John PARR Swaffham Prior PRs

[wdurham]

I am trying to track down a John Parr and his father Charles in Swaffham Prior, both originally from elsewhere.

Charles was born in 1710 in Isleham, and moved to Exning where he married Grace Buntin. Grace died in childbirth and was buried on 11 Sep 1738, the same day as their son John was baptised.

Both Charles and John disappear from the Exning records at this time.

However a Charles Parr married Sarah Long in Swaffham Prior in December 1738, according to an extracted entry on the IGI, nicely timed for her to take on his infant son!
I have also found burials in Swaffham Prior for Sarah, wife of Charles in 1762, Charles (widower) in 1782, and John, shoemaker, in 1769.

Would some kind soul with access to the records please look up for me:

1. Any baptisms of Parr children to Charles and Sarah between 1738 and 1762
2. A possible marriage for John between 1755-ish and 1769
3. Any baptisms of Parr children to John in the same period

Many thanks
Wendy

[IMF]

Hi Wendy,

There are no Parr baptisms recorded at Swaffham Prior ( St.Marys )  in the period you requested. 

The only entries in the marriages are as follows and you are aware already of the 1738 one :-

26-01-1729.  Thomas PARR
                      Ann Webster

10-12-1738.  Charles PURR  ( BT's - PARR )
                      Sarah Long

10-04-1755.  William Gilson
                      Alice PURR

10-10-1808.  John PARR,   Bach of Exning, Suffolk
                     Elizabeth Miller, Single woman, ( BT's- Sp )

I searched electronically outside the parameters you stated and the above were the only results within the Baptisms and Marriages. 

Ian

[wdurham]

Very many thanks, Ian - that seems to confirm that the Parrs of Swaffham Prior were not a well-established village family.  By 1841 and 1851, they still weren't - the only Parr residents were incomers from Burwell.

It's thus more likely that the Parrs buried there were in fact "my" John and Charles from Exning.

A negative result can often be just as useful as a positive one!

Best regards
Wendy

[lrfaulkner]

Hi Wendy - Maybe you are no longer looking for Charles and John - if you are, they are in my line of Parrs - Charles was brother to my Ellery/Hilary.  According to what I found in the Exning records, Grace Buntin Parr died in childbirth of John, as you know.  However, John died 9 Mar 47.  Charles evidently remarried, to Mary ___ (there is no record), since the parish records show 7 children born to Charles and Mary Parr.  They are:  Mary, b 7 Mar 56;  Elizabeth b 25 Jun 58;  John b 22 May 63;  Charles 19 May 65;  William 3 Dec 69;  Anne 8 Mar 75;  and Robert 16 May 79.  There is no other Charles in Exning at this time, though Ellery did have sons Charles b 8 Jul 1733 and John b 28 Nov 1735.  From this point on, things get a little fuzzy, simply because there were so many Johns, Williams, and Roberts in the family.  I would be happy to send you the film numbers (LDS) if you would like, also a lineage for Charles.
Ruth