Ancestors of Mandy Willard

The PRONGER Family of Sussex

So far, I have no known Pronger ancestors.

In July 2009, Brenda Smith got in touch with me.  She had found an Emily Comber, widow of David Comber in my website, who had married John Buckwell in 1823, and Brenda wondered if she was the same Emily who was the wife of John Pronger.  I had not previously considered what had become of Emily and John, and so went a hunting.  It would seem Emily's husband John, was baptised John Jarvis Buckwell, the son of Elizabeth Buckwell, who married James Pronger, the day before her/their son was baptised in Chailey, Sussex.

John's supposed father James Pronger was born in 1777 in Nuthurst, Sussex, the son of Richard Pronger (1749-1821) and Ann Mose.  Richard was the son of Thomas Pronger (1722-1767) and Mary Peters (c1720-1805).  Then Thomas was the son of Thomas Pronger (1681-1733) and Sarah Halloway (1685-1755) and he was the son of John Pronger (1654-1689) and Joane.  John was the son of Richard Pronger, who I would guess was born about 1620ish, and Judith.  Richard and Judith had 4 known sons baptised in Nuthurst between 1647 and 1656.  Richard died in 1657 and Judith in 1708.  And that's where the line ends.... for now.

Nuthurst would seem to have been the home of the Prongers.  The IGI gives that a John Pronger was baptised there in 1585, but I have not found that entry in the transcript of the Nuthurst parish registers nor in a transcript of the Nuthurst Bishop's transcripts.  Surprisingly I've not found many variations on the spelling of the surname.  Some variations maybe down to transcription error, and they include Prongar, Pronyer, Prenger, Prouger and even a Pringer.  I have no idea of the origins of the surname, nor do any of the surname meanings websites, that I have searched, have any information.  Might it have been a nickname for some who prodded or stabbed with a prong?  A prong is/was a branch of a stream, so might a distant Pronger have lived by the branch of a stream?

Although the Prongers are not my direct ancestors, nor are they connected by marriage to any known siblings of my direct ancestors, that doesn't stop me from being interested in figuring out who belonged to which family.  I enjoy the puzzle of working out the family groups and finding all the little convoluted links between the families, and you never know where the trail may lead.  As the Prongers seem to have been a fairly small Sussex family, I shall eventually try and type up individual family group pages for all the families from before about 1850.

As yet I've not looked for, or read any Pronger wills.  I did not find any listed in the Public Records index of wills, which probably means the Prongers were likely to have been fairly poor labourers or farmers, although some Prongers in the early 1800's were carpenters. 

Family Group Pages

Abraham Pronger (1702-?) and Jane (?-?)

Edmund Pronger (1753-?) and Susanna Davy (1754-?)

Edmund Pronger (1777-?) and Sarah Ward (1771-?)

Henry Pronger (1775-1852) and Charlotte White (1778-1849)

James Pronger (1763-?) and Elizabeth Simmons (1769-?)

John Pronger (c1675-?) and Ann (?-?)

John Pronger (1726-1807) and Betty (c1730-1799)

John Pronger (1745-1827) and Ann Peters (c1750-?)

John Pronger (1788-1839) and Rebecca Rapley (c1793-1853)

John Pronger, alias Buckwell (1801-?) and Emily Comber, nee Millyard (1796-1839)

Richard Pronger (c1620-1657) and Judith (c1625-1708)

Richard Pronger (1749-1821) and Ann Mose (?-?)

Thomas Pronger (1681-1733) and Sarah Halloway (1685-1755)

Thomas Pronger (1722-1767) and Mary Peters (c1720-1805)

Thomas Pronger (1737-) and Catherine Crowhurst (1752-?)

Thomas Pronger (1774-1840) and Mary Poyney (1779-1842)

Samuel Matthew (1717-?) and Sarah Pronger (c1720-?)

Miscellaneous Pronger Families - as yet not sure if or how they connect to the above families