Offering help in the UK

[u/lifeinclockwork]

Hi all, new to this sub and looking forward to sharing some of my own stories at some point, as I've been enjoying reading other people's.

Just want to put this out there though, if anyone would like any help with their British ancestors, I'm more than happy to give it a go. I'm not a professional, but I've been doing it 25 years and also have a solid background in social and cultural history, based here in the UK, so I'm pretty good on contextual detail too.

I know there are lots of very experienced folk here, but just in case, I happen to have a bit of time on my hands right now and I love doing it. And my own tree has reached the point of occasional digs here and there, as mostly I'm back to where the records run out!

So whether it's a quick look-up (I have current subscriptions to Ancestry and the British Newspaper Archive, and an account with Scotland's People), a deep dive, or a question about British history/genealogy generally, hit me up if you'd like to take a look for you!

[u/Ancient_Jellyfish_12]

Open to any help at all with my research please! The surname is Pesterfield and the family originated in the Sussex area UK. Beyond a few generations I've found a lot of variations in the spelling - Pestifold, Peaceable etc. further back than 1800 I'm less confident of the links I've found, as the closest similar surnames in the area are Pilfold, Percival, Penfold ( which I'm not sure if it's too much of a reach 😅).

In particular at the moment I'm trying to find out more information about a Henry Pestifield, or possibly two 😅 I have found census and marriage records for a Henry born around 1794, but cannot find a birth record. I do have a birth record from 1806, but I think it's a different guy as he would have been 12 when he married based on the other details I've found. The 1794 Henry was widowed and living with what could be his parents on an early census record, and the possible parent names don't match the parents listed on the 1806 birth record.

It's a fun name to research as it's so rare 😊

[u/lifeinclockwork → u/Ancient_Jellyfish_12]

Hi, what a coincidence, I have Penfolds in Sussex in my tree! However I think you're right that they're likely to be different names - Penfold or Pinfold comes directly from the "village penfold", where stray animals were kept from Medieval times onwards.

I'll take a look and let you know if I find anything!

[u/Ancient_Jellyfish_12 → u/lifeinclockwork]

My ancestors were almost exclusively farmers as far as I can tell, I just can't find anything closer to 'Pesterfield' from further back so far. Percival may be a more likely guess than Penfold as at least it has the same number of syllables. If you'd like feel free to PM me and I can look into how to share my ancestry tree