |
| 0308 | PLUCK | Sarah | C1841; C1851: NF. |
| 2318 | PLUCK | Sarah | C1851; C1861: aged 11, house servant in household of John James Hardgrove, engine smith, and his family; C1871: 21, unmarried, a servant in the household of Sarah Cheeseman, widow, butcher at 28 High Street. |
| 3123 | PLUCK | Sarah Elizabeth | C1871; C1881: a servant in the household of John Ovenden, where her brother Henry is also a boarder; C1891: married with 2 children. |
| 0327 | PLUCK | Sarah Hannah | C1851; C1861: age 14, living with her grandfather, John Berry, a straw hat manufacturer. |
| 2315 | PLUCK | Sarah Jane | C1901; The marriage is a bit speculative. Sarah Jane would have been 15 and John 22, but it is certainly not impossible. There were children of the marriage born in the St Olave RD in 1913, 1916, 1920 and 1923 (and presumably more between 1906 and 1911). There is a possible death in Q4 1971 (Surrey South West 5g 1372) with a birth date of 29 Aug 1890. |
| 0334 | PLUCK | Walter Henry | C1861; C1871: bricklayer; C1881: journeyman butcher; |
| 0337 | PLUCK | Walter James | C1881; |
| 0070 | PLUCK | William | C1841: bricklayer; C1851: bricklayer, age 59, born Northend, living in Sheppey. This is the critical link to the Saffron Walden branch. In the 1861 census his place of birth is recorded as Minster. I suspect that this is an error. |
| 0930 | PLUCK | William | C1871; C1881; |
| 0306 | PLUCK | William Henry | C1841: bricklayer; C1851: a lodger (with his family) in the house of John Berry (probably his father in law); C1861; C1871; bricklayer |
| 0338 | PLUCK | William J | C1881. |
| 0320 | PLUCK | William Robert | C1881; He was not at home during the 1901 census. |
| 3113 | RUGG | William | C1891: police constable. |
| 0933 | SHARPE | Mary | C1901: Mary's brother, Thomas, is lodging with them. |
| 3101 | SMITH | Amelia E | Death index records dob: 16 Dec 1905. |
| 3103 | WARD | Daisy Watson | Daisy remarried after the death of her first husband, Ernest, in 1960. She married Robert J BELL in Q4 1962, Sheppey 5b, 1251. |
| 3100 | WHITE | James John | C1861: a rigger in H M Dockyard; |
| 0942 | WHITE | Thomas | C1871: a boiler maker, living in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire. |
| 0305 | WILMOTT | Sarah Ann | C1841; C1851; C1861; C1871: inmate in Union House. |
| 0941 | WINCH | Cissie Miriam | There may be other children born prior to to Sep 1911 when the GRO started to record the mother's maiden name. |
| 3112 | WOOD | Charles | C1881. |
| 3128 | WRIGHTSON | Horace | C1891: baker; |
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Lesley Collins, Barbara Hesketh, Sarah Long and Lesley Murray for providing some of the information used in the compilation of this tree.
