I've been thinking more about this family, since Susan posted about them on a FB group:
- Mary Frost, Charles' mother, was buried in Brailsford on 11 Nov 1810 aged 54, wife of Henry. Henry Frost aged 60 was buried in Brailsford just days earlier on 2 Nov 1810 aged 60. So Charles was orphaned at age 10. Could he have been taken in by his uncle Charles Ault in Leighton Buzzard? I think it's quite possible.
- So if my hypothesis is correct, at the time of his uncle's death in Sept 1812 Charles Frost was already living in Leighton Buzzard, and probably took a job locally. I don't think he necessarily would have worked for whoever ran the Old Peacock Inn after Charles Ault's death.
- Charles Frost was baptised on 27 Oct 1800 at Brailsford Derbyshire, so was obviously born prior to this date. His uncle left him £100 in his will to be paid when Charles reached the age of 21 i.e. probably shortly before 27 Oct 1821. He married on 12 Oct 1821, probably immediately he reached the age of 21. His first two children baptised in Beds in 1822 and 1824 were in the name of Frost. The family then moved down to London, where a number of children were baptised in the name of Ault, from 1827 onwards. In 1827 Charles was a labourer, in 1837 a milkman, in 1841 a cab driver (Ault), in 1851 a labourer (Ault), and posthumously in 1858 a cabman/cab proprietor. His death and burial in 1854 were both recorded as Frost. The first record using the surname Ault was in 1827, so it doesn't look as though the inheritance received in 1821 was a factor in him changing his surname.
So I think we've established that his uncle lived in Leighton Buzzard, which is why he was living there, but there's no clue as to why he should have changed his name from Frost to Ault.
David