The North East Branch
Origins
The current top of the tree is John Pluck and his wife Lucy Chambless who were married in 1812 at St Leonard's Shoreditch. They had at least eight children between 1813 and 1829. The eldest, John, was baptised in 1813 at Ponder's End Independent church and the rest at the parish church of St Andrew's in Enfield.
Nothing else is known at present about John and his origins. A possibility - no more than that at present - is PL412 in Tree 4 who was baptised in Arkesden on 23 September 1787.
No marriage records have been found yet for any of John and Lucy's eight children.
A move to Yorkshire
The story now moves to Eston, a parish on the eastern outskirts of present-day Middlesborough. On the first of November 1860 Thomas Pluck married Mary Ann Cawthorne at Eston Parish Church. They had at least five children between 1861 and 1876 and it is from this family that most of this tree has descended.
The Link to Enfield
The 1871 census of Eston records Thomas Pluck aged 35, foreman at an iron works, with his wife Mary Ann (32) and four sons: Arthur (9), Thomas (7), Alfred (5) and Frederick (1). Mary Ann was born at Wolviston in Durham, the four children in Eston, but Thomas' birth place was shown as Ponder's End, Middlesex.
Dave Pluck has a copy of Thomas and Mary Ann's marriage certificate in which Thomas' father is recorded as John Pluck, a joiner. John's marriage has not been found yet, but he is almost certainly the eldest son of John Pluck and Lucy Chambless.
Other Enfield Plucks
The IGI has several christenings at St Andrews Enfield where the parents are William and Elizabeth Pluck:
- 27 Feb 1831 Emma
- 23 Sep 1832 Arthur William
- 23 Sep 1832 Eliza
- 23 Sep 1832 Frances
- 23 Sep 1832 Esther
William could be a brother or cousin of John. The four christenings on the same date (23 September 1832) are puzzling. They could have been quadruplets but at that time the survival of even one would have been virtually impossible. Normally when multiple baptisms are found like this one assumes a new vicar, or curate, has arrived and is having a purge on backsliders. However, with the baptism of Emma barely 18 months previously, this is most unlikely. There is probably a transcription error in the data which have been taken from the IGI. An examination of the original parish registers will probably provide the answer.
Other "Orphan" Records
Mary Pluck: b. Q3 1901 Middlesborough RD d. Q3 1906 Middlesborough RD
Florence Pluck: d. Q1 1962 Middlesborough RD
