Causton One - Name Study

Newsletter Number Two - Feb. 1999

This is the second newsletter of the Causton One-Name Study Group Causton genealogy and variants such as Caston, Causon, Cawston, Cawson, Costen, Coston, world-wide. The Causton One-Name Study newsletter is free to all who are interested in Causton genealogy.

There has been much activity since the first newsletter in June 1998. About 100 copies of the first newsletter were sent out to individual researchers and genealogy libraries in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. Over 50 replies were received and a substantial quantity of Causton genealogy data was gathered in. The new information was mainly in London, Essex and Suffolk in England. In a number of cases individual family histories have been connected into larger groupings and new relatives have been discovered.

One exciting discovery was a previous one-name study by Dudley Causton (1909 - 1968). Part of this came to light in the Society of Genealogists in London. His meticulous research covered mainly Suffolk but also extended into Essex and Norfolk. His card index of wills, parish register entries, manorial records etc. has the potential to connect together about a dozen researchers currently on the researcher list who have Suffolk roots. Much work needs to be done on Dudley's information as unfortunately some of the large family trees and other documents that his widow deposited at The Society of Genealogists cannot be found. Hopefully the information in the card index will enable these trees to be reconstructed.

Thomas Causton Memorial in Rayleigh Essex.

As a follow-up to the item on Thomas Causton's martyrdom in the first newsletter a correspondent pointed out that there was a memorial to the Protestant martyrs in Rayleigh High Street, Essex, England. The memorial is pictured on the left. The main inscription reads:

NEAR THIS SPOT SUFFERED FOR THE TRUTH THOMAS CAUSTON 26 MAR 1555 JOHN ARDELEY 10 JUNE 1555 WHO IN REPLY TO Bp. BONNER SAID: ''IF EVERY HAIR OF MY HEAD WERE A MAN, I WOULD SUFFER DEATH IN THE OPINION AND FAITH I NOW PROFESS'' Thy Word is Truth

The other three faces read:

ERECTED 1908 BY PROTESTANTS OF RAYLEIGH AND DISTRICT. The noble army of Martyrs praise Thee.

ALSO TO COMMEMORATE ROBERT DRAKES, MINISTER OF THUNDERSLEY AND

WILLIAM TYMS, CURATE OF HOCKLEY, BOTH SUFFERED IN ONE FIRE AT SMITHFIELD, 24 APRIL 1556.

Cawston Place Names

There are three Cawston references in Canada. Cawston is in British Columbia, Similkameen district (reference for Cawston post office - 49oN 119oW). It is located on Highway 3 a few miles east of Keremeos and approximately 370 kilometres east of Vancouver. Nearby is a Cawston Creek (same map reference) flowing north west to the Similkameen River. Cawston Point appears from the map reference (50oN 126oW) to be on the coast in the Straight of Georgia between Vancouver Island and mainland Canada.

In Australia there is a Cawston shoal or banc (reference 15o S 114oE) 400 miles off the north western coast, the same latitude as Wyndham and the same longitude as Exmouth. Cawston Bay (reference 15oS 128oE) is in Western Australia off Joseph Bonaparte Gulf on the Durack River estuary. Cawston Hill (reference 15oS 128oE) is nearby. I have not yet located any Cawston references in USA.

The Cawston place names in Canada and Australia could have come from towns and geographical features being named after families with the Cawston surname living in the area or from families with different surnames emigrating from Cawston in Norfolk. There does seem to have been a Cawston family living in Cawston, Canada as evidenced by the death of a George Beauchamp Cawston, a private in the eighth battalion of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps, who was killed in the first word war. He died on 14 November 1917 at the age of 28 and is buried in Belgium. His parents are given as Richard Lowe Cawston and Mary Anne Cawston of Cawston Parish, [British] Columbia. There is also an intriguing note in a genealogy journal called 'Surnames', that ceased publication some time ago, of some Cawstons from British Columbia holding a meeting in May 1983 in Cawston Norfolk. I have been unable to discover anything else about this gathering.

I hope that it will be possible to discover the origins of these place names, which probably date from the 17th or 18th centuries. I would be interested to hear from anyone who knows anything of the history of these places or can supply me with maps of sufficiently large scale to show them clearly. Further information as it emerges will be in future newsletters.

Variations in the Spelling of the Causton Surname

The most common spelling variation of Causton is Cawston. Both surnames have the same pronunciation and the common root is not in doubt. Although the Norfolk village thought to be the source of the Cawston surname is now spelt with a 'w', the earliest documents (1, 2) before 1500 show the village as Causton. 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. The consonant w was a late introduction into the English alphabet and its present form was introduced by Norman scribes in the 11th century (3). I do not know why, so many years after the introduction of the 'w', the spelling of Causton village changed to Cawston.

Even though surname spelling was quite variable prior to 1850 there was a surprising consistency of spelling over many generations. In Suffolk and Norfolk the Cawston surname predominated and in Essex, London and Kent, the Causton spelling was most common. In England there has been a slight apparent shift in favour of the Cawston form in the last hundred years. In the England, Scotland and Wales 1881 census there were 330 Caustons and 210 Cawstons (ratio 1 : 0.64). Today the estimated numbers in the UK are 808 Caustons and 675 Cawstons (ratio 1 : 0.84). World-wide the figures today are estimated to be 1146 Caustons and 970 Cawstons.

References

(1) e.g. Visitation of St Agnes Church in 1368 - Queens Remembrencer, Misc. books Vol. 30

(2) Historic Manuscripts Commission, 6th Rep. p283

(3) The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary

Miniature of G Causton Sold in London Auction

A search of the internet one day uncovered an auction sale that included a Causton miniature. The sale at Bonhams in Knightsbridge, London on 19 February 1998 at 11 a.m. included as lot 72 a miniature from the John Miers studio, probably painted by John Field about 1791. The profile of a G Causton facing right, in coat with frilled lace cravat, his hair en queue, is on plaster. It has a turned pear wood frame with verre églomisé border and stands 86 mm high. A label on the reverse states that G Causton was the maternal grandfather of Mathew Truster. It was sold to a London dealer for £400.

At present there is no further information on this G Causton but he appears to have been born about 1760. He may be related to a family of London merchants descended from John Causton from Norwich

Problem Corner

Quite a number of researchers are already in contact with others researching the same family tree, especially in North East Essex, East London and Suffolk. Some however seem to be working at present in isolation with no known links to others. One such is Carole Cawston in Canada. She has traced her Cawstons back to her gggrandfather Charles and his wife Anne Burton who emigrated from Wiltshire to the Stratford, Ontario area in 1832. Charles Cawston was probably born about 1800. There are only 10 IGI entries for Wiltshire including a marriage of John Cawsten to a Christian Flowers in 1621 - so there may be a Cawston presence back to fairly early times. I did not find many references to Caustons in various reference books I checked at the Society for Genealogists. The exceptions were very early: Geoffrey de Caustone listed in The Wiltshire Tax List of 1332 in New Street Ward, Salisbury (Sarum) City and property transactions of a John de Coston in 1361, 1362 and 1364 in the Feet of Fines. There is also a reference to a Geoffrey de Causton as the chaplain of St. Katherine's chantry or chapel at Frome Braunche in the diocese of Bath and Wells in 1349 (Patent Roll 23 Edward III iii m.32). However, earlier and later references to Geoffrey de Causton link him to Suffolk and Norfolk so this early presence in Wiltshire may not have persisted. I also found references to Corston and a Caulston as place names. Any help with Cawstons in Wiltshire would be appreciated.

The Source of the Causton Surname

As I explained in the first newsletter it is possible that families with the Causton surname could have come from three quite widely separated locations in England (Cawston in Norfolk, Shropshire or Warwickshire). To see if I could find out the relative importance of three centres as possible sources of the Causton surname I studied the data in the International Genealogical Index (IGI). Early occurrences of the Causton/Cawston surname in the IGI were separated into four time bands. The total number of Causton events, which are mostly pre 1850, found in the IGI listing was 1,112. I have attempted to eliminate duplications but do not attach too much significance to the exact numbers as these are not the point of this study. The details are shown below:

Pre 1560 Essex 5, Yorkshire 4, Surrey 3, Kent 2, Suffolk 1, Norfolk 1, London 1. Total=17

Pre 1575 Suffolk 16, Kent 10, Yorkshire 9, Essex 9, Surrey 9, Lincolnshire 4, Norfolk 3, Northamptonshire 2, Gloucestershire 1, Hampshire 1, London 1. Total=65.

Pre 1600 Kent 36, Suffolk 29, Surrey 22, Yorkshire 11, Lincolnshire 9, Essex 9, Norfolk 4, Gloucestershire 3, Northamptonshire 2, Hampshire 1, London 1, Bedfordshire 1, Wiltshire 1. Total=129

All occurrences Suffolk 329, London 202, Kent 133, Yorkshire 110, Surrey 94, Norfolk 86, Scotland * 31, Bedfordshire 27, Essex 27, Hertfordshire 19, Gloucestershire 15, Lincolnshire 10, Wiltshire 9, Shropshire 8, Buckinghamshire 5, Northamptonshire 3, Durham 3, Lancashire 2, Cumberland 1, Derbyshire 1, Devon 1, Cheshire 1, Hampshire 1, Isle of Man 1, Warwickshire 1, Westmoreland 1. Total=1,121.

* The counties in Scotland were not separated.

There are some problems with this analysis. The coverage of the IGI is patchy (probably at its worst in Essex with only about 20% coverage at present) and there are many gaps in the early parish records. Individual researchers can undoubtedly add early occurrences of the name from their own data and such feedback would be useful. In spite of these problems the data in the table shows quite clearly the concentration of the Causton surname in the eastern counties of England. This supports Cawston in Norfolk as the main source for the surname and gives no support for the other two locations. The distribution across the eastern counties also supports the possibility of early migration of Cawstons down from Norfolk, via Suffolk and Essex to London, and thence into Kent. The low numbers of Cawstons in Norfolk and the early presence of Cawstons in Yorkshire are interesting. A London wool merchant, John Causton, had dealings in Yorshire in 1320 and may have started a Causton presence there. A Close Roll (13 Edward II m. 5d schedule) records John Causton and others complaining about a levy on English wool being exported to continental Brabant, Flanders and Artoys. He lost the argument and was ordered by the king to pay the levy.

One Name Study Projects - Information Gathering

Much of the information from family trees has now been entered into my computer database, which has just been upgraded to Generations 5.2. There are a lot of family trees still to be entered but there are already 1527 individuals and 644 Caustons and variants. The entire database has been uploaded to the Causton One-Name Study (CONS) web site and can be searched. 'R' followed by a number in the sixth column of the researcher list indicates that the researchers family tree (or at least the part relevant to the study) has been added to the main computer database. The number is the identification to navigate to the top of each family tree and is needed because so many different families have been entered onto the database. 'RP' means that I have family history data that has yet to be entered. RX means that any data has been excluded at present as it is not thought to be Causton related. No 'R' reference means that there has been no information received from that researcher.

I now need to tackle the difficult problem of how to get information out to researchers. Much of the information such as the English index of birth marriage and death certificates and censuses is subject to copyright laws. There will be also a need for two forms - electronic for those who want to load data onto a computer and printed for those not using computers or who prefer working with printed documents. Another of the problems is how to store single unrelated pieces of data. It is a bit like collecting pieces, not from one but many jigsaws, and not knowing which one they belong to or even how many jigsaws exist!

The pieces may appear unexpectedly. I took my young nephew to the East Anglia Railway Museum at Chappel, near Colchester, Essex a few weeks ago and we were treated to a tour of the workshops where engines and rolling stock were repaired and restored. The outer wooden planking had been removed from a specialised Pooley maintenance covered wagon. This used to carry a complete workshop, with forge, to repair weighing scales around the country. A metal plate gave the wagon number, LNER 96071. The signature of the carpenter who made the wagon in the East London Stratford workshops, written in pencil, was visible on the inner lining. I did a double take when I read 'G Cawston 7425 August 1911'. 7425 was presumably his railwayman's number and makes further research in the railway companies records possible. As with so many other scraps of information it has yet to be tied to any specific family.

Scraps of information are often picked up from internet sites. For instance, did you know that the deputy collector of US customs during the Klondyke gold rush on the Yukon River, USA in 1898 was one James H Causten? One day I hope that such nuggets will be matched up with their descendants.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The commission has recently opened an internet site which has proved very popular. The address is http://www.cwgc.org. Naturally I had a look and found 16 Casons, 15 Castons, 14 Causons, 16 Caustons, 9 Cawsons, 12 Cawstons, 8 Costens, 47 Costins, 7 Costons and 3 Coystons listed in the Debt of Honour Register. Each individual has their own page. The information is about those killed in both the first and second world wars, mainly from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. It includes some civilians as well as service personnel. The amount of information given is variable but may include rank, number, regiment, date of death, age, where they came from, the names of immediate relatives, the name of the cemetery, the grave reference and extensive historical details about the cemetery. There is too much to publish in the newsletter so have a look at the site or let me know your queries. There can be few families that were untouched by these two world wars.

List of Causton Researchers

The list has been so extensively updated that a new version is attached. Please use the new version when contacting researchers as there are many changes or corrections to addresses. There are also many newly discovered researchers and some that have been removed where mail has been returned and no new address could be found. Where I have the information postal addresses are included. If you are listed by an e-mail address only, please let me have your postal address as those who are not online cannot contact you.

Profiles of Researchers - John Causton in Colchester, England

John Causton in 1998

This is the first of a series of articles on researchers who have contributed family information to the study. I took the egotistical step of writing about myself first! I started researching my own family history in September 1995. It started when a friend of mine brought into the office a photograph from the July 1969 Essex Countryside Magazine. It showed a fisherman, John Causton, who had died in a great storm on 11 November 1891. He looked like me and I was intrigued to find out more. I discovered that this was my great grandfather, who had been the master of the fishing smack Gemini.

Newspaper articles described the terrible storm and the loss of life. John's fishing vessel was returning from a seasons scallop fishing near Le Havre and was hit by the full force of the storm in the English Channel. The Gemini had all her sails blown away. John Causton and four members of his crew (his youngest son James, John March, and brothers Thomas and Edward Plummer) were washed over board. James was swept on board again and survived, along with John Southgate, with only a broken arm. John Causton and many other lives lost at sea are commemorated on tiles around the walls of All Saints Church in Brightlingsea, Essex.

John Causton in about 1880

The vessel was towed into Ramsgate port. After repairs the Gemini returned to fishing for a further 17 years before eventually being broken up in 1908. In the last years of the vessel's life another of John's sons, Benjamin Causton was on the crew. Further research showed that there were no further generations of fishermen in my family. John's father Thomas Causton had been a poor agricultural labourer and it must have been difficult for him to have raised the money for his son to be apprenticed to a fisherman.

At this stage I had a stroke of luck. I contacted a Clacton local historian, Kenneth Walker. He was able to extend my family tree back to the early 16th century in Great Clacton, Essex, England, a total of 15 generations. An edited family tree is shown below.

On the bottom line, Thomas Causton, reference number 71, an agricultural labourer, is my gggrandfather. Some old wills from the 16th century that I am researching may extend my family tree back even further but the handwriting is so difficult! The early generations are relatively well recorded because they owned land. In 1664 a herald came to the village of Great Clacton and found Phillip Causton, gent, who owned Burrs Farm Estate. His house was the largest in Clacton, having six hearths, as recorded in the hearth tax of 1662. The house is still there but is now a public house. A large yew tree in the front garden appears to be hundreds of years old and must have been known to my ancestors.

From about 1700 my ancestors lived at Pearls Farm, now known as Treasure Holt, in Clacton. Treasure Holt dates from the fourteenth century and was a coaching inn. It is still occupied as a home inspite of its reputation for being haunted - not by my ancestors, as far as I know. At first my family owned the property then leased it. A spoken family tradition is that Thomas gambled away his money. Some time about 1800 the lease expired and the family, being too poor to renew it, moved to a small cottage. Although centred in Great Clacton my family also at various stages lived in the Essex villages of Weeley, Wormingford, Great Yeldham, Great Holland, Wivenhoe, St. Osyths and Brightlingsea.

Future Issues

Articles on Causton heraldry, Cawston Manor in Norfolk, England, a detailed analysis of Causton surname variants in the England, Scotland and Wales 1881 census, Caustons in early tax returns, features on individual researchers and Causton composers, artists and business figures are planned. Contributions would be welcome.

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