Cadmans in Isleham

[wdurham]

Hi, Natalie -

Looks like we do have a link. John Cadman King and his wife Martha Leonard were my great-grandparents.  They married in Isleham 4 Jan 1873, and Isaac was their eldest son, born qe June 1873. At some point between then and 1876, the couple moved from Isleham to Fordham, where all their later children were born. I descend from their daughter Mary Jane, born in Fordham in 1885. Mary Jane married James Stephen Watson, and their son Cyril was my father.

I didn't follow up further on Isaac, but according to census returns, he and his wife Susan Gordon produced about 13 children all told, one of whom was a daughter named Elsie, b about 1905.  (Another daughter, Gertie b 1903, was a friend as well as cousin of my eldest Aunt, and I remember her talking about "Uncle Isaac" and "Cousin Gertie" when I was little.)

John's middle name Cadman was his mother's maiden surname - which is common in Cambridgeshire, especially where the men's first names carry on through generations.  The Cadmans were a big Isleham family, and I have traced them back to about 1740 in Isleham. The Kings were incomers from Chippenham.

Martha Leonard led me a merry dance for months because she was so hard to find. On her marriage to John Cadman King, she was named as Martha Leonard, daughter of Robert. She was actually the daughter of Robert Norman and Susan Harvey, born 3 months after the death of her father from cholera.  Robert was the baseborn son of Alice Norman, who later married James Leonard, and it seems Robert was known by both surnames. It's possible he was actually the son of James Leonard, but there's no way of knowing that for sure. He was baptised as son of Alice, and married Susan Harvey as Robert Norman son of James, and in 1851 he and Susan and their baby son James are on the census as Norman. He was buried as Robert Norman.  But when Susan registered Martha's birth, she registered her as Martha Leonard, daughter of Robert, and signed herself Susan Leonard. To confuse the issue further, Susan married James Ellington as Susan Norman after she was widowed, and by 1871, although her son James was still known as James Leonard, Martha was in service in Mildenhall using her stepfather's name. All very confusing!

However, I am confident that I did nail the right marriage partners - John Cadman King and Martha Leonard, so there's some solid ground for you to work back from. If I can be of further help, just shout!

[Shorty1]

Thank you so much for your reply, I was a little confused at first because I thought Isaac married Ann Gordon but then it makes sense that her name was Susan and possibly 'Ann' was a shortened version. I was also so sure that I had gone wrong somewhere but this is great, you have basically done the work already for me. My nan will be very excited to find out more about her roots. I decided to put your grandparents into my tree as your grandmother is the sister of my Great, Great Granddad Isaac...which would make you...my great grand cousin removed? I am so sorry,  you can tell I am a beginner at this. May I ask who you are?


Natalie

[wdurham]

Eeek! My mistake - Isaac's wife was indeed Anne or Annie. Not Susan at all. Obviously a mental block on my part! They were married 30 Nov 1895 in Burwell by banns, him son of John, her daughter of Robert. Witnesses John (x) GORDON, Elizabeth CLAYDON. Everyone working was an AgLab.

As for who am I?

I was born Christine Wendy Watson in 1947, eldest child of Cyril Watson and Christine Cecile King (yes, another King but totally unrelated!)

Cyril was b about 1922, the second-youngest son of James Stephen Watson and Mary Jane King, born after a large gap allegedly caused by James' service in WWI. I have yet to find James Stephen's war records, but suspect there aren't any. Unlike the rest of our AgLab forbears, James Stephen had delusions of grandeur, and was a work-shy "gentleman" who disdained working for others. He claimed noble ancestors in Scotland to account for his "status" (which turned out to be utter nonsense!). Which meant he didn't work at all and the family lived, effectively, on the charity of neighbours and the earnings of the older children.

My father Cyril grew to have a "voice" - some said at the time that he was the best boy soprano in the region - and was offered a scholarship to Kings College Chapel Choir School in Cambridge. My grandfather refused because he would not provide the uniform, which was not covered by the scholarship.

So Dad left school at 14, did a year on the land as yet another AgLab, and then joined the RAF's Boy Service arm at 15. He spent his entire life with the RAF and retired aged 55 after a very honourable and highly-thought of career. During that career he met my mother, who was doing her WWII service in the WAAF, and they married in June 1946 not long before Mum's final demob (and only 7 months before I was born!)

Mary Jane King was the daughter of John Cadman King and Martha Leonard, and was the younger sister of your Isaac King, the eldest son of the same couple.

So that's how we are related.

I have Cadmans and Kings and Harveys back a long way, but finding out for yourself is always the best way to go. Info just given to you by someone else offers no sense of achievement.  However, I am always here for you if you need help or confirmation of any of your findings.