Question

Does anyone have knowledge of William Caudwell born before 1778, probably in Nottinghamshire, England

Comments

What else do you already know about him?

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Many thanks, Lynda, for your quick response.

The William Caudwell in the 1841 and 1851 census is the son of the William Caudwell that I am pursuing.   There are no census records of the William I am interested in; no parish register records of his birth or death either.   He's very elusive.

Kind regards,

Geof

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All I know about this William Caudwell is that he married Elizabeth Hooton on 12 May 1798 at Normanton-on-Trent.  The name in the parish register is William Coudell.   He was over 21 years old at the time and a Carpenter living in Egmanton, Nottinghamshire.

Thanks again for your interest,

Geof

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Now I am confused. You asked about a William Caudwell born before 1778, so I assumed you meant this one. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGXL-76N

If you are looking for his father, do you have a baptism for this William?

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No, he's not the one living in Mansfield in 1851.  On the marriage bond between him and Elizabeth Hooton dated 5 May 1798, he is at least 21 years old.  So he was born before 6 May 1777.   In the 1841 census his wife Elizabeth is living as a servant to William Price.   So William Caudwell is either dead by then or has left home.

He doesn't appear in any census records, or any other records that I have found.   I've been looking for him for over 10 years !

Thanks again Lynda.  Very good of you to investigate.

Geof

Answer 1

Familysearch have two census records, 1841 and 1851, that might be him. Take a look at those and tell us whether this is the man you are looking for.

Answer 2

Hi Geof,

I have found the following burials - all at Egmanton:

William Cauldwell on 22/05/1827 aged 78

Elizabeth Caldwell on 30/04/1856 aged 74 and

Barbara Cauldwell on 12/12/1829 aged 87.

I guess it all hinges on whether you think a 49 year old man would marry a 16 year old girl!  I cannot find any evidence of another William Cauldwell and so perhaps as unlikely as it sounds, the best evidence available is that this was the case.

Comments

Thank you, Ian.

It is possible that the William Caudwell buried on 22 May 1827 was the Husband of Elizabeth Hooton. Their youngest son, Robert, was christened on 16 Jan 1820.  William would have been 71 years old then.

It's also possible that Elizabeth's husband was an illegitimate son of this William as he had two illegitimate sons called William by the different women.  The most likely of these is the one christened William Hill at Laxton in 1775, who may have taken his father's surname later on.  Unfortunately, there would have been no record of this at the time.

We may never be able to make connection with the older Caudwells.

Geof