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Key research targets for the name Prissick.

My key target is to identify spouse and parents for the Christopher Prissick who died Carlton in Cleveland 1733. (see his will)

There is no evidence that this person is related to the family of Captain Christopher Prissick who also lived at Carlton, and owned significant property  in the area.

My suspicion, which still requires further proof, is that Captain Prissick was a descendant of the family which were living in Carlton in the 17 century, while Christopher Prissick (d. 1733) came from elsewhere, quite possibly being a member of the family who were in Stokesley in the 17 century. 

As I say, this is tentative, and requires further proof - thoughts/theories are welcomed.

There do not seem to be useful earlier probate records for this family, but I am always hopeful that mentions in wills etc. of other related families will throw some light - any clues always greatly valued.

Resources.

• **NEW**Database of Prissick family trees** NOTE-This resource provides some tentative clues to family relationships picked up from diverse sources such as wills, deeds, Parish registers, IGI etc. Please treat them as clues, and follow them up. I do not guarantee any of this information, and would be grateful for any additional information or corrections.
• Census Extracts
• Other document extracts & transcripts
• Probate Transcripts
• References to documents at the National Archives (Public Record Office)

Origins of the name Prissick/Pressick etc...

A general search on the name 'Prissick' in the IGI ( International Genealogical Index at www.familysearch.com ) also returns records of related spellings such as Pressick, Preswick, Priswick, all of which have been encountered during research into the Prissick name. While a search of this type can only be seen as a fairly crude indication of the name's distribution at a parish level, reliant as it is on the variable coverage of parishes, availability of records and so on, in conjunction with other records collected along the way, there appear to be centres in England, Scotland and Ireland.

England:

   The Dictionary of English Surnames, P.H.Reaney & R.M.Wilson has the following suggestions for the origins of the name:

"'Pressick, Prissick: Robert de Prestewyke 1296 SRSx; William Presike 1538 Riev (Y). From Prestwick (Bucks, Northumb, Surrey) or from employment at the priests' dairy-farm (OE wic). Prissick Fm in Marton (NR Yorks) is 'priest-stream'. In Scotland, from Prestwyck (Ayrshire): Bartram de Prestwyc c1272 Black (Paisley)."

  The Place names of the North Riding of Yorkshire, A.H.Smith (English Place Name Society Vol 5) has the following reference to Prissick Farm in Marton:

"Prissick Farm   

Prestsic 1199 - 1203 Guis 'Priest Stream' v. preost, sic."

 The 'Guis' refers to the Guisborough Cartulary, Surtees 86, 89 (MS 15th Cent).

The following is offered as a tentative extension to the above. I would not expect it to be seen as a solution, but rather as a starting point for debate and further research - I welcome any comments, whether positive or negative.

• North Yorkshire. By far the largest proportion of the records returned are from the area of North Yorkshire between Whitby and Carlton in Cleveland, including the parishes of Lythe, Brotton, Stokesley and Stainton. All variants of spelling occur within this area. 
• Eastern Coast. The names occur sporadically all along the East Coast of England, in places such as Newcastle, South Shields, Sunderland, Hull and London.
• Hampshire. A single family is noted in Hampshire from the early 1800s. While by no means certain, the use of the name Barnabas, which has not been found in earlier English families, would provide a strong clue that this family may have originated in Ireland, where the name has been encountered on previous dates.  
• Other. There are very few records associated with areas other than those above. Examples are Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire, some at least of which can be linked with known families in North Yorkshire. Records also occur in Barbados from the late 17th Century, and these are definitely related to a North Yorkshire family 

    This provokes some very interesting thoughts regarding the name's origins within England. 

    While there is obviously much more work to do to flesh the theory out, I believe that this distribution is consistent with most, if not all, of the early English families being derived from a common root in the N. Yorkshire area. The quantity of N. Yorkshire records, the occurrence in so many ports which is consistent with the known involvement in maritime trading from Whitby, and the known links back to N. Yorkshire from the 'Other' areas, all support this theory. 

It is tempting to take the distribution shown above, with the mention of Prissick Farm in Marton from Reaney & Wilson, and assume that there is some fundamental link. This must be a strong contender, especially given the early date provided in the EPNS reference (1199-1203), but it would be wrong to assume that this is correct without further research. There are many examples locally of surnames derived from small settlements, for example  Stanghow (Stango/Stangoe) in N.Yorkshire and Elstob & Sheraton in S. Durham, but it is always possible that there is actually no link between the two, and that the name has a totally different derivation.. 

Scotland:

There are a number of records, with the Pressick spelling, from Angus in Scotland.

These may be associated with the Scottish derivation suggested by Reaney & Wilson, although Angus is some way from Ayrshire, but on investigation, they appear to be associated with the slightly commoner name of PRESSOCK, which also occurs in the Angus area. The following is taken from Black's 'The Surnames of Scotland':

 PRESSOCK. An old surname in Glenesk (Jervise II, p.122). From the lands of Pressock in Angus (1604 Prescheok, 1620 Pressock). Duncan Preshok is recorded in Inerarity, 1686 (RPC., 3. ser. xii, p.99), and robert prescho was burgess of Montrose, 1693 (Inquis., 7371).

Ireland:

I have no clues as yet for the origin of the small number of records so far found in Ireland, but the earliest encountered so far are the George Pressick publishing anti-Quaker notes in the 1660 and the John Pressick, Co. Kilkenny, whose will was proved 1693. 

It should also be noted that some at least of the Pressicks in the Canadian censuses indicate Irish birth. See also the note above regarding the family which appeared in Hampshire, England c. 1800.