claxon/ Chelmsford

[Mary B]

As the County of West Ham was so close to the County of Essex, many many
Essex and Suffolk folk made the journey to the East End of London to find work.

The majority of the above were  Ag Lab's looking for a better life.

You also mention the last name of Clarkson, many many Clarksons in the
Borough of West Ham, indeed in the East End of London.

You mention your relative joined the Army ( The Guards) again many young
men from every area of the UK joined the army in those long ago times, it was
a pathway to something better than what thy had. what was the term, four
hots and  a cot.

Cheers

Mary-B

[findem]

Just wondering if you tried Gt Baddow for your Claxon line.

My ancestors John Claxton & Elizabeth Barker married at Gt Baddow in 1684, they had (that I know of) 5 children baptised in Gt Baddow:

John Claxton 1685.
Abraham Claxson 1687.
Isaac Claxon 1689.
Elizabeth Claxon 1691, my ancestor.
Sarah Claxson 1695.
I haven't followed the family after 1695 although I did find marriages for three of the children.

I also found John of John & Sarah Claxtone born 11 Jul and bap 15 Jul 1716 at Gt Baddow.

In Chelmsford PRs, by chance, I found John Claxton of Gt Baddow married Ann Long of Chelmsford 29 Nov 1743.
In Gt Waltham:
John & Dorothy Claxton baptised 3 children 1667 to 1672, Sarah, William & Abraham.
William & Elizabeth Claxston baptised 4 Children 1700 to 1708, John, Elizabeth, William & John.

I hesitated to mention the above, there being currently no apparent relevance to your line but who knows what awaits down the track.  Since I wasn't actually searching for Claxtons in Chelmsford and Gt Waltham PRs, there may be others to be found there.

Regards
 

[Claxon]

Yes, your point is well taken, especialy with the different spellings. Some say that CLAXON originated with CLAXTON, from the vicinity of Claxton castle... East Anglia or Sufflok I believe. I live in the US, so when someone mentions a town, I have very little knowledge of the possible tie ins. I thought we were Londoners, but when my father said we were from Hammersmith, and then Fulham, it threw me off for a while :-) HE assumed I would have known that they are parts of London.
 So, I could tie in with a nearby town if we could find a Thomas and Rebeccah marriage certificate... but the York I have is a bit distant.
 One relative I have  on your side of the pond, on the female line, found my oldest Thomas born 1787 ( in this case in Wickford) was the child of aN Abraham Claxon... etc, probably on the line you have provided. But when I researched it, it turned out to be a coincidence. Both Thomas Claxon's were born on March 11 1787, one in Wickford, one in Basidon Hall/ Chelmsford. It was the notaion of the correct one on a census, stating he was born in Basildon Hall, clinched it. Unfortunately it  terminated my line at that generation.

 Strangely enough, I enetered my stuff into Gene tree, which today contacted me with 4 people that have matches on my tree, but all to a sister of my  great grandparents maternal grandmother. So, in the last 24 hours, it appears I have a further 69 cousins :-) great stuff.
 Actually, in my last post, I mentioned that my great grandfather and his sister were orphaned at the age of 2, when their parents died due to some infection from the Duke of Wellington funeral. Their maternal grandmother, Hannah Pierce, looked after them. This tie in is one of her FOURTEEN siblings.
 I think that is two volleyball teams. That family name is THOROGOOD.
 als, I have some Thorogoods diaries, which are copies of a diary of the Essex/ Wickford smallpox epidemic in about 1750, kept at an Essex museum.
 Hmmm... the Wickford area is a possibility for my search...
 Thanks for the great conversation and interest.
Very much appreciated
 Richard Clarkson
New Jersey

[Hazel17]

I noticed you discussing how it can sometimes be difficult to be aware how close places are to each other. Something I have found invaluable is a hardback UK atlas that shows little villages and hamlets. You can look on webites for maps etc but it's much easier with an atlas to quickly look how far apart places are. Maybe something to ask for for Christmas? 
I also have Chelmsford ancestors, many of them, but no Claxons so far. Sometimes when trying to find a marraige that doesn't appear to be in the same parish as the baptism, make a list of the surrounding parishes and work thorugh them then work outwards and so on.
 I might be wrong but I think that banns of marriage were read in both parishes and so even if the parent has married outside of their usual parish there could still be a record of it in their original parish. The banns would be read the 3 preceding Sundays before the cermeony but I don't think they list the subsequent place of the ceremony but you can logically work out thew date of the marriage from it. Someone more knowledgable about banns might correct me on this though. When the bride and groom were of differnt parishes it was usually the bride's parish where the marriage took place and then they often lived in the groom's home parish.

[findem]

Hazel17's mention of obtaining an atlas is an excellent idea but be warned that there are likely to be omissions of some villages in the index, the villages will show in the maps themselves but not in the index, I have two atlases both have different omissions in the index.  An example in one is the Essex village of Pattiswick, although being born and lived in Chelmsford for forty years, when the name Pattiswick cropped up in the IGI I thought there was no such place and it certainly wasn't in the atlas index.  I am ashamed to admit that Pattiswick is only approximately 17 miles from Chelmsford, mind you it is very small in size 

There is also a useful map put out by the Essex Records Office entitled Essex Hundreds and Parishes, no index attached but very useful for such exercises as determining which parishes abut any you are interested in.  You would probably find details in the ERO's SEAX online system, which by the way has some online PRs such as Chelmsford and neighbouring parishes of Springfield and Moulsham, free to search.

Regards

PS We have another surname in common, Thorogood, mine are located in Stebbing, Essex, other spellings Thorowgood, Thurgood etc.

[Claxon]

Hello Hazel and Findem
 Yes< I have learned to use Google Earth, which is excellent for doing these things ( free download) Another example of confusion is the "quaint" British reference using familiar terminology, such as " Hants" or " the Lake District", then we  have Norfolk, Suffolk, then East Anglia, and we haven't even gotten to towns and villages yet ... foeigners could assume anyone of these to be a village, or the name of a village to be a "state".
 On this side, including Canada, counties are NEVER used.. just town and state... in other words perhaps Chelmsford, Essex would work, but then it is one that works on your side also :-) Counties being the equivalent of our States or Provinces. But my fathers refference to Hammersmith really threw me off. Now, with google earth, just about anything can be entered.

 I thought we lived in Corsham for a bit, but I entered my street add for Corsham, which was not on any map,  ( the street) Google took me to Cheltenham (oops, Snailwell) and found the house, I was looking right at it from a satelite. Amazing. When I put in my last address, there i saw myself in the driveway, with my wife at the door !... can't do that anymore tho, for security. I also put in my add for Tunbridge Wells, and there was our house, along with the factory next to it, that the workers had given this 6 year old a sixpence to paint their fence pink. I think Tunbridge Wells is still talking about it. The owner boxed my ears a bit.

 Anyway, tracing a CLARKSON is like tracing SMITH, bu then I have 5 different possible spellings. SMITH... how many ways can you spell Smith ? When I found my Grandfather under CLERKEN, and all my forenames were Thomas, I figured we started something new, rather than change the forename, we change the Surname.

 There is a book I am looking at... The Thorogood Family, I think it was written in 1895.. it appears to be fiction so far... available free online.

 I have searched ALL census records for ALL available years for ALL Thomas and Rebeccah birth , Death and Marriage I even found myself  on there ( birth). It appears that Thomas and Rebeccah were in an area where records were not kept well. I think Hazel sugested that Parish records are the best bet. Perhaps at some point I can make a trip... but I think I would need some pointers for a possible direction to take on this. Any ideas ?
65 years old, time running out... I feel like Captain Hook with the crocodile chasing him, with a clock ticking away......tick  tick...
Rich

[Claxon]

aha.. here we go again :-) Great Baddow is (to me) right in Chelmsford, close to my recorded ancestors in Billericay, Wickford Basildon etc. I never thought of checking Great Baddow... different town, may as well be in Scotland. :-)
  My father worked for Marconi after the war, and also with the Radar Establishment. There is a Thomas Clarkson who started the Clarkson Steam Omnibus company ( 180 steam buses) no relation... anothe Clarkson who was famous with bicycles, and, my favourite, Laurence Clarkson , The Ranter, who preached Astrology and communion with God through... oh, never mind , but his   mistress( one of them) was a Mrs Star in Chelmsford. Strangely enough, he also used Clarkson, Claxon and Claxton.
It is VERY strange how my life has followed his, including printing pamphlets, astrology( my profession for a while) and starting churches on the matter ( 20 years ago)
  I have just finished reading his last pamphlet " The Lost Sheep Found". I don't doubt that he left more than a few " Little Bits of England" around. However, that was 1640.

 As my last latest known was born 1787, it is interesting that this is the year that the "American Refugees" returned to England.. So I checked the records for Claims to the Crown in New York, but if he was a Loyalist returning, he is not listed for claims paid. My ancestors were agricultural labourors,and there is a John Claxon who worked on Ann Boleyns farm in Battlebridge in 1640, and went to Virgina on the Bona Nova, so there is another possibility, but I can't follow through. He was the secretary to a Mr Treasuror on The Treasuror Plantation in Virginia. I am f the thought that this is a strong possibility.
 Anyway, extensive work... I hope readers found this entertaining, and hope I haven't gone on toomuch, but thats about it on my research.
 As I said, Thomas and Rebecah Claxon, lost in time somewhere.
Rich

[lizdb]

:-) Great Baddow is (to me) right in Chelmsford, close to my recorded ancestors in Billericay, Wickford Basildon etc. I never thought of checking Great Baddow... different town, may as well be in Scotland. :-)
 

Great Baddow is an old village, next to Chelmsford.
Basildon is a "new town" about 8, maybe 10 miles away!
Billericay, Wickford etc are all separate towns.

We still havent clarified if the Basildon Hall you first mention was actually in Chelmsford, or in Basildon. Or what the document about Thomas's birth actually is .... etc .

You mention in one of your posts (12th post on this thread) that someone mentions Basildon Hall on a census - have you got the reference for that? would be useful to look at.

[Claxon]

8 to 10 miles away... thats how far we  go for a morning walk.... some people commute for hours, and are glad they live nearby :-) According to my maps, Great Baddow is almost in the center of Chelmsford proper... anyway. As you have said, Basildon is a fairly new town, incorporated in 1960 or so.... I will have  to find my original documents... but I found them in the online version of the census
 I am not sure of the year, but in this census it mentioned all family members in one residence, perhaps 1851, living together while the Grandfather ( Thomas) mentions he was born in 1787 in Basildon Hall. Thats good enough for me.

 All I am doing is looking for a Thomas and Rebeccah Claxon ( parents) in perhaps a marriage certificate in the general area, around 1745- 1787. As far as proving the place of their sons birth, I don't get it. Something is either there, or it isn't, regarding any records regarding Thomas and Rebaccah. T o put it colloquially, there ain't any. I have searched all records within thousands of miles, including the Loyalist registers on both sides of the pond.
 I just thought my query might trigger a bell somewhere.
 Please, lets just leave it alone.
  Thanks to all
Have a great Christmas and New Year !
Rich