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William Prew was baptised in the village of Plymtree on the 20th Nov. 1734. (1)  He was the son of Henry Prew; the name of his mother was not recorded. I cannot find a marriage recorded for Henry in any of the villages around Plymtree prior to 1734. 

An un-named child was baptised at Plymtree on the 30th August 1706 the son of John Prew of Cullompton, which may have been Henry. 

A Henry Prew of Cullompton married an Elizabeth Farrent of Hemyock in 1739 by Special Licence. (2) 

I have wondered if Henry’s first wife, William’s mother, may have died, there is a Mary Prew buried at Plymtree in 1738.  William named his first son Henry and his eldest daughter Mary, but this is just speculation. 

Henry and Elizabeth had several children all baptised at Cullompton:  (3) 

1740 Nov 2 Henry     s/o  Henry Prew 

1741 Jan 20 Robert   s/o  Henry Prew

1742 Feb 18 Betty     d/o  Henry Prew

1744 Jan 16 Ann       d/o  Henry Prew

1747 Aug 2 Susanna  d/o  Henry Prew

1750 Mar 14 Susanna d/o Henry Prew 

Robert died an infant and is buried at Plymtree:

1742 Jan 31 Robert    s/o  Henry Prew   

As is possibly Susana:

1750 Mar 25 blank     d/o  Henry Prew 

1755 Jul 25 Henry Prew was buried at Plymtree

1755   Henry Prew - Will proved at Exeter (Lost in WW2) (4) 

The family was already well established in Plymtree by the time William was born.   A Nicholas Prew was the Agent or Manager for one of the large farms in the village and an older Henry Prew was a Parish Overseer of the Poor in 1706. (5)  Nothing is known of the early life of William, he was educated and literate and obviously had some capital when he arrived in Otterton and bought the lease of his farm. 

William came to Otterton, sometime after the death of his father in 1755, and he was living in the Parish at the time of his marriage.  William leased an estate at Pinn, Higher Pinn farm, which consisted of a farmhouse, a cottage and 70 acres of land.(6)   The farm and land were situated on both sides of the Sidmouth road, up as far as Seven Stones Lane and stretching over as far as Peak Hill.  This was a large holding compared to most other farms in the Parish, 20 or 30 acres was usual. 

Higher Pinn is a charming, cross-passage farmhouse that had been formerly thatched and was nearly 200 years old by the time William lived there.  The house has the date 1587 on the chimney stack along with the initials RP and IP, these are believed to be the initials of Robert and John the twin sons of Thomas Pynn, who became 21 years old in that year.  The house could have been refurbished at that time, as the listed building survey states that the house is late 15c.  It retains many old features internally; the original massive open fire in the hall and the cobblestone floor in what was the dairy. 

In 1757 Higher Pinn farm was owned by John Rolle Walters, sometime Mayor of Exeter, it was then leased directly to William Prew. A copy of his lease dated 22nd April 1771 shows that the rent was £84 a year. 

William married Susanna Hammet on 25th May 1757 at Otterton; he was 26 years old, they were married by licence not banns, the fee at that time was £10, and the witnesses at the ceremony were Andrew Dench and William Bridle, who was a Churchwarden and witnessed many weddings.

The birth of their first child, Mary, was imminent, as she was baptised on the 17th June at Ottery St Mary.  Susanna may have come from Ottery St Mary and returned home to give birth to her child.

The family prospered and William Prew’s name appears in many documents of the time relating to Otterton.  

Eight children were born: (7)

Mary baptised 17th June 1757 at Ottery St Mary

Elizabeth baptised  9th  September 1759 at St Michaels, Otterton

Henry baptised  8th  November 1761 at St Michaels, Otterton

Anne baptised 20th November 1765 at St Michaels, Otterton

buried 23rd  November 1766 at St Michaels, Otterton

Anne baptised 17th January 1767 at St Michaels, Otterton

John baptised 23rd April 1769 at St Michaels, Otterton

Josias baptised 27th May 1771 at St Michaels, Otterton

Parmenas baptised   1st  May 1773 at St Michaels, Otterton 

In 1781 the Overseers for the Poor assessed William to pay £1 1s 6d, Poor Tax and that he should take on a Parish Apprentice. A child, Mary Blackmore was placed with the family to learn husbandry and would remain until she was 21 years old.  On the indenture we find William’s signature witnessed by Mary and Elizabeth Batt. This was the first of four apprentices that William had during his working life.(8) 

In 1782 on Jun 13th  William and Susanna’s eldest daughter Mary married Matthew White, by Banns.(7)  The marriage was witnessed by her sister Elizabeth and his brother John, she was 25 and he 29 years.  Matthew was the son of Thomas and Ann White baptised on 8th July 1752. The White family farmed Passaford Farm, which was to remain in their family for 200 years. The Whites also rented Crammers Farm at Passaford and Godfreys Farm between Pinn and Passaford. (6)

Matthew and Mary leased a farm called Hillings at Southerton, in Harpford Parish. (9)  They had the following children all baptised at Venn Ottery Church which was much nearer to their home: (10) 

1783 Jan 1 Thomas 

1784 Dec 17 Elizabeth 

1786 Apl  14 Ann 

1788 Feb 28 John 

1792 May 23 William  

Matthew died in 1792, aged 40, he was buried at Otterton on Aug 18.(7)

Mary then married Peter Summers at Venn Ottery on 1st July 1793, (10), Peter was the son of George Summers who had been baptised at Colaton Raleigh on the 12th Nov 1764. (11) Mary retained the lease of herfarm, they had five more children all baptised at Venn Ottery Church:

1794  Mar 4th      James and Abraham twin sons were born

1797  Apl 14        Henry

1799  Jan 27        Mary

1802  Feb  7        Josias 

I cannot find any further record of William and Susanna’s sons, Henry and Josias, they did not marry in Otterton, there is no burial record, however “Joseph” sic is mentioned in his father’s will dated 1811. (12)  The only reference I have seen is that Henry witnessed a wedding in East Budleigh in 1789.

Elizabeth married Nicholas Drake in 1791, she was 32 years old and he 38.  He was the son of Robert and Hannah Drake, baptised at Bradninch on the 5th December 1753. (13)  Nicholas farmed an estate called “Stones” at Pinn, which had 31 acres of land. (14)

Elizabeth and Nicholas had two sons followed by two daughters (7).

William born in 1792 baptised 26th September at Otterton

Robert in 1795 baptised 11th Jan at Otterton

Betsey Prew in 1798 baptised 17th October at Otterton

Maryann in 1801, baptised 8th October at Otterton, who died within a few weeks of her birth, and was buried at Otterton. 

Anne married John Dyer a butcher of the parish, also in 1791. They were 24 and 29 years old respectively.  John parents were Richard and Hester Dyer. Richard also a butcher, leased several estates from the manor in and around the village. One “Macceys” was next to Piscombe Farm in Bell Street, and another also in Bell Street was known as “Dollings”. (14)    

They had four children, 

1792 William Prew, 

1793 George Carpenter, 

1798 Henry Prew, 

1803 Hetty. 

John died in 1830 but Anne lived until her late 70’s sharing a home with her son George and his family, who were living in the original Watering Farm, situated next to Houstern Farm in Fore Street where daughter Hetty lived with her husband Isaac Halse. (15)

William Prew died in 1811 aged 78 years; Susanna his wife had died in 1796.  They were buried in the churchyard, and have a splendid headstone, “William Prew of Pinn in the parish of Otterton”.  His son John took over the running of the farm, according to the land tax assessment of 1812. 

John Walters had died some years before and the Rolle Estate had purchased the Farm in 1794. (6)  Family rumour is that the lease ran out and John Prew would not, or could not, meet the high new rents that were asked.

John moved to Littleham and bought a farm there; he was then 48 years old and had not married.  It was daughter Elizabeth and her husband, Nicholas Drake who took over the tenancy of the farm.  Their sons were not yet married, William, the eldest eventually farmed Lower Pinn Farm. Robert continued to run Higher Pinn after them, which was enlarged by the estate to become the largest in the Parish apart from Otterton Barton and the newly built South Farm. 

Returning to William Prew’s youngest son, Parmenas, it is possible that he could have served in the Napoleonic Wars.  When war broke out with France in 1793 there was no conscription as such, for a time men were obtained for the Navy and the Militia by a system of bounties.  Men were paid fifteen guineas bounty to join the Navy and villages were required by law to provide able men for the Devonshire Militia.  Records exist of Otterton men that had been called for militia service but chose to pay for another man to serve in their stead. (16)  No Prew men appear in the lists so it would seem that they served their time. The war ended in 1802 but within a year Napoleon had resumed hostilities. If this were the case it would explain some of the puzzles surrounding the early life of Parmenas. 

The first document I have found that concerns Parmenas was in the Overseers account book for Otterton for the year 1793 and I quote it in full. 

We hereby acknowledge to have received of William Prew of Pinn £10 being part of the sum of £20 agreed to be received in full for the sole support and maintenance of a bastard child supposed to be begotten on the body of Sarah Hammett by Parmenas Prew, son of the said William Prew and we hereby promise and agree that if the said child shall happen to die within two full years from the date here, then that after all reasonable expenses which the Parish of Otterton shall have had concerning the said child shall be subtracted later from the said Parish record and the remainder of the money shall be returned to the said William Prew. 

This record is a fairly typical example of the child support system of the time. The Parish Overseers handled the collection of payments from alleged fathers, as it was they that had to support the mother and child from the Parish Funds.  The child in question was a boy and was baptised in May 1793 and called Parmenas after his father. 

Unfortunately again in 1800, William is present at the Annual General meeting of the Overseers, this time paying £20 in full to Ann Bricknell, for which she agrees to make no further claims on Parmenas Prew.  I can only surmise that the reason Parmenas is not present in person is that he is not in Otterton.  William stayed to take an active role in the meeting and witnessed the adoption of accounts at the end along with the other leaseholders.  This child was baptised on the 31st January 1801 and was also named Parmenas after his father.  On the 29th October 1806, five years later and another child on the way, Parmenas and Ann were married in Otterton.  In December that year their son John was baptised, followed by Sally in August 1810, and William in September 1813.  (7) 

William’s son John had moved to the village of Littleham after 1816 and continued farming there at a farm called Hoopers. (17)  He died in June 1832 and a copy of his will remains containing the following legacies. (18) 

To Eleanor How, his housekeeper the sum of £40, all his china and six silver teaspoons.

To his four nephews: 

John Prew Drake (son of William Drake)

Robert Drake

George Dyer

Thomas White

The sum of £5 each

To Hetty Dyer £5

To Betsey Prew Drake £5

To the three daughters of my late sister Mary Summers (White) £5 each

To my brother Parmenas Prew of Otterton,

I bequeath the rest of my Estate, Household Furniture, Moneys,

Goods and Chattels, Farming Utensils, Cattle and all my personal effects.

To John Prew Drake in addition to the £5, my best Mahogany Dining Table out of the household effect named for my brother. 

This will is a rare find as most of Devon’s old Wills and inventories were destroyed when the Probate Registry in Bedford Circus was bombed in May 1942, apparently it contained nearly one hundred thousand wills. 

The insight that this will gives is that John was living at a standard higher than the average tenant farmer of the time.  He was able to employ a housekeeper and to leave her a generous sum of money.  He had a Mahogany Dining Table that probably came from the family home. It would be worth noting that around the Exeter area in the 1830‘s, the Farm workers wage was 7s 6d a week plus cider worth 1s, so Parmenas’s inheritance of the stock of a farm and a couple of hundred pounds would have left him in a comfortable position. When the will was written in October 1829 Parmenas was described as “of Otterton”, when the will was proven in Nov. 1832 Parmenas as executor was a “Yeoman of Littleham”, it would appear that the family had moved in to run the farm. Parmenas was 59 years old, at this time and Ann was 55.  They had the two youngest children Sally and William unmarried and living at home. 

Researched Roz Hickman, ©1998 

References 

(1)Plymtree Parish Registers

(2)Marriage Licences and Allegations DRO

(3)Cullompton Parish Registers

(4)Calendar of Devon Wills and Administrations

(5)Plymtree papers in DRO

(6)Papers in Rolle Estate files 96/M DRO

(7)Otterton Parish Registers

(8)Otterton Overseers Accounts – Devon Record Office (DRO)

(9)Land Tax Assessment – Harpford 1795

(10)Venn Ottery Parish Registers

(11)Colaton Raleigh Parish Registers

(12)Wills and Administrations – The National Achieves (TNA)

(13)Bradninch Parish Registers

(14)Land Tax Assessment – Otterton 1792

(15)Tithe Apportionment – Otterton 1846

(16)Militia Exemptions – DRO

(17)Land Tax Assessment – Littleham 

(18)Moger Wills – West Country Studies Library

 

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Biography any.