Marfell/Pearce/Bright Families (General)

by jimashton , Monday, June 04, 2012, 16:08 (4558 days ago)

Yesterday I had an email from a Canadian fellow Marfell researcher, indeed at one time he was the point of contact for the "One Name Studies" for the Marfell Family.

His email concerned a discovery of a John Marfell PEARCE b. 12 May 1825 England d. 5 Nov 1908 Terra Haute, IN. USA m. 1851 to Henrietta MORGAN. Immigrated 18 June 1867 to NYC on SS Tarifa.

Parents Joseph PEARCE 1802 - 1862 m. Elizabeth BRIGHT 1798 - 1869

Siblings for John Marfell Pearce : George Marfell PEARCE 1827. Thomas Bright PEARCE 1828 - 1853. Charlotte PEARCE 1822 -

1861 Census
John Pearce 35 Grocer & Ironmonger Mitcheldean
Henrietta Pearce 30 Usk
Henrietta Pearce 9 Ross
William Pearce 7 Ross
Laura Pearce 5 Ross
Clara Pearce 5 Ross
Ada Pearce 3 Ross
Hellen Pearce 8 Months Ross
Sarah Davis 19 servant
Julia Smith 17 servant

I was asked if I had any knowledge of them. We both thought the link was going to be the Bright family as a Louisa Bright 1825 Walford married John Marfell 1830 Bridstow. Her sister Elizabeth Bright 1824 married William Marfell 1832 Bridstow, brother of John Marfell 1830.

As I tend to follow the parents and siblings of spouses, I knew that the parents of Louisa & Elizabeth Bright were Thomas Bright 1785 & Mary Bosley 1786 and that the parents of Thomas Bright 1785 were Thomas Bright 1753 & Elizabeth Morris. I confess to confusing my Canadian fellow researcher with a reference to the Magic Roundabout regarding Thomas Bright 1753's father Zebedee Bright !!

I then decided to trace more siblings and discovered that Thomas Bright 1785 whose daughter's Louisa married John Marfell and Elizabeth married William Marfell had a sister Elizabeth Bright baptised 3 June 1798 which is quite probably the Elizabeth who married Joseph Pearce.

I have dozens of instances whereby the offspring for a marriage bear the middle name of the mother but in this case the generation is wrong. Joseph Marfell Pearce being born in 1825, around the same year that Louisa Bright and Elizabeth Bright were born.

Some of the family have been found on the 1851 and 1861 British census and John Marfell PEARCE and family are on the 1870 and 1900 US census.

1841 Census Ross
Joseph Pearce 40
Elizabeth Pearce 42
Charlotte Pearce 18

1851 Census Ross
Joseph Pearce 48 Malster East Dean
Elizabeth 52
John 25 Ironmonger East Dean
Thomas 23 Ross

I wondered if any Bright or Pearce researchers have anything to add.

Jim Ashton