The Purseys are no different from the rest of the population – some of them at various times, found themselves on the wrong side of the law. The most serious punishment handed out to a Pursey was “death”! And that sentence was passed on a woman. Ann Pursey married Richard Cuerton on March 27, 1768 […]
Court Reports
Where is Mr John Purssey?
So asked the South London Chronicle in April 1870. John was a son of John [and Elizabeth Birdeye], the youngest son of Stogumber farmer George Purssey and his wife Elizabeth Pinn. John senior was a successful meat salesman at London’s Smithfield market. Building on his father’s business, he became a pillar of the community. But […]
Pursey v Pursey: a family spat
In 1734, Roger Pursey filed a Bill of Complaint in the Court of Chancery*. It begins “your orator Roger Pursey of the Parish of St Mary, Newington in the Co of Surrey, Clothier”. He attests that “Christopher Pursey the elder late of Bishops Hull in the Co of Somerset, Pumpmaker, deceased, your orator’s late father, […]