William Prisk alias Flood (1746 - 1808) and his children

[lighthouse]

Hi, I am hoping/struggling to find out more about who the possible "Flood" father might have been for William Prisk (bapt. 25 May 1746, Wendron; ancestor of Mary Mary Ann Prisk 1854 - 1921), bastard child of Jone Prisk, daughter of Samuel Prisk and Jane. I have laid out my thinking (sort of logically?) below - perhaps someone could confirm or refute my workings out - I would be ever so grateful!



William went on to marry (26 Oct 1776, Camborne) Grace Oliver and most of their children bore the name Prisk al[ia]s Flood in the opc baptism registers (William 1777 Camborne; John 1782 St. Hilary; Thomas 1785 St. Hilary; Jenefer Oliver 1787 St. Hilary; Samuel 1790 St. Hilary; Anna 1793 St. Hilary; Samuel 1794 St. Hilary). I have assumed that the "alias" Flood refers to the absentee father of William.



Possible candiates for a father might be:

There were a family of Floods registered in St. Germain (60 miles away) whose adult male children might have been candidates for fatherhood. Thomasin Avery (1706 – 1775) and John Flood, married in St. Germain on 17 May 1724, had four children – Mary (1724), John (1726), Thomas (1728) and William (1737-42).

There was a John Flood (1729) baptized in St. Ives (17 miles away) to Roger and Sarah Flood.



The Flood family from Helston were only 3 miles away from Wendron: James and Elizabeth Flood had 6 children between 1746 and 1759, none of whom seem to have survived beyond infancy. James could have been father to a bastard child before he and Elizabeth started having children.



However, as we look forward in time to the names that William gave to his children: William, John, Thomas, Samuel, Anna. Together with the Flood appellation, we could presume that the illegitimate child chose names to link him to a family: in this case likely names are those from the St. Germans family (no James’, Elizabeths, Rogers or Sarahs!). Even more so when we see that names from his wife’s family – Henry, Anna, Grace & William.



There is no listing in the Bastardy bonds for William/Jone Prisk/Flood. As the Poor Law 1733 meant that legally the father had to support the child or be coerced into marrying the mother is there anywhere else might I find out more about William?



I also wonder where the name Jenefer Oliver came from. Even allowing for spelling variations the name doesn't crop up in the opc until after 1756, either as a maiden name nor as a married name combination. But that is a kind of a sidetracking issue!



So do you think I am barking up the wrong tree? has anyone out there also come across the Prisk alias Flood family?



In anticipation,

Lighthouse

[Cornish Terrier]

I have never looked at this family before so cannot be of much direct help but I can at least offer some thoughts.

First of all the 'als Flood' does not necessarily refer to the surname of William Prisk's father. It may do of course but alias names did not always refer to a person. If this was indeed the surname of William's father then James Flood at Helston would seem the most likely candidate given the proximity of the families.

The fact that the earliest Flood in the western part of Cornwall does not seem to appear until the 1740s is interesting and there could be connections to St Germans. But even the St German's family does not seem to have had roots there! Prior to St German's the baptisms indicate a gap of 50 years to the next family at Menheniot back in the 1670s.

It could be that Flood started as a different name but it is more likely that the family originated outside Cornwall.

You mentioned at John Flood baptized at ST IVES in 1729 who could have been the father of William Prisk. You can almost certainly discount him for two reasons:-

1. he would have been only 16 or 17 when William was born. Quite legal of course but less than likely.
2. The most important point - the baptism did not take place at ST IVES as you quoted ..... it took place at ST IVE which is up by Linkinhorne and due north of St Germans!

There are several parishes in Cornwall that have 'namesakes' elsewhere in the County - 1. St Anthony in Meneage on the Lizard Peninsula and Anthony up by the River Tamar, 2. Mawgan in Meneage (again on the Lizard) and Mawgan in Pydar near St Columb, 3. Newlyn (near Penzance) and Newlyn East (near St Columb) and, as just mentioned, St Ives in West Penwith and St Ive near Linkinhorne.

Jenifer Oliver - don't forget that 'Jenifer' is often interchanged with 'Jane' but the important point here is that William Prisk's wife was Grace OLIVER so there can be little doubt the name is connected to the family of Grace rather than of William. Possibly the name of a sister or an aunt or perhaps grandmother as I think Grace was named for her own mother.

CT

[lighthouse]

Thank you for the thoughts It really helps to have a second opinion.

Good point about the namesake parishes! I had (in my innocence with genealogy) assumed that the lack of "s" at the end of St. Ive was a typo (mea culpa). I shall go through my other notes again with your thoughts in mind... I felt I might be leaning out the window a bit far with the St. German family! I suppose most people typically didn't really move so far away from their home ground, at least not in the late 17th,/ early 18th centuries.

The opc search mask also offers a search for "similar surnames" but only comes up with permutations of Floyd as an alternative to Flood.

Lighthouse

[Cornish Terrier]

I suppose most people typically didn't really move so far away from their home ground, at least not in the late 17th,/ early 18th centuries.

'Most people' did not stray too far away but there were quite a number who did spread themselves far and wide so don't discard something out of hand just because it seems too far away. It is usually a good idea to start your searches closer to the area of an event but if nothing is found then be prepared to widen the search.
I always think that if an event that 'fits' a particular scenario seems too far away then it is time to tread warily. There have been times when faced with just this problem that I have spent days working on the 'distant' family in an effort to either prove or disprove the possibility.
Most times I discover that 'too far away' was just that! But there have also been times where I was able to prove satisfactorily that the distant event was indeed what I was looking for.

CT