David Prosser and his descendants
The Prosser family I am interested in came from the Taynton (Tainton) / Minsterworth / Hardwicke / Haresfield / Harescombe / Elmore (Elsmore) / Longney / Bisley area of Gloucestershire in the 1800's.
William Prosser (born circa 1600) is my 8x great grandfather. His son Richard Prosser (1639-1709) married Ann Danbie. They had children including Jane Prosser (1674) who married Thomas Jones, and my 6x great grandfather Richard Prosser (1670-1724) who married Sarah Sadler (1673-1710).
Richard and Sarah had children including
- Richard Prosser (1699) who married Mary Marchall in 1717 and had (at least) Mary in 1718.
- Jane Prosser (1701)
- James Prosser (1703-1763) who married Elizabeth Fryer (1710-1769) in 1734 and are my 5x great grandparents.
- Joseph prosser (1670-1709) who married Ann and had children Joseph Prosser (1731-1760), Elizabeth Prosser (1735-1769) and Sarah Prosser (1736) )
- Sarah Prosser (1707-1725).
James and Elizabeth had children including
- Sarah Prosser (1734)
- Richard Prosser (1736-1781) who married Elizabeth Fereby and are my 4x great grandparents
- James Prosser (1738-1763)
- William Prosser (1740-1821) who married Ann Merrick (1739-1802) in 1767
- Hannah Prosser (1743) who married Joseph James in 1769
- Betty Prosser (1747) who married William Asman / Astman in 1771
- John Prosser (1750)
Richard and Elizabeth's children include
- James Prosser (1769-1848) who married Sarah Bray in 1806
- Charles Prosser (1771) who married Sarah White (1766-1855) in 1799 and are my 3x great grandparents
- Mary Prosser (1773)
Charles and Sarah's children include
- Richard Prosser (1799) who married (1) Comfort Hooper in 1821 and (2) widow Mary Morse nee Stock in 1865
- George Prosser (1802-1883) who married Sarah Margaret (1897-1872) in 1835
- Charles Prosser (1819-1821)
- Marian or Mary Ann Prosser who married Samuel Smith about 1824
- Joseph Prosser (1808-1826)
- David Prosser (1812-1895) who married Mary. These are my 2x great grandparents.
David, a farmer, was born in and had his children in Hardwicke then lived most of the rest
of his life at a property variously known as Backhouse or Baccus in Harescombe,
retiring to Elmore. He had 4 children
- Charles Prosser (b 1838/9)
- Elizabeth Prosser (b 1838/9)
- Hester Prosser (b 1841/2)
- David Prosser (b 1842/3)
Charles married Emma and lived in Harescombe, Haresfield, Taynton where several of his children were born and then Througham, Bisley. His children were
- William Prosser (b 1866/7),
- Jessie Mary Prosser (b 1868/9) who married (1) bigamist James Marshall (or various other aliases by which he called himself) and (2) Dawson M Godley,
- Flora Prosser (b 1871/2),
- Ellen Prosser (b 1872/3),
- Howard Prosser (b 1873/4),
- Fred Prosser (b 1876/7)
- Dora Prosser (b 1878/9).
There were several Prosser families living in the area, at times next door to each other. The tantalising prospect is to find a connection between them. The most promising connection is that 'our' David (b 1812 above) was the son of Charles Prosser, a carpenter b 1770/1 who married Sarah and fathered at least David (a carpenter born 1815/6 according to the 1841 census) and Comfort Prosser (b 1828/9). But small disrepancies in birth dates and David's apparent change in occupation from carpenter to farmer do not allow me to have confidence that the connection is correct.
Another family line that features prominently in the area includes John Prosser (b 1771) who married Sara Cratchley and had children including: Elizabeth (b 1799), John (b 1802/3), Hanna (b 1805), Anne (b 1808) and Susan (b 1810) who married William Wellington.
Son John (b 1802/3) married Mary and had children including: Robert (b 1838),
Elizabeth (b 1839/40), Mary Ann (b 1841/2), Eliza (b 1844/5), John (b 1847)
and Susan (b 1848/9).
Grandson John (b 1847) married Mary and had children: Henry J (b 1871/2 ),
Mary E (b 1873/4), Richard G (b 1874/5), Fannie N (b 1875/6), Annie P (b
1878/9), Ella / Ellen (b 1879/80), Tom W (b 1881/2 ), John M (b 1883/4),
Charles J (b 1884/5).
On at least one census the surname has been miss-spelt as Proper.
These are some the people I know about who are now deceased. The data I have includes some more information about them, and about some of their descendants who are still living.