Origins
The current top of the tree is Thomas Pluck and his wife Mary Pearce who were married in the parish church at Fowlmere on 1 May 1798. This is the first Pluck (or Pluckrose) event recorded in Fowlmere so Thomas must have come from elsewhere.
At the moment, the only candidate that I have is one of the children of Thomas Pluck (PL9) and Ann Westley (PL73) who were married in Saffron Walden in 1765 (see Tree 2). They had several children, all baptised in Littlebury, which is only seven miles from Fowlmere:
John |
25 May 1766 | PL74 |
| Lydia | 6 Dec 1767 | PL80 |
| "unnamed daughter" | 23 Apr 1769 | PL75 |
| "unknown child" | c. 1770 | PL76 |
| Ruth | 23 Aug 1772 | PL77 |
| Stephen | 18 Jun 1775 | PL78 |
There is a note in the register which says "curate in charge and parish clerk ommitted (sic) to keep memoranda for Vicar". The parents are clearly identified so it would seem that the Vicar couldn't be bothered to instruct the parish clerk to find out the names of the children.
It seems very likely that the "unnamed daughter" is in fact Sarah, who had a child (Lydia) by Philip White in 1786, and who married him three years later. There is no record of the sex of the "unknown child" baptised in 1779 but he could have been a boy and he could have been named after his father.
PL No |
Surname |
Forenames |
Notes |
| 1255 | BECKETT | Elizabeth | C1901 |
| 1209 | BROOKS | Mary Ann | C1881; C1891; C1901 |
| 1185 | HAYDEN | Mary | C1841; C1851 |
| 1226 | KIRBY | Caroline Wright | C1901 |
| 1240 | MONEY | Harriet Emily | C1901 |
| 1242 | MONEY | Herbert William P | C1901 His birth was registered under his mother's surname, i.e. MONEY, presumably because he was born before his parents married. When he married in 1910 he used the surname PLUCK-MONEY. |
| 1258 | OSBORN | Mary Ann | C1901 |
| 1200 | PETTIT | Sarah | C1841; a widow, maiden name was MASON. |
| 1183 | PLUCK | Abraham | C1841; C1851: ag lab (age 12); C1901 |
| 1229 | PLUCK | Agnes | C1881; C1891: a servant in Albury (Albury is near Bishop's Stortford); C1901: a parlour maid in Hitchin. There is a marriage in the index which looks very likely: Q4 1901 Agnes Pluck, Hitchin 3a, 1019; Free BMD gives two possible husbands: William John SPICER or Philip Frederick SCHOLL. |
| 1228 | PLUCK | Alice Maud | C1901 |
| 2615 | PLUCK | Ann-Marie Maud | Two children: Neil Adrian and Anne-Marie. |
| 1196 | PLUCK | Benjamin | The 1851 census of Melbourn has: Benjamin Pluck, head, 55, ag lab, b. Foulmire Mary Pluck, wife, 58, b. Melbourn Fordham Loates, nephew, 9, b. Melbourn. An age of 55 suggests a birth c. 1796, which could fit a baptism on 5 May 1799 if it had been delayed for any reason (his parents married on 1 May 1798). Or, he could have added a year or two to his age in 1851 (his wife was apparently three years older). There are two possible marriages, both in Melbourn: on 21 Jan 1818 to Mary CHAPMAN and on 18 Sep 1819 to Mary FORDHAM; in both cases neither partner was previously married. |
| 1269 | PLUCK | Bertha | Bertha and Arthur had two children, Jean and John. |
| 1275 | PLUCK | Brian | Buried 10 Nov 1997; a lorry driver, living at 41 Tower Hill, Beccles. |
| 1257 | PLUCK | Dorothy Irene | C1901 |
| 1217 | PLUCK | Edgar Arthur | C1901: living in West Ham, a railway guard, no children. |
| 1243 | PLUCK | Edith Maud | C1901 |
| 2819 | PLUCK | Ernest A F | Debt of Honour Register Ernest Arthur Frederick Pluck M.M. Lance Serjeant, 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry. |
| 1213 | PLUCK | Ernest William | C1901 |
| 1210 | PLUCK | Ernest William | Found in the 1881 census but not in the 1891 and 1901 censuses. Probably emigrated to Australia before 1891. |
| 1238 | PLUCK | Ethel May | C1901. There is a possible marriage in Q4 1905 Mutford 4a 2249 to either Arthur CURL or Edward Charles ALBROW. |
| 1241 | PLUCK | Ethel May | C1901 |
| 1190 | PLUCK | Etheldreda | C1841; There is a marriage in the GRO index: Q2 1852 Etheldreda Pluck, Hitchin 3a 272, Free BMD gives husband as either John CANNON or John STANFORD. I can not find her in subsequent censuses. |
| 1187 | PLUCK | Fanny | C1841 |
| 1239 | PLUCK | Frank William | C1901: He worked on the railways (his father was an engine driver) and he suffered an accident in 1912 when a train ran over and cut off his foot. |
| 1222 | PLUCK | Frederick | C1901 in Chelmsford, a brass moulder, unm, boarder in Bartlett household. |
| 1227 | PLUCK | Frederick James | C1901 |
| 2602 | PLUCK | Gloria Alma | three sons |
| 1205 | PLUCK | Hannah | C1851; James and Hannah married in Fowlmere on 23 December 1865; they had five children. |
| 1191 | PLUCK | Harriet | C1841 |
| 1256 | PLUCK | Harry Ernest | C1901 |
| 1189 | PLUCK | Hephzibah | C1841; There is a marriage in the GRO index: Q4 1854 Hephzibah Pluck, Hitchin 3a 335, Free BMD gives husband as either George MATTHEW or Jabez WORBOY. I can not find her in subsequent censuses. |
| 1221 | PLUCK | Hephzibah | In 1901 census working as a cook at Gloucester Gardens, London, age 30, single. |
| 1219 | PLUCK | Herbert | C1901 |
| 1233 | PLUCK | Herbert John | C1891; C1901: not found; C1911: living in Shepreth. |
| 2818 | PLUCK | Ivy A | There is a possible marriage: Ivy PLUCK = Rodney T WATERFIELD, Q4 1939 Wisbech 3b 2456. |
| 1206 | PLUCK | James | C1851; C1881; C1891; C1901 |
| 1211 | PLUCK | James | C1881 |
| 1246 | PLUCK | James Ernest | C1901 |
| 1285 | PLUCK | James Stanley | Recorded as Stanley James in the GRO death index. Date of birth in index confirms identity. |
| 1184 | PLUCK | John | C1841: ag lab; C1851; ag lab; |
| 1203 | PLUCK | John | C1851 |
| 1230 | PLUCK | Lily | C1881: C1891: a domestic servant in Cambridge. There is a possible marriage in 1894: Lilly Pluck, Q1 1894, Hitchin 3a, 621. Free BMD gives two possible husbands: Arthur Brown or Frederick George Hidgcock - neither found in 1901 census. |
| 2604 | PLUCK | Linzy Gail | two children |
| 1247 | PLUCK | Mabel Violet | C1901. She had a son by Henry W Smith: GRO birth index gives: Dennis R Smith, Q2 1923, Wangford 4a, 1940. The GRO record of her marriage to John Moody is unusual in that her name appears twice in the index: as MONEY, Violet M P and as PLUCK MONEY, Violet M. The entry is also unusual in that her surname ought to have appeared as SMITH. |
| 1204 | PLUCK | Mary | C1851 |
| 1186 | PLUCK | Rebecca | Unmarried, aged 45, born in Foulmire. C1891: still with the Marriots but now recorded as "lodger. A straw bonnet maker, unmarried, aged 53. |
| 2795 | PLUCK | Reginald Walter | He is buried in the Brussels Town Cemetery. |
| 1231 | PLUCK | Rosa | C1881; C1891: In Toxteth Park, Lancashire in the household of Isaac and Mary Mathews, a general servant. Isaac was an assurance agent born in Whittlesford a few miles from Fowlmere, which explains why Rosa has moved so far from her home. C1901: in Salford, a domestic servant in the household of Thomas and Martha Lord. |
| 1236 | PLUCK | Rosa | This is John Tate's grandmother. |
| 1194 | PLUCK | Thomas | C1841 |
| 1192 | PLUCK | Thomas | C1841 |
| 1232 | PLUCK | Thomas | I can't find a GRO birth index record for Thomas, however, he is clearly recorded in both the 1881 and 1891 censuses. Not found in the 1901census or the death index, but there is a marriage in Q2 1905, Thomas Pluck, Royston 3a, 1123. |
| 1244 | PLUCK | Walter Abram | C1901 |
| 1266 | PLUCK | Walter Ernest | Birth record not found in GRO index |
"Orphans"
Thomas Pluck: his birth was registered in Q1 1889 (Wangford 4a, 1107) and his death in Q4 1888 (Wangford 4a, 483). I expect his parents overlooked the need to register the birth. He could fit into several families but I am inclined to favour Thomas Pluck and Jane Vincent who married in Q2 1888 and had three children in 1892, 1894 and 1896.
Agnes Rose Pluck: was born in Q4 1904 (Wangford 4a, 1115) and married in Wangford RD in Q1 1928 (spouse =DREWETT).
Thomas Leslie Pluck: was born in Q3 1907 (Wangford 4a, 1107).
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Carole Pluck, Mark Pluck, Jeanette Wallace and Alicia Moyles for their help in compiling this tree.
... and finally
I have never been to Fowlmere. The name, Fowlmere, conjures up a vision of a shimmering lake covered in ducks, swans and other wildfowl. This image, however, is spoilt when one finds that the old parish registers called the place Foulmire. An example of modern sanitisation of old-time reality, I suppose? There is a village in Bedfordshire, a few miles from my birthplace of Stotfold, which is now called Shillington. It was Shitlington until about 1860.
