| PUCKLE Family History |
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One of the earliest English references to the name Puckle is the village of Pucklechurch, in Gloucestershire (near Bristol) - the village was first recorded in 946 A.D. as Pucelancyrcan. The Puchel (Puckle) coat of arms seems to have its’ origins in Sussex. In fact, one of the two Puckle lines found originates from Sussex and is connected to the Norfolk branch (which includes Samuel, the Mayor of Norwich in 1656, and his grandson James, who invented the "Puckle Gun," a tripod-mounted, single-barreled flintlock gun fitted with a multishot revolving cylinder, which fired nine shots per minute at a time when the standard soldier's musket could be loaded and fired only three times per minute). The second line appears to start in Kent and links Vincent Puckle of Lydd with the Rev. Edward Puckle. No connection between these two Puckle branches has been found to date. The earliest record of a Puckle is the owner of ‘Puckle’s Farm’ in 1200 A.D. |
| The Kent Branch .. | |
Vincent PUCKLE (1530-1608) + Rachel COTHING |
b. Appledore, Kent d. Lydd, Kent Vincent was a butcher and freeman of Lydd in 1573. |
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Robert PUCKLE (1575-1630) + Mary ADAMS |
b./d. in Lydd A butcher & jurat (compare to present day J.P.) |
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John PUCKLE (1614-1682) + Sarah |
Held land called 'The Brooks' in Lydd. |
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John PUCKLE (1647-1675) + Winifred MAY |
b./d. in Brookland, Kent |
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John PUCKLE (1669-1703) + Mary REYNOLDS |
b. Brookland d. Icklesham, Sussex Grazier & church warden in 1703 |
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John PUCKLE (1696-1747) + Frances CURTIS |
b./d. in Icklesham Grazier & church warden in 1721. Leased 'Brook Farm' in 1741. Jurat of Winchelsea. |
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John PUCKLE (1725-1804) + Elizabeth SCOONES |
b. Icklesham d. Hythe, Kent |
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Robert PUCKLE (1758-1832) + Isabella NUCELLA |
A draper in Cornhill, London. While in Camberwell he and Isabella lived in a house built by Sir Christopher Wren (demolished in 1851) |
| Edward PUCKLE (1800-1898) + Elizabeth SMITH | Church of England clergyman. Emigrated to N.Z. in 1850 |
| One of John (1725-1804) Puckle’s grandchildren was Canon John Puckle who was a vicar at Dover for 50 years. He was responsible for the controversial restoration to St. Mary’s church, Dover, in 1843, which was more rebuilding than restoration. During the rebuilding, original Norman piers and arches were taken down, the stones numbered and then re-erected in their new positions. Only the tower escaped relatively untouched. He wrote a book in about 1850 called “The Church and Fortress of Dover Castle” on the subject. | |
| The Reverent Edward Cannington Puckle (1800 - 1898) | |
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Edward Puckle, the son of Robert Puckle, a woollen merchant, and Isabella Nucella, was born in Camberwell, London.
He married Elizabeth Smith, the daughter of Joseph Smith and Martha Summers, who was born in Nottingham – her brother had a lace manufacturing business in Derby. Edward was ordained deacon by Dr. Philpot, the Bishop of Exeter, on 3 June 1849. | |
| In 1850 the family sailed to New Zealand on board the 'Randolph', one of the First Four Ships, with the Reverend Edward being chaplain to a party of emigrants - they left Plymouth on 7th Sept. and arrived at Lyttelton on 16th Dec. A plaque in Christchurch Cathedral Square commemmorates the arrival of the Randolph, and the infant Keel is named in the family. No other refererence to Keel can be found, however – he may have been one of the 9 births/5 deaths on board the Randolph during the journey, or may have been wrongly included. |  |
| In 1854 the family left N.Z. for Australia – a passenger list entry for Rev. E. Puckle can be found on the 'Hashemy', sailing from Wellington and arriving in Sydney on 27 June. After a period at Benalla, Victoria, Edward was appointed the first minister of St. Thomas’s Church in Moonee Ponds in June 1856. The family was prominent in the district for the next 44 years and in 1876 Railway Street, Moonee Ponds, became known as Puckle Street.
Edward Cannington Puckle’s brother Robert (1791-1847) married Emily Feilde. Her father, William, was the Governor of Cape Coast Castle, Ghana. The Castle, through which millions of slaves were shipped from Africa to the Caribbean and the United States, became the seat of British colonial administration until 1877. | |