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Number 1 June 1997

New Venture
How the PFHS started
Origins of the Name
An Interesting Inventory
John Pryer of St. Erme, Cornwall 1616

Number 2 December 1997

Jonas Prior, Convict 1802-1878
A young Kent lad sentenced to transportation in 1821 and his subsequent life in Australia
A Medieval Prior Family
An early reference to the surname in the thirteenth century at Totnes, Devon
How Many Fathers ?!
Abraham and John Pryor, stonemasons from Cornwall
The Mystery of Granny Greenwood
A members tries to unravel the facts behind a family secret involving her grandmother, Harriet Prior, born in 1853 at St. Pancras, London

Number 3 March 1998

Research Day, London 14 February 1998
A report on a PFHS visit to the Family Record Centre and Society of Genealogists
Richard Prior – Smuggler
A member comes across a chance reference to a smuggling
ancestor in Symondsbury, Dorset 1835
A Lancashire Family
An Anglo-Irish Prior family. Patrick Prior of Cavan and his wife,
Mary, moved to England around 1852. This article charts the
family’s subsequent development in Lancashire
Sailmakers at Falmouth
The story of two generations of sailmakers in the Cornish port -
Charles Elliott Prior and son Harold Sidney Prior

Number 4 June 1998

Harold John Prior – Titanic Survivor
The subject of this article was a steward on the fateful
maiden voyage of the Titanic in 1912
Early Settlers in New England
Bearers of the surname who settled in seventeenth century New England

Number 5 September 1998

Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
Matthew Prior, Poet and Diplomat 1664-1721
The life story of one of the more famous bearers of the Prior name
Some Poems of Matthew Prior
Criminal Register Indexes 1805-1840
References to the surname found in the Public Record Office Indexes
Bakers in Hampshire
John Prior (b. 1730) of Fareham and family
Thomas Prior (b. 1734) of Bishops Waltham and family
Both children of John and Mary Prior

Number 6 December 1998

The Trial and Execution of Thomas Pryor
Report on the trial at Kent Assizes in 1836 and subsequent hanging
at Maidstone. Thomas Pryor was son of a butcher from Preston, Kent
Priors/Pryors in South Carolina
A US member tells the story of the descendants of John Pryor of
Wendron, Cornwall who settled in Edgefield County around 1781
Includes the Civil War exploits of Kinchen Pryor
A Family Reunion and a Miraculous Find
1998 family gathering of descendants of the above family at
Beech Island, South Carolina and discovery of a letter detailing
the family John Pryor left behind in Cornwall
Flight Lieutenant John Pryor – 617 Squadron (The Dambusters)
War time exploits in the RAF

Number 7 March 1999

Research Day, 13 February 1999
Report on a Society visit to the Family Records Centre, London
Nathaniel Pryor (c.1775-1831) US Explorer, Soldier, Trader and Indian Agent
Part One of a four part series on this American pioneer
Sergeant on the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806
Tragic Death in Essex
Martha Prior of Great Waltham killed her baby in 1847
Death of an Old Inhabitant
Obituary to William Prier of Mortlake, near London, undated
The Times Index 1790-1905
Some extracts for the surname from Palmer’s Index of
The Times Newspaper
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname

Number 8 June 1999

A Scandal and a Mystery
Ann Pryor (born near Costessy, Norfolk)
Daughter of William and Mary Pryor
Married William Rix (Town Clerk of London) in 1760
The author seeks a link with the Fairfax family of Civil War fame
Nathaniel Pryor (c.1775-1831) US Explorer, Soldier, Trader and Indian Agent
Part Two of a four part series on this American pioneer
The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806
Early Days of Motoring
Two old photographs of proud ancestors showing off their automobiles
Dr Samuel Prior of Huddersfield, Yorkshire with steam car, 1899
George Walter Prier at Hatfield Park 1910
Caught Speeding – at 20 mph
Frederick Prior of Headington, near Oxford was brought before
the magistrates in 1902

Number 9 September 1999

The World War Indexes
Details of two indexes acquired by the Society
Soldiers who Died in The Great War
The Debt of Honour Register (Commonwealth War Graves)
Nathaniel Pryor (c.1775-1831) US Explorer, Soldier, Trader and Indian Agent
Part Three of a four part series on this American pioneer
After the Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Three Old Men of Emsworth, Hampshire
Brothers William, James and Richard Prior
A 1914 newspaper article in which these three recall earlier days
Commonwealth Prisoners of War 1939-1945
A list of captives

Number 10 December 1999

Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
Nathaniel Pryor (c.1775-1831) US Explorer, Soldier, Trader and Indian Agent
Final part of a four part series on this American pioneer
His final years
Pryor’s Memorial
Details of the monument in memory of Nathaniel Pryor (c.1775-1831)
at Pryor, Oklahoma
Oswald Pryor, Australian Cartoonist 1881-1971
The life story of this talented artist whose cartoons and writing reflect the
Cornish mining heritage in Moonta, South Australia
London Links
A miscellany of references to London families
The Times
Two articles from The Times newspaper
A Shooting in Portsmouth - Alfred George Prior 1887
Striker Causes Trouble in London – Frederick Prior 1898

Number 11 March 2000

Orders, Decorations and Medals
Naval career of John Prior born Whitechapel, London c. 1771
Naval General Service Medal James Prior 1810/11 Francis Prior 1805
Thomas Henry Prior, Trafalgar 1805, coastguard service Brighton,
Emigration Officer Liverpool, died 1883
The Gallipoli Diary of Charles Thomas Prior
Charles Thomas Prior son of Charles Joseph and Mary Frances Prior
Born London 1890. Brief entries from his diary 1915-1916
Charles and Jane Prior
Photographs of Charles Prior born Folkestone, Kent 1820
and his wife, Jane
Pigot’s Directory – 1839
Extracts of the surname for Middlesex, Essex and Hertfordshire
My Prior Ancestors of Great Hallingbury, Essex
A member tells of his research into his Essex ancestors from his
grandfather, Harry John Prior, back to John Prior (died 1564)
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
Guild of One-Name Studies
Information on the Society for one-namers

Number 12 June 2000

Surname Origins – Some Interesting Discoveries
Manuscripts suggesting unexpected early origins of the surname
Unusual Entries in The Will Index
Extracts from the Society’s Index of post-1857 wills
The Times
Two extracts from The Times newspaper
Fatal Accident in London - Thomas Pryor 1838
A Sad End for Mr Pryor’s Horse – London, 1885
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname

Number 13 September 2000

Bound for Australia
A list of some passengers on the ss Great Britain bound
from Liverpool to Australia
Where are they now?
Tables and Maps showing distribution of variants the
surname across the U.K. in 1999
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
Looking for a Prior Connection
Seeking information on Elizabeth Prior who married Henry Krause in
London, 1774

Number 14 December 2000

Profile of Pryor, OK
A look at this Oklahoma town founded by Lewis & Clark explorer,
Nathaniel Pryor
Photographs of Pryor, OK
Three present day photos of the town and area
Priscilla Pryor (1834 – 1914)
Life of the daughter of London clockmaker, Robert Pryor of
Tottenham Court Road
Wiltshire References
Details from various Probate Records covering the period 1604 - 1767
A Margate Mystery
Family of Edmund Firkins who married Emma Prior of
Much Hadham, Hertfordshire
Looking at Wills
The use of Probate Calendars for England and Wales
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
How a Scotswoman found her Cornish Connection
Detective story of a member’s research that leads to West Cornwall
via Northumberland, London and Devon

Number 15 March 2001

Agricultural Unrest in Hampshire – the 1830 Riots
Court cases surrounding unrest in the parish of Micheldever
The Life and Sudden Death of William Prior (1861-1900)
After a military career in Ireland and India, William Prior returned to England
where he met an untimely death in an industrial accident at Dartford, Kent
Called to Preach – The Life of Mary Pryor (1737 – 1815)
Quaker, Mary Bray, married John Pryor of Hertford. At the age of 60
she set out on a preaching tour to America
A Paper Maker Remembered
1934 obituary of John Prior of Ilford Essex
Finsbury Park Man’s Suicide
1915 r report of the death of 57 year old, George Prior of
Finsbury Park, London
A Thames Example for Others
The story of Thames barge business, J.J. Prior
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname

Number 16 June 2001

Family Day Report
Report and Photographs of the Prior Family History Society Family Day
at Castle Hedingham, Essex on the 28th May 2001
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
A Lying Wonder Discovered
A contemporary seventeenth century report into allegations of
witchcraft levelled at local Quakers by Margaret Pryor of Long Stanton
in Cambridgeshire
Richard C. Alexander Prior (1809 – 1902)
An autobiography of Richard Alexander who changed his name to Prior
in order to inherit a family estate in Somerset

Number 17 September 2001

Family Ties
Australian family connections of A.B. Paterson and Rosa Praed
via Nora Murray-Prior
My Difficult Priors
A member traces her London roots
Hugh of the Glen Vindicated
How Richard Prior, a R.N. sailor from Chatham, Kent came to be
buried on the remote Hebridean island of Colonsay in 1912
From Bryn Hall to Bray Dunes
War-time experiences of Dunkirk Veteran, Norman Prior of Lancashire
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
From the Family Album
Photographs of James Prior (1803-1876) and son Charles Elliott Prior (1842-1933)
of Falmouth Cornwall

Number 18 December 2001

Edward Gawler Prior (1853 – 1920)
An Englishman who became Prime Minister of British Columbia
Lost in Victorian London
The trials of research in the capital
From Riches to Rags
In 1828 young Jane Prior of Bath was found wandering destitute in London
Brutal Attack on Frontier Family
A vicious Indian attack on a family near the Ohio/Indiana border in 1793
William S. Pryor – Kentucky Lawyer
Life of Judge Pryor, born 1825. Written in 1897
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
From the Family Album
A mountaineering family – the Priors of Huddersfield, Yorkshire

Number 19 March 2002

Thomas Abiel Prior (1809 – 1886)
British landscape and figure engraver
Court Cases in 17th Century Hertfordshire
Extracts from Hertford County Records Session Rolls
A Moving Story
William Pryor of Four Lanes, Redruth, Cornwall moved
his family to Yorkshire in 1877
Bankruptcies in ‘The Times’
A list of references taken from the newspaper between 1804 and 1867
From the Family Album
The Priors of Muskingham County, Ohio
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
A Hero Remembered
Walter Erskine Prior, a member of a mine disposal unit, gave his life in 1945
An Old Will
Extract from the will of John Priour dated 1333

Number 20 June 2002

Arthur Pryor – Musician (1870 – 1942)
The life of a celebrated American trombone player
Methodist Foundations in Norfolk
A foundation stone is discovered on a chapel in the village of Outwell
Mother Pryor’s Money
An extract from the vestry book of Great Hallingbury, Essex dated 1572
James Prior – The Irish Pilgrim
Reports of London court cases from 1826 and 1827
involving an Irish vagabond
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
From the Family Album
David Prior of Great Sampford, Essex and his son Albert Edward Prior
of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire
Freed Slaves in Virginia
Extracts from King George County Register of Free Persons (1785-1799)

Number 21 September 2002

Members meet at Waltham Abbey
A group of members spend a day exploring this Essex town
Murder at Audley End
Report on the death of gamekeeper John Prior in 1880
Billeted in a Dungeon
Betty Prior of the ATS found herself in Southsea Castle, Essex during WWII
Dr Samuel B Pryor (c.1820 – 1866)
First mayor of Dallas Texas
It’s on the Cards
An old postcard and a business card
The Lizard Man
John Prior 1852 – 1933 was manager of the Lizard Signal Co. at England’s
most southerly point
Richard Prior Memorial
A memorial stone is unveiled on the island of Colonsay in memory of Richard Prior
(died 1912) and his brothers

Number 22 December 2002

The Prior Family of Guelph, Ontario
The Canadian trucking business of Fred E Prior and Sons Limited
Dr Samuel B Pryor
Part 2 of the life of the first Mayor of Dallas and his family
More on J L Prior – A Cambridgeshire Connection
Follow-up on a birthday card sent to Leonard Prior of Sittingbourne, Kent in 1922
Pryer Family Reunion – 1900
A family Christmas get together in Pennsylvania
A Prior Connection with U.S. Warship
How timbers from a captured ship found their way into a Hampshire water mill
House-breaking at Great Hallingbury, Essex – 1840
An 1840 report on a stolen watch and the subsequent trial
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
1901 Census
The 1901 Census for England and Wales goes online

Number 23 March 2003

William Burgess Pryer (1843 – 1899)
Founder of the city of Sandakan in Borneo
Ancestors Uncovered
Cleaning up a South Carolina cemetery reveals Prior/Pryor graves
Hero of Passchendaele
Military Medal awarded to Gunner William Prior of Swanscombe
(alias Albert Victor Prior)
Matthew Prior – Long Island Settler
Seventeenth century documents throw light on this early settler
In North America
The Swavesey Priors
Notes on a Huntingdonshire family
Prestigious Priors –1955
Extracts from Kelly’s Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes

PRIOR TIMES

Issue 1 June 2003

Hubbard Pryor – Civil War Veteran
Records of an American Union army private found in the U.S. National Archives
A Slave-owners Will
The 1771 will of John Pryor, Orange County, North Carolina
The Poems of Philip Louile Pryor
A selection of verses from an early 20th century black poet
Elsie Pryor – A Slave’s Story
A former slave tells of the hardships she endured in Oklahoma
The Origin of Slave Surnames
How surnames developed among America’s Black community
Snooky Pryor – Musician (1921- )
Harmonica player James Edward Pryor of Mississippi
Richard Pryor – Comedian (1940- )
American funny-man, star of the silver screen
Prestigious Pryors – 1955
Extracts from Kelly’s Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes
Mr & Mrs Joseph Pryor
Mayor and Mayoress of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia 1928-29
The Sweet Priors of London
Looking for William and Jemima Prior
Pryor/Prior Male DNA Study
A surname project at ‘Family Tree DNA’

Issue 2 September 2003

Matthew Prior (1664 – 1721) and the Hymns of Methodism
How the poems of Matthew Prior influenced the Wesley brothers
Raymond Claims a Link to the Conqueror
A profile of Prior FHS member, Raymond Prior
Charles Prior and the Founding of Guelph, Ontario, Canada
A Canadian pioneer who helped build a town
The Prior Chair-makers of Uxbridge and Cricklewood
Discoveries made whilst researching this branch of the Prior family
Intriguing Headstone
An unusual headstone found in a Devon cemetery

Issue 3 December 2003

A Little Information of the PRIOR/PRYOR Family
Early origins of the family compiled from various sources
Pryer Family Coat of Arms
An article from 1910 dealing with a family coat of arms and family origins
The Prior Surname in Ireland
Possible origins of the surname in Ireland
Family Heraldry
A collection of coats of arms associated with the family
Horace Victor Prior (1890 – 1922): A Hero of Heroic Stock
The exploits of a man from Lewes. Sussex
A Huntingdon Connection: From Sawtry to Kersbrook and Beyond
Emigrants from Huntingdonshire to South Australia

Issue 4 March 2004

Melton Prior – War Artist (1845 – 1910)
Artist and war correspondent with the ‘London Illustrate News’
Don’t Put your Daughter on the Stage!
Lulu Pryor a young performer on the New York stage in the 1860s
The Revenge of John Prior
A son takes the law into his own hands after the murder of
his father in Georgia in 1865
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
An Attack on Reverend Edward Prior
An account of a trial at the Old Bailey, London in 1723

Issue 5 June 2004

Thomas Prior – Irish Patriot (1681 – 1751)
Anglo-Irish landowner and founder member of the Royal Dublin Society
Top Award for Prior Times
The Prior FHS wins a Guild of One-name Studies award
Abducted by Aliens!
Elusive Prior forbears
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
A Gathering of Pryors
Pryors of Cornish origins to meet for an event in Australia
A New Pryor Publication
A Lifelong Colonist: The Life and Times of
William Henry Pryor (1849 – 1924) of Australia

Issue 6 September 2004

Tragedy at Big Bay Point
Michigan Lighthouse keeper William Prior came to a sad end in 1901
A Gathering of Pryors
A report on a recent family day in Melbourne, Australia for
descendants of William Penaluna Pryor and Thomas Scholler Pryor
Elizabeth Lyddon (nee Prior)
18th century portrait of a Somerset lady
Brick Walls at Every Turn
From Cornwall to Tyneside, London, Leeds, Scotland and Leicester:
more elusive ancestors
Hepzibah Prior
Researching an unusual first name
Miscellaneous Items
A selection of brief references to the surname
Prior’s Mill, New Jersey
Jacob Prior built a tidewater mill in 1760

Issue 7 December 2004

Ben Pryor’s Ox-Wagon Journey: Port Elizabeth to Middelburg - 1859
An account of a journey across the Eastern Cape of South Africa
Tennessee Pryor Website
Data relating to the surname in Tennessee and some other US states
An American Family in England
A family on the 1871 census for Cambridgeshire
Back Issues of ‘Family Connections’ and ‘Prior Times’
A list of articles appearing in all the previous issues of the Society’s Journal