Richard Price - 20 December 1803 - Five per Cent Annuities, 1797

Richard Price had a 5 per cent annuity purchased from the English government. This was similar to a savings bond in the U.S. today. It was purchased for £199.14.6 on December 20, 1803 and would be redeemable at a future date for £220.1.8. This would be equivalent today to buying a bond for $19,400 and redeeming it for $21,500.

Ezra Poulsen in his biography of Robert Price stated the following regarding this document:

Another document of unusual interest is a receipt to Mr. Richard Price for 199 pounds, fourteen shillings, six pence from "Five per Cent Annuities," dated December 20, 1803. The total maturity value of this investment was 220 pounds, 1 shilling, 8 pence. "Five per Cent Annuities," a governmental agency set up by act of Parliament in 1797, was a means through which the government borrowed money from its own citizens for a specified rate of interest. In principle, this investment operated like our modern United States savings bonds.

There are numerous examples of these annuities on a website entitled the AnnuityMuseum.

It is unknown when or how this was redeemed.

It is also unknown who has possession of this receipt today. The reproduction here was taken from the biography of Robert Price where it appears on the plates between pages 36 and 37. It would be nice to locate and scan the original in color--judging from the reproductions in the AnnuityMuseum it is likely that the words at the head of this document "Five per Cent. Annuities. 1797" were printed in red ink.

Richard Price and Maria Watts - Marriage and Banns Records, March-April 1802

Richard Price and Maria Watts were married in Isleworth, Middlesex, England on April 20, 1802 by W. Langford. The witnesses were Simon and Sarah Pearce. They were married by banns, the banns having been read on March 21st, 28th, and April 4th.

Banns:

Marriage Record (the middle entry, no. 10 on the following image):

Both the bride and groom must have been of age to marry, but beyond that, this record doesn't give us any clues to their age. It would be interesting to find out more about the witness couple: Simon Pearce and Sarah Pearce--probably husband & wife (but not necessarily). They could have been friends, neighbors, or relatives, or none of these, I suppose.

Richard Price - Militia Society Receipt, 10 Feb 1803

At the time of Richard Price, all men between 18 and 45 years of age were subject to being conscripted in the Militia. Wealthy individuals could pay for a substitute to go in their stead. Less wealthy individuals had an option to subscribe to the Militia Society. Members of the society would pay a nominal amount which collectively would be used to pay for a substitute for any members of the Society who were balloted.

Richard Price was one who joined the Militia Society, paying 16 shillings on February 10, 1803, as evidenced by the following receipt:

Do any family members reading this know where the original of this document is now located? It would be nice to obtain a modern, color, digital scan of this document.

Richard Price - Earliest Document? - Buckinghamshire Posse Comitatus, 1798

Right now--until we find an earlier document--the Buckinghamshire Posse Comitatus of 1798 is the earliest document mentioning Richard Price, grandfather to Robert Price.

The Buckinghamshire Posse Comitatus of 1798 is document containing "A Register of the Names and Occupations of all persons residing within the County of Buckingham (not engaged in any Military capacity) between the Ages of 15 and 60 years, And also of the Number of Draught Horses, Waggons, Carts of Burthen, Wind and Water Corn-Mills, within the same ... pursuant to a precept issued .. for the better ascertaining the Posse Comitatus."

Posse Comitatus means "force of the country;" however, it was not really used to conscript men into the military, as Roy Stockdill explains on his GENUKI webpage "Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History," The following is a very informative explanation of the Posse Comitatus:

"Under the Defence of the Realm Act , lists known as "Posse Comitatus" lists and "Levee en Masse" lists were made in 1798 and 1803/04 respectively. These Defence Lists, despite their name, were not lists of those intended for military service. Their intention was to organise reserves of men not already serving in a military capacity for the defence of Britain against a French invasion. They would have been needed to evacuate the civilian population, remove wildstock and crops from the path of the invaders, gather arms and equipment and deal with food supplies to the forces and civilian population." (http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html)

Richard is listed as a servant in Little Marlow on p. 236 of a copy of the Posse Comitatus, edited by Ian F. W. Beckett and published by the Buckinghamshire Record Society in 1985. The transcription was made from the original manuscript which resides in the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, Aylesbury.

This document shows us that Richard was residing in Little Marlow at least as early as 1798 and to my knowledge is the earliest document mentioning Richard Price.

A few Prices in Wycombe, Bucks, England.

A Price descendant, Merlyn Cook, reports the following information from her recent research (this was done in May 2012)

High Wycombe Methodist Circuit (St. Mary's Street Chapel?)

  Births and Baptisms, 1792-1837 (GS 566020, item 2)

  No Prices found.

High Wycome, Crendon Lane Independent Meeting House

  Births and Baptisms, 1762-1836 (GS 566020, item 8)

  No Prices found.

High Wycombe, Ebenezer Chapel, Earton Street

  Births and Baptisms, 1823-1836 (GS 566020, item 1)

  Four Price entries found:

Thomas son of William & Ann Price of Beaconsfield born Sep. 18, 1821 and baptized Oct. 28, 1826 by me Daniel Campbell Minister.

Richard Price son of William & Ann Price was born Feb 2, 1828 in the town of Beaconsfield, Bucks. and baptized the 28th of the same month 1828 by me Daniel Campbell minister.

Nathan son of William & Ann Price, Labourer of Beaconsfield in the county of Bucks was born Jan 21st and baptized Feb 16th-18th 1831 by me W. Brockchurch.

Ezra son of William & Ann Price of Beaconsfield in the county of Bucks was born Mar. 13th 1832 and was baptized April 6th in the Wesleyan Bhapel Beaconsfield by me p. Jameson.

Any of you Price family researchers know where William & Ann might fit into the tree?

Robert Price Biography online @ FamilySearch

The Robert Price biography written by Ezra J. Poulsen and published in 1962 has been made available online at FamilySearch Books this year. The digital scan of the book can be accessed using the following link:  https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE919857.  

The scan was made from a copy of the book in the Family History Center in Ogden, Utah. The book is presented in the form a pdf and can be easily downloaded or printed. 

A keyword search of the text would not work in the Chrome. Neither would it work in Internet Explorer; however, it did work in  Firefox. The text is embedded in the downloadable pdf so that when a copy is downloaded, that copy is keyword searchable as well. This is an improvement over what FamilySearch Books had to offer some time ago.

George Price: Photographer

Those that have read the Robert Price biography will be aware that Robert's brother, George, came to Idaho and stayed for about 2 years living in Bear Lake Valley. During his visit George tried to make a go of portrait photography. In the biography Poulsen records:

George was a skilled photographer, in addition to other attainments, and took many pictures in Bear Lake, some of which are treasured possessions in the old family albums. For a while, he set up a gallery in a tent in Montpelier, and devoted his time entirely to that business. But photography in those early days was not very profitable, and he justifiably grew discouraged. Robert would have been happy to see George remain in Idaho and make his permanent home. But George grew restless and departed, going first to England, then on to South Africa, where he remained the rest of his life, married and became very successful in business. So far as we know, the two brothers never met again. (Robert Price, p. 152).

The following notice appeared in the Southern Idaho Independent in November of 1885:

Is anyone aware of Price family portraits that we know were taken by George Price? They would have to have been taken between 1884 and 1885.