Variations in spelling Causton
My researches, especially in early English parish registers, have shown that there a wide variation in the spelling of the Causton surname. This especially true before about 1850, a date when surname spelling became relatively fixed. I believe that strong local dialects being interpreted by clerics, who were not usually born in the same area, was a significant element in the variety of spellings found. Surnames would be written down as they sounded. I think that it is quite likely that many researchers giving Cason, Caston, Coston and similar names as their interest may in fact be following families whose name was Cau(w)ston wrongly recorded at some time.
Here is some the evidence that I have found that shows connections between various spellings of Cau(w)ston:
I have compiled a list of alternative spellings for Causton that I have found in records. Some of the alternatives, because of other evidence from wills, marriage licences, settlement papers etc., I am fairly sure about. Others spellings I am uncertain about and others are probably not Cau(w)stons and I normaly exclude them.
Fairly certain
Casan, Casen, Cassn, Cason, Casson, Casten, Castone, Caston, Castyn, Causonn, Caustern, Causten, Caustin, Causton, Caustone, Caustyn, Cawson, Cawsonne, Cawsten, Cawstine, Cawston, Cawstone, Cawsyton, Cawxston, Coiston, Corston, Cossen, Coson, Cossten, Costen, Costern, Costin, Coston, Cortyn, Couston, Cowstine, Coyston, Cowlston
Less sure
Calston, Canston, Caulson, Causen, Causens, Caussens, Cawton, Corson, Coustyn.
Not accepted as variations of Causton
Auston (could be related by loss of first consonant - but taken to be a version of Austin), Caxston, Cosen / Cosin / Cosyn and Cozen (probably versions of Cousin), Colson, Coulson.
I would stress that this is based on my research in Essex, England so many other variations may be possible and may be quite localised. Different dialects and pronunciations will give rise to different variations in the spelling of Causton and these could vary from village to village.
Cross over with other Surnames
The main difficulty however, in deciding what data to accept and what to reject when researching is possible versions of Cau(w)ston that are surnames in their own right - for example:
- Caston, a location name - a dweller by a chestnut tree. Also Caston in Norfolk - farmstead or estate of a man called Catt or Kati. The families in Caston and Cawston in Norfolk around 1350 are probably related but in later times mostly the surnames are seperate.
- Causon seems to have two sources. In Lancashire the source may be Caustons in Yorkshire. The other source is Cranham in Gloucestershire, almost certainly Causton again.
- Costen and Costin may be a form of Costain. The only known source via Causon and Corston is in Kent where it has even moved as far as Costing. Otherwise there very unlikely to be a Causton / Costin link.
- Coston, a location name - Coston in Norfolk, Leicestershire and Shropshire - also possibly a farmstead of a man named Katr. Unlikely to be Causton variant outside Kent, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
- Corson may be a form of Curzon (common in Norfolk) - generally not Causton variant
- Corston, a location name - Corston in Sa, So and W, farmstead or village on the river Corse. It is also a known variant of Causton in south Norfolk, some of which stayed Causton others mutated permanently to Corston. There are more Corstons in northern Scotland - connection, if any, to Causton unknown.
- Cosson may mean a dealer in horses.
- Coyston arose as a varaint of Coston in north west Essex around 1700 and no other sources are known. Coston in turn may be a variant of Causton.
- Caxton in medieval times could be pronounced Causston. This is due to the a being pronounced long such as 'au' and the x being very soft like an s.
The only way to distinguish these names from Causton is knowledge from other sources such as wills or a fairly comprehensive knowledge of all the families in an area with a similar name.
The likelihood of a Casson etc. in fact being derived from Causton varies from area to area depending on the frequency of the alternative spellings. Thus it is highly unlikely that a Casson in Lancashire is a misspelt Causton as about a third of all Cassons in England lived there. In Essex however where there are fifty times as many Caustons as Cassons and the possibility of Casson being a misspelling of Causton are high.
In some cases the new variation of the spelling became the accepted version and was then passed on by generation after generation. I think that this was especially likely when the family was illiterate. Quite soon all memory of the Causton origin of the surname was lost. In other cases misspelling of the Causton name in official records has not resulted in any long term change in the Surname. This may be because an official or the family knew how their name was spelt and carried that information forward to the next generation.
The Causton name is thought to derive from people who came from or lived in Cawston, probably the Cawston in Norfolk. Although the Norfolk village name is now spelt with a 'w', the earliest documents (1, 2) show the village as Causton. The majority of documents before 1550 show the Causton spelling. In the late sixteenth century this gradually changed until after 1600 most documents used the Cawston spelling. In one seventeenth century document about an unseemly disagreement when beating the bounds of Cawston parish it is spelt both ways. Both spellings exist today and although some Caustons do change to Cawstons over time and vice versa there is a surprising consistency of speeling over many geberations.
The practical effects of this variation for family history researchers are :
John Causton October 1, 1997
References
(1). e.g. Visitation of St Agnes Church in 1368 - Queens Remembrencer, Misc. books Vol. 30
(2). Hist. MSS. Com 6th Rep. p283