My CAWTHORN Family
My maiden name was CAWTHORN and my family come from Christchurch in Cambridgeshire, U.K.
(the top end, the Isle of Ely).
But the name CAWTHORN originates from Yorkshire, belonging to that group of surnames derived
from where a man once lived or where he held land. In this case the the surname comes from the Old English
"cald thorn" meaning "cold or exposed thornbush" and the original bearer would have resided near such
a spot.
This is also the name of two villages in Yorkshire. Cawthorn in the old North Riding and Cawthorne in
the West Riding, so it is more than likely that the bearer was a "dweller in Cawthorne". This village
was documented in the Domesday Book of 1066 as "Caltorne" and was a manor amongst the lands of Ilbert de Lacey.
On the North York Moors, you can still visit the Roman Camps of Cawthorn, so we've been around for some time!
The present day centres of distribution are still in Yorkshire and the North-East;
South & West Cambridgshire, the Cambridgeshire/Norfolk borders, and Lincolnshire.
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So far, I've traced my CAWTHORN line back to the late 1600s in Emneth, Norfolk. For almost 100 years, their names
are in the Emneth Parish Registers, held at the Fenland Museum, Wisbech.
I feel our branch of the family has come down through Lincolnshire to the Cambridgeshire Fens. In the early 1800s,
they were in Upwell, Cambridgeshire, but by the middle 1800s had begun moving south to Christchurch - or
Brimstone Hill as it was then known; or just Upwell Fen!
Only by using the U.K. Census Records, Kelly's Directories for Cambridgeshire and the GRO National Indexes for
Births, Deaths & Marriages, have I been able to find out so much in so little time - and most of the information,
particularly from the Census records came via the English Fens Mailing List - from correspondents in Britsh Columbia,
California and Australia!
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My paternal Grandfather,Walter CAWTHORN married Grace Scott, in November, 1914.
I am named after Rachel Ann Russell who married Walter's father, John, in 1889.
John's father, George, married Hannah Berry, daughter of John & Tansley BERRY in 1866.
When I began my research the above is all I knew about Dad's family.
George died in 1915, aged 79, and Hannah died in 1908, aged 76. They were the 2nd & 3rd CAWTHORN graves
in Christchurch churchyard; the 1st being their grand-daughter, Kate, who died at a month old in May 1900.
We thought at first that there must be a link with the CAWTHORNs of Chatteris, particularly as there were
so many listed on the IGI website.
Once I had made contact with Bethel in Australia, and joined the English Fens Mailing List, pieces of the
jig-saw began slotting into place. We discovered the parents' names of Bethel's Gt Grandfather, Fred CAWTHORN:-
they were William Walton & Anne TROWER - from the On-line Victorian State Archives!
(Fred had taken 3 generations of his family out to Australia in about 1910.)
I was sent details of the 1851 Census for Upwell, Cambs, and there was Gt Gt Grandfather George with his parents,
Joseph & Hannah; but he also had a brother, William and a sister, Ann as well!
Joseph was the Innkeeper at "The Chequers", Lott's Bridge.
April 2000- After 2 days checking the Parish Registers of Upwell & Emneth at the Fenland Museum,
Wisbech; and the Christchurch & Chatteris registers at Cambridgeshire Record Office at the Shire Hall in Cambridge,
I discovered that my CAWTHORNs have nothing to do with the Chatteris ones!
We orignate from EMNETH, a Norfolk village SE of Wisbech. The registers record CAWTHORN baptisms, marriages and
burials back to the very early 1700's.
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To view my CAWTHORN Family Tree, visit the following pages:
John CAWTHORN & Martha HUNTER - Two Weddings, 2 Churches, same names, BUT 13 years apart!
John & Sarah
Amy
Mary
Joseph & Hannah WALTON
William Walton & Anne TROWER
Three Holes Methodist Chapel - William Walton Cawthorn bought the original building [a navvies hostel]
to turn into a Methodist Chapel in 1855.
William Matthew & Harriet BATES
Agnes Harriet
Fred & Mary Jane PHILLIPS
Delve Mill, Chatteris, owned by Fred prior to emigration to Australia in 1911.
Fred & Louisa ANGOOD
William Walton & Eliza Jane MEANS
Rebecca Ann & John Thomas FORTH
George & Hannah BERRY
Hannah's parents:Tansley RUST & John BERRY
John & Rachel Ann RUSSELL
Walter Russell & Grace SCOTT - my Grandparents.
George Berry & Sarah ROE
William Rust & Sarah GOODGER
Ann & George BUTTER
Hannah Ann & Herbert FRANKLIN
Thomas & Jane BARLEY
Joseph & John CAWTHORN - I have lost track of this pair of cousins; have you come across them anywhere?!
CAWTHORN Pedigree Chart
A. Cawthorn Bombardier, Royal Artillery, died in the Boer War - but is he one of ours?
John Cawthorn Allen of Upwell; died in WW1 - but is he one of ours?
CAWTHORN websites & Ephemera around the world
Photo tribute to my Aunt Ruby & Uncles Hugh & Eric CAWTHORN
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History of The Fens
Christchurch History Notes
Family History Research Links
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This page created 28 August 2000
& amended/updated 11:44 19/10/2008
