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The Pursglove one name study reveals the family research of Paul Pursglove into this particular surname. 

The commonest spelling of the name is Pursglove, with Purseglove coming a close second.  Purslow is also a frequent addition to the families, but this is confusing since there is a separate Purslow family grouping based around Shropshire ancestors.  There is little overlap in the two family groupings and this study does not cover the Purslow name.  It could be that Pursglove and Purslow are family names from a common distant ancestral stock.  Purslow is a village in the Clun Valley of Shropshire.  The name derives from Pussa's Tumulus - 'Pussa Low' - a burial  mound from about 600 AD. It seems that the two families show different phonetic spellings of the same name.  The research is clouded by the occasional mis-spelling of Pursglove as Purslow or Purslove.  The latter is common around Derby and gave rise to a significant family group of Pursloves.  The first accurate count is from the 1881 census showing Pursglove to be the most common name.

Individual count - 1881 Census

Pursglove 263
Purseglove 131
Purslove 28
Purselove 5
Purssglove 2

Spelling may also vary at time to time within the same family or with the same individual.  For example, the following records are extracted from the Edale parish records.

George Pursglove, son of George and Allis baptised 13 Dec1696
Elizabeth Purseglove, daughter of George and Allis baptised 8 Oct 1699

There were also some very big families in the 1800's, many of whom survived to full age.  Local custom was often for a women to prove that she could bear children before marriage would be considered.  First children were often born out of wedlock, but it is likely that the husband of a later marriage would have been the father of such a child.  The example below from Eyam, Derbyshire, shows such a case - here, Rachel's first child was baptised on her wedding day.

Joseph Pursglove (bapt 4 Apr1780) married Rachel Drable on 27Aug1805
Joseph Pursglove, son of  Rachel Drable, baptised 27 Aug 1805
George Pursglove, son of Joseph and Rachel Pursglove, bapt. 28 Jan1806
Jonathan Pursglove, son of Joseph and Rachel Pursglove, bapt. 7 Nov 1807
Benjamin Pursglove, son of Joseph and Rachel, bapt. 15 Oct 1809
Hannah Pursglove, daughter of Joseph and Rachel, bapt. 17 Nov 1811
Joseph Pursglove, son of Joseph and Rachel, bapt. 4 Apr 1813
Helen Frances Pursglove, daughter of Joseph and Rachel, bapt. 30 Jul 1815
Lydia Pursglove, daughter of Joseph and Rachel, bapt. 4 Sep 1817
Ann Pursglove, daughter of Joseph and Rachel, bapt. 18 Jul 1819
Mary Pursglove, daughter of Joseph and Rachel, bapt. 12 Nov 1820
James Pursglove, son of Joseph and Rachel, bapt. 7 May 1821
Sarah Pursglove, daughter of Joseph and Rachel, bapt. 12 Oct 1823
Joseph Pursglove, son of Joseph and Rachel, bapt.3 Jul 1825

Hopefully as time progresses, the relationships of these names will become clearer, but this depends upon the availability and accuracy of existing records.  Where there are no records, relationships are not going to be resolved.  This situation arises with Bishop Robert Pursglove and his family.  The records at Tideswell, for the 50 years after Robert Pursgloves death, were destroyed in the Civil War.  There are no parish records or Bishops transcripts and local civil documents cannot be traced.  This leads to a genealogical dead end where only a guess can bridge the gap.

Paul Pursglove November 2010