apprentice – Our Casbon Journey

This is a follow-on to an earlier post titled “Stuck on John,” in which I described how my research into the origins of the Meldreth branch of the Casbon family hit a “brick wall.” I had been able to trace the ancestry to a John Casborn who married Anne Chamberlain in 1742.^[1] The problem was that there were at least two men named John Casb—— living in or near Meldreth at the time, and there wasn’t enough information to know for certain which one was the husband of Anne. But now, I’ve discovered evidence that puts me on much firmer ground about who “my” John might be.

First, let’s review what I know about my ancestor John. After their marriage, John and Anne had five children, according to baptismal records: Thomas (my ancestor, baptized in 1743), James (1747, buried 1748), James (1748), Mary (1750), and Anna (1754).^[2] Anne, John’s wife, died in 1770.^[3] John was described as “parish clerk” when he was buried in 1796.^[4]

Detail of burial record, 1796, from Meldreth Parish registers. “John Casborn, Parish Clerk, aged 75. January 4.”
(Click on image to enlarge)

We can be reasonably sure that all of these records refer to the same man because there are no other men named John Casb—— recorded in the parish records of Meldreth and its vicinity during this time frame. Since the burial record gives his age as seventy-five, we can extrapolate a birth year of 1720 or 1721. This is very helpful.

The only person I have found who matches all of this information is John Casborn, the son of Thomas and Mary (Jeap), who was baptized in the village of Orwell, about two and one-half miles from Meldreth, in November 1721.^[5]

Detail of baptism record, 1721, Orwell Parish registers, 1560-1877. “Nov. 26 John y[e] Son of
Thomas & Mary Casborn.” (Click on image to enlarge)

Map of southwestern Cambridgeshire, showing villages of Orwell and Meldreth.
(Google Maps – zoom in for greater detail

Notably, aside from his baptism, John does not appear again in Orwell parish records. This suggests that he moved elsewhere before his marriage and/or burial. How can we know if he is the same man who moved to Meldreth and later married Anne?

Here’s where the new evidence comes in, in the form of registers of duties paid for apprentices’ indentures. When a master took on (i.e., indentured) a new apprentice, he was paid a fee, usually by the parents of the apprentice. The master was required to pay a tax, or duty, on this fee. Records of apprenticeships, fees and duties were created by the Board of Stamps, and are now maintained by The National Archives of the UK.^[6] These records can be searched at Ancestry.com.

I found this record in the collection (you’ll need to click to be able to read it).

Detail from Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices Indentures, 9–12 July 1736.^[7] (Click on image to enlarge)

This record shows that “Will. Casbill of Mildred in Cambridge Cordwr. [cordwainer]” received a fee of four pounds, eleven shillings for the indenture of “John Casbill of Orwell” for a duration of four years, nine months, beginning “24 June last.” William Casbill was required to pay a duty of two shillings, three and one-half pence, based on the indenture fee.

The record is important because it connects John of Orwell to the village of Meldreth. He would have been about fifteen years old in 1736, an appropriate age for an apprentice. It’s odd that the term of indenture is only four years, nine months, since the usual apprenticeship was for seven years. It makes me wonder if William had been training John “off the books” for a couple of years before he paid the tax.

Who was his master, William Casbill? I don’t know for certain. One candidate is William Casbel, who was born in Meldreth in 1703 and was orphaned when his mother died in 1718.^[8] Another candidate is John’s paternal uncle, William Casbolt, baptized 1695 in nearby Barrington. There are burial records for William Casbel in 1741 and William Carsburn in 1756.^[9] Unfortunately, neither of these provide information about the deceased’s ages or occupations.

Incidentally, cordwainer is the old term for a shoemaker. There seems to have been a succession of cordwainers from Meldreth named Casb——. I wrote previously about John Casball, cordwainer, who paid duties for an apprentice in 1718 and died in 1727 (“a poor shoemaker”). He was followed by William of the 1736 indenture, who was followed by John of Orwell. Given the surname, it’s hard to believe these men weren’t all related in some way. It seems likely that the earlier John trained William to be a cordwainer, although I haven’t found any such records.

Getting back to John of Orwell, another apprenticeship record shows us that he remained in Meldreth as a master cordwainer following completion of his own apprenticeship.

Detail from Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices Indentures, 24–28 January 1774.^[10] (Click on image to enlarge)

This record shows that on January 28, 1774 “John Casbon of Meldreth in Co. of Cambridge Cordwainer” paid the indenture duty for an apprentice named Thomas Wing.

Thus, we have several points that can be connected to describe John’s life from his baptism in Orwell to his burial in Meldreth. Using the available records we can create this chronology:

1721: John Casborn, son of Thomas and Mary (Jeap), is baptized in Orwell
1736: John Casbill of Orwell is indentured as an apprentice to William Casbill of Meldreth
1742: “John Casborn of the Parish of Meldreth and Ann Chamberlain of this Parish” are married in Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, 18 January 1742
1743–1754: five children are born to John & Ann, including Thomas (baptized 1743)
1770: “Anne Casbull Wife of John Casbill” is buried at Meldreth
1774: John Casbon, cordwainer, indentures Thomas Wing as apprentice
1796: “John Casborn, Parish Clerk, aged 75” is buried at Meldreth

You may notice an inconsistency in this chronology. The burial record of 1796 describes John as the parish clerk, but not as a cordwainer. Could he have been both parish clerk and cordwainer? I believe the answer is yes. I’ll address this in the next post.

Considering all the evidence, I’m confident that this “brick wall” is gone, i.e., I believe John Casborn, baptized 1721 in Orwell, is my direct ancestor and the common ancestor for all the Casbons, Casbans and Casbens who descended from his children. What do you think?

As an epilogue to John’s story, we find that in 1797, Thomas Wing, John’s former apprentice and now a master cordwainer himself in Meldreth, indentured an apprentice of his own.^[11] The torch was passed.

^[1] Church of England. Wimpole Parish (Cambridgeshire, England), Bishop’s transcripts for Wimpole, 1599-1857, Casborn–Chamberlain marriage (1742); digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89PH-H6G9?i=121&cat=1317069 : accessed 7 June 2016), image 122 of 799.
^[2] Church of England, Meldreth Parish registers; accessed as “Parish registers for Meldreth, 1681-1877, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/210742), images 109-111 of 699; citing FHL microfilm 1,040,542, item 2.
^[3] Ibid, image 61 of 699.
^[4] Ibid, image 129 of 699; citing FHL microfilm 1,040,542, item 3.
^[5] Church of England, Parish of Orwell (Cambridgeshire), Parish Registers; accessed as “Parish Registers, 1560-1877,” browsable images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007567608?cat=210878 : accessed 26 December 2018), image 278 of 695; citing FHL microfilm 1,040,543, item 9.
^[6] “Board of Stamps: Apprenticeship Books,” The National Archives (http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9339 : accessed 23 December 2018).
^[7] “UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures, 1710-1811,” database with images, Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1851 : accessed 19 December 2018), 1735-1739 >image 339 of 909, 10 Jul 1736; citing The National Archives, IR-1/14, Kew.
^[8] Church of England, Meldreth Parish registers; accessed as “Parish registers for Meldreth, 1681-1877, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/210742), images 48 & 101 of 699; citing FHL microfilm 1,040,542, item 2.
^[9] Ibid., images 54 & 57 of 699.
^[10] “UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures, 1710-1811,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1851 : accessed 10 May 2018), 1770-1774 >images 732-3 of 1930, 28 Jan 1774; citing The National Archives, IR1/28, Kew.
^[11] “UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures, 1710-1811,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1851 : accessed 23 December 2018), 1794-1799 >imgs 424-5 of 1960, 20 Apr 1797; citing the National Archives, IR 1/ 68.

This record from 1718 caught my eye.^[1]

Record of apprenticeship duties paid by John Casball 12 Dec 1718. (Click on image to enlarge)

The original source for this record is a register of duties, or taxes, paid to the Board of Stamps in London by master trades- and craftsmen for the indenture of apprentices. When a master took on a new apprentice, he was paid a fee, usually by the parents of the apprentice.^[2] This fee was taxed at the rate of 2.5 percent, or 6 pence for every 1 pound.^[3]

Reading the entry, we can see that “John Casball of Meldreth Cambridge Cordwain^r” had an apprentice named James Sharbolt. The entry contains three dates, and I’m not completely sure what they mean. The first date, Friday, December 12 (far left) seems to be the date that the duty was recorded or received in London. The second date, October 29, might be the date the duty was paid. The third date, September 29^th, is the day the indenture (the formal apprenticeship agreement) began. Following the third date are the words “Comon Ind^r & Counterpt.” I believe these refer to the documents presented when the tax was paid: common indenture (the apprenticeship contract) and counterpart (a second copy of the contract). These would have been presented as proof of the apprenticeship and the amount paid to the master. The next column shows the term, or duration, of the apprenticeship: “7 yr fr 29 Sept ult,” meaning “seven years from last September 29.”

The columns on the far right show, first, the apprenticeship fee, with separate columns for pounds, shillings, and pence; and the tax paid against that fee, also in pounds, shillings, and pence. In this case, John Casball received a fee of four pounds to serve as James Sharbolt’s master, and he paid the tax of two shillings (equivalent to twenty-four pence).

The real reason this record caught my eye was the name, John Casball, and his occupation, Cordwainer. Casball is one of the many early versions of the surname that eventually settled down to become today’s Casbon (see my post “What’s in a Name?”). Being from Meldreth, John Casball is some sort of ancestor, although possibly not in my direct line. (My post, “Stuck on John,” explained why I haven’t been able to trace my ancestry back any farther than Thomas Casbon, born in 1743.^[4])

What was a cordwainer? In simple terms, a cordwainer was a shoemaker.^[5] The etymology of the word is interesting: it comes from Old French cordewan, “of Cordoba (Spain).”^[6] Originally, cordwainers used the finest goats’ leather from Cordoba, known as cordovan, to make their shoes.^[7] Cordwainers made shoes from new leather, as opposed to cobblers, who used old leather to repair shoes.^[8]

We know from his occupation and the fact that he took on an apprentice that John Casball was a master craftsman. What else do we know about him? This is where the going gets tough, in genealogical terms. Based on the fact that he signed an apprenticeship contract in 1718, he must have been born sometime in the 1600s, most likely in the latter half of the century. A likely candidate would be John Catsbold, the son of William and Ann, who was baptized in Melbourne in 1672.^[9]

Detail from parish records, Melbourne, Cambridgeshire: “John the Sonn of William and Ann Catsbold was baptized the first of July 1672.” (Click on image to enlarge)

However, in nearby Fowlmere, just another mile or two down the road from Melbourn, John Casbourne (son of John and Anne) was baptized in 1674.^[10] Either of these two men could plausibly be the cordwainer of the 1718 apprenticeship record.

The first mention we have of John living in Meldreth is the baptism of “Anne the daughter of John Cassbell and of Anne his wife” on June 29, 1712.^[11] (She was buried the next day.^[12]) Several other children were born (or buried) to John and Anne over the next several years. Although John’s occupation is not indicated in these records, there is no indication that another person with that name was living in Meldreth at the time, so he is probably our cordwainer. Unfortunately, I haven’t found the marriage record of John and Anne, so I don’t know her maiden name, nor when they were married.

As a skilled craftsman, John should have been on a higher social standing than most of the Casbon ancestors, who were agricultural laborers. However, it apparently did not mean he was on a higher economic status, as evidenced in the wording of his burial record: “John Cassbell, a poor shoemaker was buried in Woolen / March the 26th 1727.”^[13]

Detail from parish records, Meldreth, Cambridgeshire, burials 1727. (Click on image to enlarge)

His widow, Anne, was buried in Meldreth just five years later, in 1732.^[14]

As to the young apprentice, James Sharbolt, I have some ideas about who he was and where he was from, but no proof, so I will leave his history for someone else to discover.

^[1] England, Board of Stamps, Register of apprenticeship duties, p. 153 (penned), 12 Dec 1718, item 1, John Casball (master) & James Sharbolt (apprentice); imaged as “UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures, 1710-1811,”Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1851/GB1337-02184 : accessed 10 May 2018), 1715-1719 >image 1170 of 2631; citing The National Archives, IR1, piece 6.
^[2] “England Apprenticeship Indentures 1710 to 1811,” FamilySearch Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/England_Apprenticeship_Indentures_1710_to_1811 : accessed 10 May 2018), rev. 6 Sep 14, 17:53.
^[3] “England Trade Apprenticeship Records (National Institute),” FamilySearch Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/England_Trade_Apprenticeship_Records_(National_Institute) : accessed 10 May 2018), rev. 8 Sep 14, 21:07.
^[4] Jon Casbon, “Stuck on John,” 17 Feb 2017, Our Casbon Journey (https://casbonjourney.wordpress.com/2017/02/17/stuck-on-john/ : accessed 11 May 2018).
^[5] “Cordwainer,” Oxford Living Dictionaries (English) (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/cordwainer : accessed 11 May 2018).
^[6] Ibid.
^[7] “Welcome to the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers,” The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers (http://cordwainers.org/ : accessed 11 May 2018).
^[8] “What is a cordwainer,” The Honourable Cordwainers’ Company (http://www.thehcc.org/backgrnd.htm : accessed 11 May 2018).
^[9] Parish of Melbourn (Cambridgeshire, England), Parish Register, n.p. (previous page heading “Baptizings 1668”), record for John Catsbold, 1 Jul 1672; browsable image, “Parish registers for Melbourne, 1558-1877,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007567610?i=585&cat=210722 : accessed 10 May 2018), image 586 of 684; citing FHL microfilm 1,040,540, item 11.
^[10] “England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JWDS-8V4 : accessed 11 May 2018), John Casbourne, 4 Dec 1674; FHL microfilm 6,035,580.
^[11] Parish of Meldreth (Cambridgeshire, England), General Register [1682–1782], n.p. (baptisms 1707–12), Anne Cassbell, 29 Jun 1712; accessed as “Parish registers for Meldreth, 1681-1877,” browsable images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007567609?cat=210742 : accessed 29 August 2017), image 102 of 699; citing FHL microfilm 1,040,542, item 2.
^[12] Ibid (burials 1704–13); image 47 of 699.
^[13] Ibid (burials 1726-9), John Cassbell, 26 Mar 1727; image 50 of 699.
^[14] Ibid (burials 1729-31), Anne Cassbel, 9 Mar 1731/2; image 51 of 699.

Tag: apprentice

Musings on John

John Casball, Cordwainer