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John Cottrell

Posted by Terry Cottrell on 27/1/2023, 11:26 am

I have been reseaching my family on find my past and have come to a standstill and wondered if anyone could help.
My 3 times great grandfather John Cottrell married a lady called Charlotte Young on the 5th December 1831 in Holcombe Rogus.
John was born in 1810/11 and I would love to know his parents.

If I need to become a member or pay for the information please let me know and I would gladly do this.

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Deborah on 27/1/2023, 2:25 pm, in reply to "John Cottrell"

Both John & Charlotte were described as 'sojourners' - so not resident in the parish, although they were there long enough to have banns called.
John & Charlotte baptised 2 children in Tiverton and one in Sampford Peverell. By 1841, John & Charlotte were living in Somerset, described as not born in the county. They were still there in 1851, with John's place of birth given as Uffculme and Charlotte's as Payhembury. I would try to search Uffculme's baptisms - they are online via FamilySearch. John died in Axbridge in 1889. There is a John baptised at Burlescombe in 1811 (approx 4 miles from Uffculme).

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Terry Cottrell on 27/1/2023, 7:07 pm, in reply to "Re: John Cottrell"

Thank you very much Deborah I will certainly try that.

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Roger Donne on 28/1/2023, 9:28 am, in reply to "Re: John Cottrell"

I see from the census data for John that his estimated birth date is 1812. Using Familysearch, the closest match I could get is for John Cotterell baptised to parents John and Elizabeth on 31 Mar 1811 at Burlescombe (see https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NVND-T9G ) . From the map and I can see that Burlescombe is a neighbouring parish to Uffculme.

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Terry Cottrell on 28/1/2023, 10:23 pm, in reply to "Re: John Cottrell"

Thanks Roger, I think this may well be him, his date of birth in every census ranged from 1810-1812 but it says 1811 on his burial record which I presume would be more reliable.

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Judith on 29/1/2023, 9:18 am, in reply to "Re: John Cottrell"

found a possible sister, Jane born 1812 daughter of Solomon and Elizabeth.
Given that even at the death people might not have known how old he was, (no paperwork then for births), there is a JOhn baptised 15.4.1816, son of a Mary, he is base born. Also there is a James buried 31.3.1816 aged 3 weeks, no baptism, so perhaps she had twins?

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Judith on 30/1/2023, 1:01 pm, in reply to "Re: John Cottrell"

Looking at the maps Burlescombe seems a good choice, not far away, might be that it was nearer to where they were living, if they were living at the edge of the parish, Burlescombe church might have been nearer to walk to? I have that occurring, born in one parish but baptised in nearest church which was in adjacent parish. Parents were John and Elizabeth
31.3.1811
Did John and Charlotte have a son Dennis? Think if they had he could have been named after another son of John and Elizabeth baptised 1814 Burlescombe. Which to me would confirm the 1811 baptism being a good choice.

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Terry Cottrell on 30/1/2023, 8:57 pm, in reply to "Re: John Cottrell"

Thank you Judith that matches up with what I believe, his parents were John and Elizabeth Lucas.
I found a sister Elizabeth born in 1809 did'nt know about Dennis, but they did indeed have a son called Dennis William who was born after they had moved to Somerset.
I have looked at the old parish maps and Burlescombe, Holcombe Rogus and Uffculme are all next to each other so it all seems to make sense.

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Terry Cottrell on 30/1/2023, 9:12 pm, in reply to "Re: John Cottrell"

Hi Judith, another thing that ties them altogether is their occupations.
John 1811 and two of his sons were carpenters and John his father was a chair maker working with wood I would presume.

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Roger Donne on 31/1/2023, 8:16 am, in reply to "Re: John Cottrell"

Using Familysearch, apart from the baptism of John Cottrell 1811, the other family events which I can find associated with John and Elizabeth Cottrell in and around Burlescombe are as follows:

Elizabeth Cottrell
Christening 1 January 1809
Uffculme, Devon, England, United Kingdom
Parents: John Cottrell, Elizabeth

Dennis Cottrell
Christening 9 October 1814
Burlescombe, Devon, England, United Kingdom
Parents: John Cottrell, Elizabeth

William Cotterell
Christening 17 January 1819
Burlescombe, Devon, England, United Kingdom
Parents: Elizabeth Cotterell (widow)

I suspect their marriage is recorded in the Exeter BTs as: John Cotterell of Burlescombe and Elizabeth Lucas of Collumpton (sic) on 23 April 1806 at Burlescombe. There seems to be some confusion as to the date (1805 or 1806) but after examining the image (see
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G94Y-98F8?i=233&cc=2515875&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQPWR-8YGP ) I think it's 1806.

The births seem to be well spaced. I wonder if John the elder was a travelling craftsman who was often resident in other parishes?

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Terry Cottrell on 2/2/2023, 7:34 pm, in reply to "Re: John Cottrell"

Thank you Roger, it appears that John(1782) must had died in 1818 so I have been searching for that but have found nothing yet.

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Roger Donne on 5/2/2023, 1:03 am, in reply to "Re: John Cottrell"

I see that one of the sources extracted on Familysearch which records the baptism at Burlescombe of William to the widow Elizabeth gives a place of residence as No Mans Land - see https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NXB-DC2L . If such things are of interest it should be possible to get an idea of where the Cottrell family may have lived.
The area known as Nomansland can be found on modern maps and on the tithe map of the 1840s which is available online by navigating the Devon County Council website at https://www.devon.gov.uk/historicenvironment/tithe-map/. This shows Nomansland to be very sparsely populated with only a farmhouse and a couple of cottages with gardens, amongst arable fields and orchards. The area seems be on the very edge of the parish of Burlescombe, within 100 metres of the Uffculme parish boundary, with the nearest centre of habitation at the village of Uffculme just down the road – easy to see why John junior would have said that he was born at Uffculme.

Re: John Cottrell

Posted by Terry Cottrell on 7/2/2023, 7:18 pm, in reply to "Re: John Cottrell"

Thank you very much Roger, that is very interesting.
I have found it on the maps and I am going to take a trip down there in the summer to have a look around and also where John junior got married in Holcombe Rogus.

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