John Fiffield d 1796

John Fiffield d 1796

John Fiffield who died in 1796 was established in his will as elaborated in my article Standbridge and Standbridge Erles

There are various possible spellings of his family's surname, including Fyfielde, Fyfield, Fifeilde, Fiffielde, Fiffield, FFiffield, FFifeld, Fifield and presumably many others. I have adopted Fifield as the collective name for all the variations.

Fifield Name Meaning
English: habitational name from any of various places called Fifield or Fyfield, of which there are instances in Berkshire, Essex, Oxfordshire, and Wiltshire, all so named from Old English fif ‘five’ + hid ‘hide’. (A hide was a measurement of land area.)

I have attempted to transcribe John Fifield's Last Will and Testament within my article Standbridge and Standbridge Erles. Part of that enabled me to derive some of the family.

 Family extracted from Will;-

Elizabeth Fifield (illegitimate),  John Fifield, Benjamin Fifield, Job Fifield, Richard Fifield, Catharine Fifield. His wife Catherine (1731 - 1800) does not appear to be mentioned in the will, despite still being alive at the time of her husbands death.

 Dates added from Ancestry.

To me this is a good indication of John's family.

There is potentially another John Fifield according to Ancestry, b 1773 d 1827. This would suggest that John b 1766 had died before 1771. However, reading the will, I would have assumed that Jno, or John was the eldest son, which would appear to discount the later John.

However, it appears to be even more complicated than that.

There may be more than meets the eye, especially if some of the Family Trees on Ancestry are anything to go by.

Other family members are possibly;

A potential wife Catherine Pragnell, Born in the year, 1740 at Lockerley, Hampshire, England. In some trees she married a John Web.

Name; Catherine Prangnell
Gender; Female
Marriage Date; 3 Oct 1762
Marriage Place; Mottisfont, Hampshire, England
Spouse; John Webb

Another entry in the same tree,

Name; Cathern Pearse
Gender; Female
Marriage Date; 23 May 1764
Marriage Place; Romsey, Hampshire, England
Spouse; John Fifield

With Catherine Prangnell and Cathern Pearse being one in the same person.

Two children are listed in this tree, Jenny Web b 1793 and Sarah Pragnell 1759 to 1835. Presumably Sarah was born after John Webb and before John Fifield.

There is also a baptism record

Name; Catherine Pragnell
Gender; Female
Spouse; John Fifield
Child; Sarah Pragnell

Another batism record in another tree

Name; Sarah Pragnell
Gender; Female
Baptism Date; 6 Jan 1760
Baptism Place; Lockerley, Hampshire, England
Father; John Fifield
Mother; Catherine Pragnell
Possibly with am annotation of Base Born, which means illegitimate.

Did John Fifield then go on to marry Catherine Pragnell? If so why is Sarah Pragnell not mentioned in the Will even though Elizabeth Fifield (illegitimate) is.

There is also a marriage record

Name; Cathern Pearse
Gender; Female
Marriage Date; 23 May 1764
Marriage Place; Romsey, Hampshire, England
Spouse; John Fifield

Which is the same as above but attributed to a different person.

This record is further confirmed by HGS CD - 23 May 1764 Romsey John Fifield Catharine Pearce. (Hampshire Genealogy Society)

Why is this of such import?

The daughter, Sarah Pragnell married Abraham Hurst on 16 Oct 1780 at Houghton, Hampshire, England. They are my 4th Great Grandparents. This is confirmed with DNA matches as well as a paper trail.

There are also DNA matches which appear to be via the Fifield arm, but the paper trail and Will evidence is less clear.

One possible reason for not being mentioned in the Will is that Sarah Pragnell had already married Abraham Hurst by 1796 when the Will was proved. 

Could the marriage to Cathern Pearse or Pearce be either an error in recording the details or in the transcription of the record, with the person being Catherine Pragnell?

 Another question is regarding potential similar or same named people within a reasonable proximity.

Below is a collection of extracts of records seeking to find correlations which could help the discussion regarding John Fifield's family. However, looking at the dates, it is likely to be more use with his children than him and his wife. Retained as a potentially useful resource.

 St Mary, Michelmersh Parish Records Baptisms 1773 to 1889

 St Mary, Michelmersh Parish Records Marriages 1813 to 1989

Husbands; Fifield or Fyfield none, but some Fielder which may or may not be relevant.

Wifes;

St Mary, Michelmersh Parish Records Burials 1813 to 1989