Re: Prideaux Before 1066/Pagan Prideaux
-
In reply to:
Re: Prideaux Before 1066/Pagan Prideaux
Debbie Matthews 12/15/06
My Prideaux connection begins in the 1400s with Elizabeth PRIDEAUX b c 1420 Adeston Devonshire who married
William SOMASTER b c 1420 Painsford Devonshire.
She was the daughter of Sir John PRIDEAUX b c 1388 Adeston Devonshire and Maude FRENCH b c 1398 Adeston Devonshire
John was the son of Giles PRIDEAUX b c 1362 Adeston DEV and
Isabella de Longbroke of GUNSTONE b 1368 Adeston DEV OR Shilston DEV m c 1389 who was the son of
John PRIDEAUX b c 1330 Adeston DEV and Joan ADESTON b c 1334 Adeston DEV. d 1373
The line seems to have a few differences between sites before that, but there is no doubt that Giles was a direct descendant of Pagan.
The name Prideaux is interesting. There are various schools of thought on its origin. The most common one is the French derivation "pres d'eaux"-near water, and there are French families with this name. But the common spelling of Prideaux as such was much later, and seems to have been a French affectation rather than a French name. The original spelling was Pridias or Priddis. As such it might derive from Cornish gaelic for "high place"(if I remember rightly) not from French at all. Of course, that says nothing about Pagan's origins. He may have been Norman, or he may have been Cornish born, of Norman ancestry. One thing that people do not realise is that there were a lot of Normans in England before the Conquest, as Edward the Confessor was very pro-Norman. This could explain partially why parts of England gave up so easily after the Conquest, as the landowners of those areas were Normans who sided with William the Conqueror.
I look forward to finding out some more info on Pagan. Pagan or Paon meant "peacock" in Norman-French by the way.
I am in Liverpool Sydney.Whereabouts are you?
Cheers and Merry christmas if we are not in contact before then.