The Canadian Pierreponts

The Pierrepont family of central Canada are descendants of Samuel Whitworth Pierrepont who came to Manitoba in 1911 from England. The below is a quick synopsis of his story.

Samuel Whitworth Pierrepont

Samuel was born in 1887 to Joseph and Elizabeth Pierrepont in Kneesall, Nottinghamshire. He was the oldest of what were eventually three siblings with his brother William born in 1888 and his sister born in 1889. His mother died in 1901 when Samuel was only 14. Even at that young age, Samuel had already left school and was working as a farmer with his father as his employer. In the 1911 census we find him living in Scawby, Lincolnshire as a joiner in an iron foundry, however, that was soon to change.

In 1911, Samuel married, to Gertrude Burman. As was the custom of the times, the marriage banns were announced from the pulpit three times on consecutive Sundays (May 28, June 4, and June 11) and they were married later that third week on June 14. Only 3 weeks later, on July 7, 1911, Samuel left his young bride in England and boarded a boat in Liverpool that was leaving for Canada. When the boat landed in Quebec, Samuel noted that he was a wheelwright in England but he intended on taking up farming once again when he arrived at his intended destination in Winnipeg. To pay for his voyage, it appears that he had indentured himself to work as a farm laborer for 5 years. (Others on the same voyage were pledged to serve anywhere from 2 years to life). Samuel was also noteworthy in that he declared himself to be a Wesleyan, unlike most of the passengers who were members of the Church of England.

In 1912, Gertrude, sponsored by her husband, also journeyed to Canada to join him. In the 1916 census we can find them living in Swan River, Manitoba. The first of their four children, Earnest, had been born in 1915. Samuel and Gertrude are living on the same farm as Samuel’s first cousin, George Pierrepont, and his wife, who had come to Canada in 1902 and who were most likely the sponsors of Samuel. Although George and his wife, Edith, had arrived earlier, Samuel and his wife are considered the beginning of this branch of the Canadian Pierreponts as George and Edith did not have any children.

 

Ancestral line of Samuel Pierrepont

In looking at this ancestral list, you will see that there are a variety of spellings of the last name. These spelling are taken from the original sources where they are subject to the vagaries of the person recording what they heard.

Prior to the 1800s, we do not have UK census records, but only a variety of church parish records. The spelling in these parish records has considerable variation. Since Joseph Downing Pierrepont (Samuel’s great-grandfather) had a life that spanned this period, the later UK records contained the expected spelling as Pierrepont, but earlier parish records showed this considerable variation.

Prior to Joseph, the only records available are parish records. As can be seen, these had different spellings for each of the generations.

 

Samuel Whitworth Pierrepont (Pierrepoint/Pierrapont) (1887-1951)

  Joseph Downing Pierrepont (1855-1938)

    George Pierrepont (1808-1904)

      Joseph Downing Pierrepont (Pierpoint/Perrepoint/Pierepont/Pierrepoint/Peirrepoint/Pearpoint) (1779-1864)

        William Pierpoint (1735-1796)

          William Parpoint (1706-1743)

            Adam Perepoint (1676-1708)

              William Perpoint (1627-1707)

                William Perpoynt (1601-1679)

                  John Perpoint (Parpointe/Pearpoint/Pairpoint) (1560-1601)

At this point in the genealogical record, any source material that can tie John to his ancestors cannot be found. However, there is every reason to believe that he is descended from the same individuals who were the ancestors of the New England Pierpont just a few generations later as the below section documents.

 

Connection to New England Pierponts

The Canadian Pierreponts are from the same area of England as the New England Pierponts, i.e., Nottinghamshire. The earliest in the Canadian line, John, was born in Southwell, about 12 miles from Holme Pierrepont. Later generations in that line were in Southwell, then Ossington, then Kneesall – all small villages in the same part of Nottinghamshire a few miles from each other.

The same vagaries in the spelling of the name also appear in the English ancestors of the New England Pierpont line. Although our official genealogy (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rak//gen/pier/piergen.htm) uses the abbreviation “P-re” for Pierrepont, you will see in the comments where there are references to source documents with these other spellings. For example, in the commentary for Henry P-re (3>111211222112) you will see the spelling “Pierpoint”, “Perepont” and “Pierpont”. In the commentary for his son, Henry (3>1112112221121) you will find “Perepoint” as well as “Perpoynt”. Even after the family arrived in Roxbury, MA, the same sorts of misspellings can be found, i.e., “Pairpoynt”, “Peare Poynt” “Pierrapoint”, “Perpoynt” and others.

The genealogy of the family in our official genealogy is also quite muddled and full of unanswered questions for that period of time in England (i.e., 1400-1600). For examples, see the commentary on “IR 74-100”. But in particular, note the very questionable list of children of the two uncles of John and Robert who are the immigrant ancestors of the New England Pierponts. Their uncle William (17>251) has a list of 5 possible children and their uncle Richard (17>252) has a list of 7 possible children. And the names in both these families include a William, which is the predominant name in the Canadian ancestral list above.

Unlike the connection to the Virginia branch of the Pierpoints who came from another part of England and for whom we have not been able to find a connection, there is no reason to doubt that there is a connection between the Canadian branch of the Pierrepont family and the New England Pierpont family – both because of being in the same county (shire) in England, having the same type of name spellings, and having the same use of first names. While the records are not very clear (in either of these two family branches), it does seem clear that there is likely a connection, even if it cannot be documented with certainty.