1) place: Pleeks and (2) family links: HORTON

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Gracemw
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Last seen: 1 year 17 weeks ago
Joined: Sunday, 3-04-2016

Hi there,

i am researching my Welsh family history and am currently looking at my mother's family line. Her grandfather/mother came from Shropshire. I have found information on Ancestry UK that traces my (apparent) family line back to late 1600s in Shropshire. Apart from finding names and dates, there is much I'd like to find out, as you can imagine. But, for now, I have two particular questions:  

1) Does anyone know anything about the following address? It is on 1851 census in Shropshire:

199 Pleeks ((Parish Wolstanton; District Tunstall).

What is/was 'the Pleeks'?

2) Has anyone else on this Forum been researching the family history of:

George HORTON (Born abt: 1807, Moreton Say/Mortonsea and his wife Mary Horton (nee Jones), assuming they were married; born 1780 in Prees.

It is their son, Robert HORTON (born: 1842, D 1920 with Elizabeth Jane Davies B:1852 D:1915 who moved to Merthyr sometime between 1851 and 1891; they have a baby buried in Merthyr in 1886.

Their son Robert HORTON (jnr) born 1876 in Shrops, is my great grandfather. He's buried in Merthyr as well.

So any advice or connections my email can make will be much appreciated.

I am based in Bristol, by the way.

Many thanks, Grace

Michael J Hulme
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Last seen: 29 min 3 sec ago
Joined: Saturday, 4-06-2011

Hello Grace

With regard to Pleeks (transcribed as Plecks on Find my Past HO.107/2002 fol.603 pg.58 and probably the correct spelling) it appears to be the name of a street or area as there are numerous households listed in the same location.  Note that it is in Staffordshire not Shropshire.  There is a modern place called The Pleck or Pleck Farm 3 miles south west of Wolstanton which tends to confirm the local spelling.

If you scroll backwards through the census page images you will find that Plecks follows Audley St which in turn follows Roylance St.  These latter two streets can be found on Google maps.  The Ordnance Survey map reference is SJ 857 512 but neither of these streets is named even on the largest scale OS map.

If you look at the fourth road to the north of Audley and Roylance Streets you will find a modern street named Plex Street which seems rather a coincidence but I am sure would be worth some further research.  Looking on Google Street View most the of houses seem to be modern now even though this street appears on old OS maps from a hundred years ago.

As far as the number 199 in the left hand column is concerned, this is simply the number allocated to the house(hold) by the census enumerator and has nothing to do with its position in the street as a modern house number would have.

Mike

Gracemw
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Last seen: 1 year 17 weeks ago
Joined: Sunday, 3-04-2016

Hi Mike,

Thank you so much for your helpful reply and i’ll be following up your advice and the pointers you give. I recall reading somewhere (but way back, so i need to go through my file with a fine toothcomb!) that my relatives were in Staffs at some point, I thought it was linked to the potteries. That said, i guess County boundaries change as well. Most of my research has turned up labourers and coal miners.  The latter may explain why some of them went to Merthyr in late 1800’s. 

Again, thank you,

Grace.