Surname Saturday is a regular blog post in which I will discuss the origins and geography of the surnames which appear in my own family tree.
This weeks surname is PRESSWOOD.
Variants: Presswood, Prestwood, Preswood
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| George Henry Presswood, my great grandfather |
The surname Presswood is probably derived from "a dweller by the Priest's wood". There is also a village in Buckinghamshire and a place in Sussex both named Prestwood in which the surname could have evolved from.
Presswood is a very rare surname and in the 1891 census there were only 72 families with this surname in England, 29 were found in Yorkshire and 20 in Lincolnshire. Although Prestwood, it's variant surname is more common, there are still only 195 families with this surname in England in the 1891 census. 42 of these families are found in Lincolnshire, 31 in Lancashire, 25 in Shropshire and Glamorganshire.
My maternal grandmother was born into the Presswood family in north Lincolnshire, which is where her ancestors have dwelled for nearly two centuries working on the land as agricultural labourers. I suspect that most of the Lincolnshire Presswood families are probably distant cousins. The oldest Presswood ancestor to have been researched in my family line is William Presswood born 1806 in Lincolnshire. Sadly he committed suicide aged 35 years old, leaving his wife with seven young children.
I am currently beginning to write the Presswood family story at The Presswood Story, which you will be able to discover much more about my rural agricultural Presswood ancestors in time.
If you have Presswood ancestors from Lincolnshire or Yorkshire in your family tree I would love to hear from you.
Information from:
Hello Ruth, I've been doing some genealogical research and I think my wife might be related! Her paternal grandfather was Jack Lionel Presswood who I believe is your maternal grandmother's brother!
ReplyDeleteYes my grandmother was Betty Doreen, Jack Lionel's sister.
DeleteI remember visiting Uncle Jack & Auntie Mary in Ingham as a child, think Auntie Mary got my mother out a few scrapes as a child or so the stories go...
Hello Ruth
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother was a Presswood although the spelling of the family name going bck a few generations was originally Prestwood. Earliest ancestor so far is John Prestwood b. 1804 in Bardney, Lincs. Other Lincs villages in my tree include Hawerby cum Beesby, Covenham, Holten Le Clay and Tetney. There will be a link somewhere no doubt. My great grandfather John William Presswood emigrated to Australia in 1889. My grandmother Florence Ellen Presswood visited Lincs and family members with her father in 1924. I visited Lincs in 2019 with my wife and we loved it. regards Ray Linderberg
Hi Ray,
DeleteIt was also my grandmother who was a Presswood. I am currently undertaking a one-name study of the Presswood/Prestwood/Preswood surnames. I hope to see if I can link all the Presswood's together eventually. There are more Prestwood's in the Shropshire/Staffordshire areas of the UK but Preswood/Presswood's in Lincolnshire, but the names are interchangeable in the census and birth records. Although I am yet to find the link between your Presswood line and my own - William Presswood c1806 in Bransby, Lincolnshire, I would not be surprised to discover a link further back. Thanks for connecting :)