The Descendants of William Pluck and Sarah Cutts
Origins
What do we know about William Pluck (PL0803)?
- 1832 Marriage: He married Sarah Cutts in Braintree parish church on 31 October 1832. His residence was given as Bocking (just north of Braintree) and hers as Braintree. He would have been aged about 18, and Sarah 20.
- 1841 census: 27 year old journeyman shoemaker, born in Essex and living in New Street, Braintree, with wife and three children.
- 1851 census: 37 year old shoemaker, born in Saffron Walden, with wife and five children, all born in Braintree. Still living in New Street.
- 1861 census: 46 year old journeyman bootmaker, born in Braintree, with wife and three children, all born in Braintree. Still living in New Street.
- 1871 census: 56 year old bootmaker, born in Braintree, with wife and three children, all born in Braintree. Now living at 2 Pound Field, Braintree.
The census tells a fairly consistent story. He was born 1814/15 and lived in Braintree for most of his adult life. In spite of the 1861 and 1871 records I am inclined to believe that he was born in Saffron Walden, firstly because it is not the sort of thing that you get wrong when you are young, and secondly because there is little evidence, in the parish records, of any Plucks living in Braintree before 1821.
So who, living in Saffron Walden around 1815, could have been his father?
-
John Pluck Jnr 1765-1834 (PL11) see Tree 7: John married
his third wife, Elizabeth Ward, in Saffron Walden on 10 February 1813.
I know of only one child of this marriage: Nehemiah Pluck Snr (PL42). Nehemiah was not
baptised as a child and it wasn't until 13 June 1830 that the Saffron Walden parish register showed the
baptism of "Nehemiah, son of John and Elizabeth Pluck, cordwainer". Nehemiah's date of birth was given
as 17 April 1814 so he would have been 16 years old. William could have been Nehemiah's twin. Alternatively,
Elizabeth was only 39-40 when she had Nehemiah, William could have been born in the following year.
- John Pluck 1788-1845 (PL4) see Tree 6: John Pluck Jnr's eldest son,
also John (aka John the Convict) and his wife Mary Mynott had at least nine children before John was transported to
Australia. This included a William (b. 1819) whose identity is well established, so this is an unlikely source
. - James Pluck 1791-1859 (PL17) see Tree 6: another son of John Jnr and Elizabeth Coe. James married Ann Linton in Saffron Walden on 6 April 1814. I have been able to identify only one child, Henry, who was born circa 1821 but not baptised until 1832. There may have been other children of this marriage. In 1826 there was a removal order from Braintree to Saffron Walden for James Pluck with wife and 2 children, so he appears to have had another child. Only Henry appears in the 1841 census, by which time James's first wife has died and James has married again, but by 1841 William was married so wouldn't be expected to still be living with his father. In 1831 he takes on his nephew Nehemiah as an apprentice cordwainer. If William was Nehemiah's brother (? twin) you would expect both to have been apprenticed.
The remaining son of John Pluck Jnr, Thomas, was not born until 1799 so was probably too young to have been William's father. All of the men mentioned here, including, William, were shoemakers.
On balance, it seems more likely that William was the other child of James and Ann who was removed from Braintree to Saffron Walden in 1926. Without further documentary evidence, however, this is just speculation.
Notes
PL No |
Surname |
Forenames |
Notes |
| 0828 | ADAMS | Kate | C1901; C1911; |
| 2749 | BROWN | Mary Edith K | C1911. |
| 2737 | BUTCHER | Joseph | C1901: farm labourer; |
| 0804 | CUTTS | Sarah | C1841: b. Essex 1812, silk thrower; C1851: b. Braintree 1812; C1861: b. Braintree 1813, boot closer; C1871: b.Braintree 1813; C1881: b. Braintree 1812, annuitant partly dependent on lodgers (grand-daughter Ellen [PL2999] aged 19, a silk winder is also living with her); C1891: living in Braintree with her son Charles (PL0810); C1901: still living with Charles, her place of birth is now given as Bocking. |
| 3891 | DEADMAN | Elizabeth Louisa | C1911: age 21, born Brixton. |
| 3908 | DRIVER | Hilda B | She is Hilda B DRIVER in the GRO birth index in 1915, Hilda V in the marriage index in 1951 and Hilda Breed DRIVER in the death index in 2001. I am reasonably certain this is the same person. |
| 0820 | DYER | Mary Ann | C1891 |
| 2736 | GODDARD | William Henry | C1901: sorter at GPO; |
| 0825 | HALLS | Rose Alice | C1901; C1911 |
| 2732 | KING | Charles | C1871: police constable |
| 2731 | LEWSEY | Frederick | C1871 |
| 2748 | LORD | Edgar Alfred | C1901: railway guard |
| 3897 | MASON | Ivy Violet | No children found. |
| 3888 | ODELL | James H | A possible birth record: Odell, James Henry, June 1899, Chelsea 1a, 380. |
| 3893 | PADFIELD | Arthur F | There is a possible birth record: Mar 1906, Padfield, Arthur Frank, York 9d 19. |
| 2730 | PARTNER | Arthur | C1881: living in Stisted with Hannah and four children aged 12 to 6 months. A possible death in the GRO index is: Q1 1887, St George Hanover Square, 1a, 370, age 60. This fits the age recorded in the 1881 census. |
| 0827 | PLUCK | Ada Alice | C1901; There is no record of a marriage. There is a possible death record: Dec 1982, Ada Pluck, Braintree 9 1506, age 84. |
| 0831 | PLUCK | Alfred George | C1901; C1911; |
| 0823 | PLUCK | Alma | C1891; C1901: now married with a one year old daughter and living in Leyton. Her brother, Herbert, is a boarder. |
| 0834 | PLUCK | Bertha Minnie | C1901; |
| 3866 | PLUCK | Bertie Thomas | He does not appear to have married. |
| 3867 | PLUCK | Bertie William | He does not appear to have married. |
| 0810 | PLUCK | Charles | Died on 11Jan1916 in 30 Albert Road, Braintree.Principal Probate Registry Calendar. Will not held by me, but PPR
Calendar notes that probate was granted to Emily Pluck, spinster, (his daughter) on 16 February 1916. Effects £167
(approx £6000 in 1998 values). C1851; C1861: boot closer (living with family); C1871: boot maker (unmarried living with family); C1881: Overseer factory (manager); C1891: overseer silk factory; C1901: boot maker; C1911: shoemaker at Union. |
| 3863 | PLUCK | Charles Edward | He does not appear to have married. |
| 0816 | PLUCK | Charles Frederick | C1871; C1881; C1891: boot maker; C1901: boot maker; C1911: boot maker |
| 2728 | PLUCK | Clara | C1891; C1901: a servant in a girls' boarding school in Braintree (a number of girls born overseas - Russia, India,
Canada, ? parents in overseas occupations); C1911: now married with a 5 month old daughter, Martha Irene. She left a Will: PRANGNELL, Clara of 23 Trowley Rise Abbots Langley Watford Hertfordshire married woman died 20 February 1963. Probate London 13 May to Martha Irene Moore married woman. Effects £338 16s 2d, Martha was her daughter. |
| 3879 | PLUCK | Dorothy A | C1911; |
| 0833 | PLUCK | Edith | According to the 1901 census Edith was born in Braintree c 1897. There were two Edith Plucks born in Braintree
at about this time, this Edith (PL0833) and Edith Winifred (PL0829) who was the daughter (confirmed by baptism record)
of Frank William Pluck and Kate Adams. However there is only one Edith in the GRO birth index. It is possible that
one of the births has been missed from the index. This happens from time to time. There is another, more likely explanation, however, which emerges if you look at the children of Walter (PL0818) and Elizabeth (PL0832). Walter and Elizabeth Emma Cowell were married in Braintree during the first quarter of 1898; their second child, Bertha Minnie, was born during the next quarter. Clearly their first child, Edith, was born out of wedlock. A search for the birth of an Edith Cowell was unsuccessful. |
| 3892 | PLUCK | Edith May | There is a possible death record: Sep 1931, Edith M Padfield, Shepton Mallet, 5c, 432. |
| 0829 | PLUCK | Edith Winifred | C1901; C1911; See the note for Edith (PL0833), the daughter of Walter Pluck and Emma Cowell. There is a possible death record: Q1 1965, Braintree 4a 438, JOHNSON, Edith E, age 68. |
| 0807 | PLUCK | Eliza | Twin (with Emily). C1841; C1851; C1861: a housemaid at Grange Farm, Little Coggeshall, in household of Joseph Unwin a farmer of 739 acres employing 43 men and 22 boys. C1871: married and living in Bethnal Green with two young children. Her brother George is also there. |
| 0809 | PLUCK | Elizabeth Mary | C1851; C1861: servant (living with her family); C1871: general servant in household of Frances Blanchard, landlord of the King's Arms, London Road, Bromley St Leonard (her age is recorded as 21, but otherwise this record fits). Not yet found in subsequent censuses or in marriage or death indexes. |
| 3903 | PLUCK | Ellen Sophia | A birth certificate (or a baptism record) would be needed to confirm that she belongs to these parents. |
| 0808 | PLUCK | Emily | Twin (with Eliza). C1841; C1851; C1861: servant in household of Henry Shelley, tallow melter (employing 3 men and 1 boy); C1871: now married to Charles King, a police constable, with two young children. |
| 0821 | PLUCK | Emily | C1891; C1911: 38 single, silk spinner. |
| 3877 | PLUCK | Ethel Lily | C1911; |
| 0817 | PLUCK | Frank William | C1881; C1891: bootmaker; 1901: bootmaker; C1911: bootmaker and repairer |
| 3868 | PLUCK | Frederick | C1911; |
| 0805 | PLUCK | George | C1841; C1851 shoe maker; C1861: bootmaker (master) now married and living in Coggehall Lane; C1871: in Bethnal Green with his sister Eliza and her husband Frederick Lewsey (occupation - bootmaker); C1881: bootmaker; C1891: bootmaker |
| 0826 | PLUCK | George Frederick | Birth from 1901 census. I can't find a birth registration for a George Pluck but there is a registration of a George
Frederick Halls in Q1 1895, Braintree 4a 703, which fits date, place and mother's maiden name. C1911: labourer in
steam saw-mill. He volunteered for army service in the Essex Regiment on 1 September 1914 but was discharged four weeks later on the grounds of defective eyesight (severe astigmatism). |
| 0830 | PLUCK | Gladys May | C1901; |
| 0838 | PLUCK | Harold Stanley | In the GRO Birth index his name appears to be "Arol 3 Pluck", his mother's maiden name is given correctly as Cowell, however. |
| 0813 | PLUCK | Henry | 1861; C1871; C1881: unm, bootmaker; C1891: corn factor's labourer; C1901 in the Braintree Union workhouse, pauper, aged 42, single, "feeble minded. |
| 0824 | PLUCK | Herbert Thomas | 1891; C1901: a boarder in Leyton (living with his married sister, Alma), unmarried, railway mechanic. His brother
in law is a railway guard. C1911: living in Leyton with a wife, two children and a boarder - his brother Sidney.
Worked as a milling machinist in a railway wagon shop. Joined the Manchester Register (attested in Ashton Under Lyme on 16.8.1899) "bought himself out five weeks later on 23.9.99 on payment of ten pounds. Left a Will: PLUCK, Herbert Thomas of 52 Oakdale-Road Leytonstone London E.11, died 23 February 1959. Probate Ipswich 27 May to Reginald Herbert Pluck fitter. Effects £161 1s 6d. |
| 2735 | PLUCK | Joseph | A death certificate is needed to confirm this death, but Joseph does not appear in the next census. His presumed twin, Henry, is recorded in the 1901 census as feeble minded. The birth of twins would not have been easy at that time, and brain-damage is a possibility. |
| 3906 | PLUCK | Joyce Gwendoline | A "GI" Bride. From: London Area Transportation Office, Theater Service Forces European Theater,
US Army. [APO 413]. Ship: E B Alexander. Approx. sailing date: 19 March 1946.<br>EVERHART, Joyce G, age 20, female of Mill View, York Gardens, Dallwood Way, Braintree, Essex. Dependent of: Pfc John S Everhart, ASN 30836078, US Army. Route 1, Lexington, North Carolina. |
| 3869 | PLUCK | Lawrence Bertie | C1911; |
| 3878 | PLUCK | Mabel Elizabeth | C1911; |
| 2733 | PLUCK | Marjorie | C1901; C1911. |
| 3894 | PLUCK | Myrtle Alice | C1911. |
| 2734 | PLUCK | Olive | C1901; C1911. |
| 0822 | PLUCK | Ralph | C1891 |
| 2729 | PLUCK | Sidney | C1891; C1911: a boarder with his brother Herbert and his family. Age 26, single, worked as a boot clicker. He does not appear to have married. |
| 3876 | PLUCK | Sidney William | C1911; |
| 3905 | PLUCK | Stanley Arthur | He does not appear to have married. |
| 0819 | PLUCK | Thomas James | C1881; C1891: scholar; C1901: not found; C1911: conductor of motor omnibus. 1906; electric wireman (marriage certificate). His brother in law, William Goddard, was a witness at his marriage to Elizabeth Deadman. |
| 0818 | PLUCK | Walter | C1881; C1891: errand boy; C1901: boot finisher. Probate Calendar has: PLUCK, Walter, of 119 Chapel-hill Braintree Essex died 22 February 1951 at St Michaels Hospital 142 Rayne-road Braintree. Probate Ipswich 11 June to Ethel Alice Wood (wife of William Wood). Effects £351 11s 3d. ( Ethel Alice was his daughter). |
| 0835 | PLUCK | Walter George | C1901; |
| 0803 | PLUCK | William | William's origins are unknown. Several possibilities for his parentage are discussed above. C1851: shoe maker; C1861: bootmaker (journeyman); |
| 3899 | PRANGNELL | Douglas Harold | C1911: engineer working at a hospital. |
| 2727 | SAYER | Gertrude Alice | C1901; C1911. |
| 0980 | SIBLEY | Hannah | 1901 census records her birthplace as Stisted, which is a couple of miles east of Braintree. She is now a widow, a domestic servant in the household of Elizabeth Scott, an 83 year old widow. |
| 3890 | STEELE | Winifred A | No children found. |
| 3881 | TREE | Edith May | No children found. |
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