Finchett PEARCE

Hello Dian

If you search for FINCHET(T) as a surname you will find it mainly in the Wrexham, Chester & Liverpool areas with a few scattered elsewhere.  I would guess it has been the surname of a female at some time in the past and then adapted as a forename.

Ancestry lists a few people with Finchet(t) as a second forename and some as a surname.

Don't forget that PEARCE has variants which you must check.

Mike

Thank you Mike, I must be honest I've never heard of the name Finchett until I started doing this tree, as for using it as a surname I will bear that in mind and start again from there, and see how much more luck I have. Thank you very much.

Hello Dian,

In the 1911 census Herbert Pearce (a widower) is farming at The Hendre in Melverley, in the company of his 5-year old son Herbert and his 64-year old mother Ann (although her age, as with all census-entry ages, cannot be taken to be precise).

Crucially, in the context of the following, her marital status is recorded as “single” - and not as married or widowed.

Please also be aware that the following variable spellings of the surname are as taken from the online records and the variability is consistent with the point that Mike made to you.

In the Shropshire Baptisms, for the parish of Trefonen, there is a baptism recorded on 16 May 1875 for a John Finchett Pierce. Whilst his mother’s forename is given as Anne, there is no father’s name in the entry. This suggests that Anne was not then married to the father of her child.

Although there is a GRO index entry for the registration of the birth of a Herbert Finchett Pearce in quarter 2 of 1875, there does not also seem to be a separate GRO birth entry at any time for a John Finchett Pierce (or Pearce). Neither are there any subsequent census (or other) records for him.

However, as you may already have found from the censuses:

in 1881 & 1891 there is a Herbert Pierce (nephew) living with his (unmarried) aunt Mary Pierce at Pentre Bach in Melverley;

and

in 1901 there is a Herbert Pearce (nephew) living with his (single) aunt Mary Pearce at Pentre Bach in Melverley.

Intriguingly, also in the 1901 census, living nearby at Yew Tree Cottage is an Ann Pearce - a 52-year old single woman whose occupation is given as a retired Cook Domestic and who was born in Melverley.

In 1881 an Ann Pierce (a single woman, born in Melverley) is a Cook Domestic in the Llandwrog household of the 3rd Baron Newborough.

Further back, in the 1851 census, there is a 6-year old Ann Pierce, born in Melverley, living with her parents (Edward & Mary) & her siblings at Hendry in Melverley. She was baptised in the parish, as Anne, on 8 May 1845.

I realise that what I have found may not prove helpful to you in the context of your search for Herbert’s father but perhaps the following, if not too far-fetched, may mollify things a little. 

If it is accepted that Herbert was the son of the aforementioned Anne, and only his birth certificate will provide absolute clarity, the following scenario may be pertinent.

It was not uncommon for a groom or bride who was born illegitimately, but whose father had never formally or legally acknowledged parentage, to “create” a father (along with his occupation & state of being) for the purpose of the marriage record. Sometimes (as in the instance of my own 2nd cousin who was born illegitimately) the information provided was based on fact i.e. from knowledge passed on by the mother, whilst other times it might just have been pure face-saving fiction.

In Herbert’s case, given that Anne was in service (there is also an 1861 census record that shows her as a Housemaid), it is quite possible that his mother became pregnant with him as the result of a liaison with a male member of a household in which she worked.

Therefore she would have known the name of his father, as well as his occupation or profession, and when her child was born (after she had presumably been “sent home in disgrace”) she may have decided to incorporate the father’s name into her child’s naming.

Thus for example, if the father was a John Finchett, she may have baptised her son accordingly as a means of ensuring that in later life he would have an awareness of his paternal origin.

It is equally possible that although the father may not have been able to marry Anne, or otherwise publicly acknowledge his role in her motherhood, he may have maintained an ongoing interest in his son - which could explain why Herbert was able to state that his father was a Cabinet Maker and was deceased at the time of his marriage in 1904.

With this (somewhat convoluted thinking) in mind, I have found records for a John Finchett who was born in Marford near Wrexham in 1855, who was a Joiner by trade (a pre-requisite skill for a Cabinet Maker) and who died in Chester in 1893, aged just 38.

Again only his death certificate can provide clarity as to his occupation at the time of his, presumably, unexpected death - as he does not appear to have left a Will.

In closing, I perhaps should mention that I have responded to your original inquiry because I have been previously researching the Pearce/Pierce families of Melverley in connection with a possible link with my own Bliss ancestry.

In connection with the originating post in this thread, has anybody else seen the first post in this link? http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/localities.britisles.england.sal.general/7190/mb.ashx?pnt=1

Peter thank you ever so much for such an indepth explanation, which has helped me a great deal, and may I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, but I have only just remembered this site,(memory going!!!) Thank you once again, it makes everything fit into place for me now, brilliant.

Regards Dian