Additions and Corrections to Pierssené Book

My book Pierssené, a Huguenot Family of London was published in 2007 and is still available from BookPOD.

In the last decade the internet has made it much easier to access genealogical records. As I've researched other parts of my family tree, I've stumbled across snippets of information providing answers to some of the unresolved puzzles in the Pierssené book.

As a free service to my readers, here are my findings, providing some additions and corrections to several pages of that book. If you own a copy, I respectfully suggest that you print out what follows and keep the information with the book, because I have no plans to publish a Second Edition.

Page 60

The information concerning Michael Piersene, baptised at St George's Bloomsbury on 11 April 1742 has been slightly clarified.

As suspected, the 1742 Michael was not the man who married Hannah Cowdrey late in 1811. Hannah's husband appears to have been the Michael Pierssene who died at the St Marylebone Workhouse aged 65 in April 1843 and was therefore born in 1777 or 1778 to unknown parents. He had been admitted to the Workhouse in October 1840 and had been in need of charitable assistance for some time prior to being admitted. This Michael was a carver and guilder, with family occupational traditions suggesting he was a grandson of the carver Michael Pierssene, 1707-1767. Perhaps he was a son of the Michael born in 1742.

In 1851 Hannah Pearsney was a 71-yr-old widow, a laundress, living alone at 14 Short Street in the pariah of Marylebone. It's interesting that the French pronunciation of her surname was still in use, even if the census collector did not know the correct spelling. Hannah died at Camberwell in 1861 and was buried in Southwark on 6 February 1861.

The Michael who died in 1843 had a daughter named Sarah, born on 27 January 1833 at Salisbury Street  and baptised as Sarah Piersene on 29 September 1833 at Christ Church, St Marylebone. Sarah's 20-yr-old mother Sarah died at Salisbury Street soon after her daughter's birth and was buried in the parish of St Marylebone on 24 February 1833 as Sarah Pierfsene (Pierssene), although no record of her marriage exists because Michael's legal wife was still alive.

Michael and Sarah's daughter Sarah married Thomas George Law on 13 February 1854 at St Mary, Bryanston Square, Marylebone and her first child, Emily Rosa Law, was recorded as a six-yr-old staying with Rosina Pierssene in the 1861 census. This strengthens the case that Rosina and Sarah were half-sisters. It's possible that Rosina had helped raise her baby sister Sarah.

In 1861 ten-yr-old Emily M Burt was a niece of the unnamed head of the three-person household where Rosina lived, and since Emily Burt's mother was a sister of John Hemery, it suggests that Rosina was still working for the widowed John Hemery as his housekeeper. Rosina died in 1869 and John Hemery finally remarried in 1874, when he was in his mid-fifties.

Page 63

The burial record for Jeremiah Pierssene, baptised in December 1747, has now been located. He was buried at St Andrews by the Wardrobe, City of London, on 12 February 1796, as Jeremiah Piersney, aged 48. Again, the spelling indicates the current pronunciation of the surname.

Pages 66-7 

Martin Steggle, of St Ann's, was buried on 27 January 1787 at St George's Bloomsbury.

William Steggle, son of Martin Steggle and Mary Pierssene, married Elizabeth Norman at St George's Bloomsbury on 20 October 1793. Here are some relevant details for their family:

• Their son John was baptised at St Martin in the Fields on 12 February 1794. 
• Their son Joseph was born on 29 August 1799 and baptised at St Giles in the Fields on 18 May 1800. 
• Elizabeth Steggle, of Church Street, aged 27 years, died of 'brain fever' and was buried at St Anne Soho on 15 August 1800. 
• Within a year young Joseph died at Church Street and was buried at St Anne Soho on 26 April 1801. 
• Two weeks earlier a William Steggle was baptised on 12 April at St Giles in the Fields and, if he was the William Steggles aged 36 of Fulham who was buried as a Nonconformist (Baptist) at Hammersmith on 22 December 1833, then he must have been born a few years earlier, in 1797.  
• Son John Steggle, of Grafton Street, died of 'a decline' aged 8 years and was buried at St Anne Soho on 29 Oct 1802. 
• This means that all three of William's sons from his first marriage pre-deceased him.

No record has yet been located for William's subsequent marriage to Margaret. They lived in central London, close to St Anne Soho, St Giles in the Fields and St Martin in the Fields, and appear to have had six children:

• John born 20 May 1804 and baptised 25 November 1804 at St Martin in the Fields
• Caroline born 4 September 1805 and baptised 29 September 1805 at St Martin in the Fields
• Elizabeth born 14 May 1807 and  baptised 14 June 1807 at St Martin in the Fields
• Cornelius born 13 April 1809 and baptised 25 October 1809 at St Martin in the Fields
• Charlotte born 15 March 1811 and baptised 5 February 1812 at St Giles in the Fields
• George born c. January 1813, buried 21 April 1813 at St Anne Soho, aged 3 months.

Margaret Steggle of St Martins, aged 31 years, was buried at St Anne Soho on 7 March 1813 after giving birth to son George around January 1813. He was buried about six weeks after his mother.

Available records indicate that William did not marry again to anyone named Mary. The children of William and Mary Steggle who were baptised at St Martin in the Fields in 1817 and 1821 appear to belong to another couple.

William's brother Martin, born in 1778,  of 57 Clarence Gardens, Regent's Park, died in Middlesex Hospital and was buried on 19 February 1855 at St Marylebone, age stated as 75 years.

Pages 83 & 120

Joseph Tate was a Licensed Victualler at Barley Mow, St Mary Islington when he wrote his Will in September 1796. This implies that Stephen Pierssene Fatt was living next door to his parents in his early married life. (See page 120)

Pages 88-9 

A Michael Pierssene, bachelor, married Sarah Godsell, spinster, at St Giles Cripplegate in the City of London, on 3 December 1775, after banns. Both were of this parish. Both signed (she rather shakily) in the presence of Wm Ayscough and Fras Strong, who both signed. The ceremony was performed by Geo Goldwyer, Curate.

Extra details of their five children follow:

• Sarah Ann Pierssene, born in 1776 at White Fryers, married John Humphreys at St James Clerkenwell on 26 November 1797. Both were of this parish and were married after banns by Robt Tegon, Curate. Witnesses were Wm Humphreys and John Garth. All parties signed the register.
• Harriott Sophia Pierssene, born at White Fryers and baptised on 1 July 1777, died at White Fryers and was buried at St Andrew Holborn on 27 October 1777.
• Mary Pierssene, born at White Fryers in 1778, married John Parker at St James Clerkenwell on 9 February 1805. She signed the register. Witnesses were Mary's brother-in-law John Humphreys and M.A. Fatt, who both signed the register. Mary Ann Fatt was the daughter of the bride's cousin Thomas Pierssene Fatt.
• No new details for Ann Elizabeth Pierssene
• When son William was born on 13 April 1783 and baptised two days later at St Luke, Finsbury, his father Michael was a victualler. William died of convulsions and was buried at St Luke, Finsbury on 20 April 1783.

Michael was twice in and out of the Fleet debtors' prison, in 1782 and 1789, which might explain the family's move outside the City of London boundaries to Finsbury, where William was born in 1783. Michael's wife Sarah may have been looked after by family members because a Sarah Pearson died at Plumbtree Court in the parish of St George's Bloomsbury and was buried on 15 July 1784 at St Andrew Holborn.  His uncle Michael Pierssene, 1707-1767, had lived at this address in the 1730s.

When Michael was discharged from the Fleet debtors' prison in August 1789, one of his warrantors was Jeremiah Pierssene, presumably his older brother (who died in 1796). This connection makes it almost certain that it was the Michael born in 1754 (not his cousin Michael, born in 1742) who was married to Sarah Godsell and then remarried as a widower in 1789, as described on page 89 of my book. Michael's second wife was Jane Mitchell.

Fleet Prison Discharge Book, 29 August 1789, p 123

No record has yet been found for Michael's death between 1789 and 1795 but a James Tuffield married Jane Pirssene (the supposed widow of Michael?) after banns on 30 August 1795 at St George's Bloomsbury. Both were 'of this parish' and both signed (she very shakily) in the presence of Thos Groves and R Harrison (the parish clerk?).

Page 99

After Harry Pierssene, born in 1859, came another child, Robert, born around July 1861. Aged 11 months, he and his older brother Edmund, aged four, died in the middle of 1862 at 54 Great Chart Street, Hoxton. They were buried on the same day, 30 June 1862, at the London Cemetery Company's North London or Kentish Town and Highgate Cemetery of St James, in Swain's Lane, parish of St Pancras. 

Page 144

Pictures 40 and 41 on this page are from an old family album, unidentified, and probably date from the period 1879-1883. Therefore they likely belong to a different family altogether, not the Schmaeck family. Picture 42 may be captioned correctly, as I have no other record for any family members present in Frankfurt.

Closing Remarks

You may have spotted some additional items. I welcome email contact from any readers who are aware that further revisions to the published text of Pierssené, a Huguenot Family of London are needed. I'd be happy to post them in a follow-up article