COCKAYNES -DERBYSHIRE

[ericthepenguin1]

Hi

Can anyone out there help me with, what to me, is a  mistake made by a 19th century genealogist, ( I apologise if it is me that is wrong!)

If you use the link below it takes you to information about the Cockayne family of Derbyshire.

http://www.cokayne.net/

Now if you look at  AECM 6 you will see a Caleb Cockayne, 1650 - 1704 If you then go to AECM 2 it shows his father (?) George Cockayne, DOD 1623. Something is wrong somewhere.

I believe Caleb is my direct relative but his connection with George appears to be dodgy. Any comments gratefully received

Best wishes

Eric

[Derbysderek]

I suggest someone has missed out a generation..and the pair GEORGE COCKAYNE d 1623 and ELIZABETH (nee ANGELL) dies 1622..are Caleb's Grandparents.............I suggest!! no more than that..but a look at the Ashbourne Marriages for about 1645-1650 .might be the road to the truth!!

I'm looking as we speak!!

Derek.

[ericthepenguin1]

Thanks Derek.

i have had a quick look at the Cockayne memorandum and the author Andries Cockayne has written, (at page 206)

'Francis Cokayne, probably the eldest son of George Cockayne and his wife Elizabeth Angell, resided at Chaddesden and died there in October 1658

I did wonder myself if Andries had jumped a generation so Francis may have been the father of Caleb. Clearly though we need to find a birth record for Caleb which may assist us. I know Andries states a date of birth of 1650 for Caleb, I do not know though where this was sourced from

Regards

Eric

[Keithlb]

George Cokayne of Chaddesden married Elizabeth Aunger (not Angell). She was born between 1556 and 1565, the daughter of Lawrence Aunger and Agnes Cokain. Lawrence Aunger died 1565 and his will (proved in Spondon) explains that Agnes had been married previously to a Richard Cokain and had 2 sons, Thomas and Henry, by him. Richard Cokain died 1556 but his will is missing, only an inventory survives. Agnes had surname Pegge originally. Richard Cokain is almost certainly very distantly related to the Chaddesden Cokaynes.
Thomas and Henry were therefore half brothers to Elizabeth Aunger.
How Caleb fits in is a bit of a mystery. There may be more than one Caleb Cokayne.
Andries Cockayne didn't always get things right.
Some records have George Cokayne's father - George Cokayne of Ballidon - being a son of Sir Edward Cokayne. This is definitely wrong. Dates don't agree and the Institute of Heralds also agree pointing out that had he been connected he would have appeared in visitations of Derbyshire and he doesn't.
George Cokayne of Ballidon is most likely one of the Ballidon branch but have not found out exactly where he fits in.
If I solve the Caleb mystery I will post.

[Keithlb]

I believe I have resolved the question of the identity of the shield on the seal on Caleb’s will.
If we start with the book Cockayne Memoranda by A E Cockayne (1873) there is a transcription of Caleb Cockayne’s will written 1702 on pages 129/130. At the end he lists the signatories as N A Prince, Jer Huntingdon Junior and ‘another’.
On page 170 he refers to the coat of arms on the seal after Caleb's signature as believed to be those of the Angell family of Chaddesden whose heiress married George Cockayne. On page 171 he has a drawing of the seal with the name Angell underneath.

I have looked at the original will on the Find My Past website. The third signatory is actually someone with the name Heathcote (can’t decipher the first name). The seal on the will is not that of Caleb but actually the seal of the third witness to the will. The seal is the early shield of the Heathcote family - 3 roundels with crosses on a plain silver background.

In addition I have also found (in the earlier post above) that there never was a family with the name ‘Angell’. Elizabeth was the daughter of Lawrence Aunger (will dated 1566).

So there is no real evidence that Caleb was related to Elizabeth Aunger (Angell). It was conjecture by A E Cockayne based on his mistake in thinking that the coat of arms on the seal on Caleb’s will belonged to Caleb and was that of a family called Angell. The coat of arms is that of the Heathcote family and that of the third witness to the will. There was also no family with the name Angell - it was Aunger.

This may not help with who Caleb was but does help with who he wasn't. It also clears up the identity of the family shield on the seal on Caleb's will - it was the seal of the Heathcote family - the third signatory to the will. It is the earlier shield used up until the early 1700's after which the background was ermine.