Help with place of birth, please..

[Geordie daughter]

Thomas Reynolds, born c. 1780, whose family I am currently tracing, was a coachman for the Fitzherbert family of Tissington Hall, Nottingham. The FitzHerberts were at Smith's Hall, West Farleigh, Kent, at the time of the 1851 Census which gives Thomas's place of birth as KELDEN, Essex, but I can't find Kelden on any maps. Thomas dies in 1859, so I can't check with the 1861 Census. Was there such a place, or is it an abbreviated version of Kelvedon, perhaps? I'm hoping that someone with local knowledge will be able to enlighten me.

[lizdb]

I would say it is most likely Kelveden.

[Jolee]

Kelvedon is in the Braintree area postal town Colchester but there is also Kelvedon Hatch which is in the postal town of Brentwood

[josey]

HO107; Piece: 1616; Folio: 148; Page: 12

If you compare the first letter of Thomas' place of birth with the 'K' of 'Kitchen maid' I would say the place name begins with 'R'.

Josey

ADDED: Whoops, actually sorry, there is a 'Kent' higher up the page of which the 'K' looks the same as the 1st letter of Thomas' pob.

[Geordie daughter]

This one's a real poser: Essex OPC entries mention "Kelden parish," but I can't find it anywhere else either online or in my map book. Other possible alternatives could be Maldon, Essex or Kelham in Nottinghamshire. Thomas's baptism would solve the problem but I can't find that either!

[findem]

Hi,

My first thought was Kelvedon.

Regards.

[josey]

Could Kelvedon be sometimes pronounced 'Keldon'?? Place names recorded elsewhere in the country are often misinterpreted due to local accents.

Josey

[elmo]

Could it be Peldon, south of Colchester?

[Geordie daughter]

Thanks for your input everyone! Josey, I also wondered about the accent being to blame. After all, if you say Kelvedon to someone (e.g. an enumerator) who isn't familiar with your accent, quickly, and without putting any emphasis on the "v", it would sound like "Kelden." One woman who married into the Reynolds family was born in Brixham, and her place of birth has been rendered as "Brisham" by the enumerator on at least one occasion. Ideally, I need to be sure as I possibly can that there isn't an actual place called Kelden, so I don't go making wild and inaccurate statements about his place of birth in my family tree!

The fact that Thomas moved about a great deal with his job also makes it difficult to be sure of his origins. His wife, Mary Ann, was born in Great Bromley, Essex, but may well have met him in London while he was there with his employers. As far as I can work out, the couple had three sons: William and Daniel were born in Worksop, Notts, and a note on William's May 1815 baptism says "menial servant at Osberton." A little research revealed that Osberton Hall in Worksop was owned by a landed family called the Foljambes, so it looks very much as if they were Thomas's employers from 1815 to circa 1819, Daniel's approximate birth year. The third son was baptised in Tissington in Oct 1822, but I found an earlier Tissington baptism for a child of theirs dated June 1820 (another Thomas) who presumably died. This means I can roughly date Thomas senior's employment with the FitzHerberts from 1820, but as I said before, I have no idea where he and Mary Ann met or married, or if they had other children prior to 1815.