George Chapple Standard - A Change of Name

I have written before about information I have found and questions I have been asked by family researchers, as an Online Parish Clerk. In many of the cases, there was a situation where an individual or a family changed or went by different surnames over the years. Following is one of those cases.

A query came from a descendant of a man that some records said was born in Cornwood Parish but we had information on George Chapple, alias George Chapple Standard, from his military service record dated 1854, that he was born in Denbury, Devon. Denbury is about 24 miles east of Cornwood. Other information said he was from Cornwood. The descendant asked me what I could find.

1854 – portion of military service record for George Chapple, alias George Chapple Standard, completed on his induction in the navy, showing his birth place as Denbury, Devon

1825 August 21 – baptism record for George Chapple Standard in Cornwood Parish, Devon, base child of Margaret Standard, servant, of Lutton, Cornwood

I found that George was, in fact, baptized in Cornwood Parish on August 21, 1825, the base child of Margaret Standard. Chapple was shown as part of his forename. The military records said he was born August 2, 1824. It appears he may have lied about being older than he was to be able to get into the navy, not an unusual case. It also may be that he was born in Denbury but came to Cornwood with his mother, possibly for reasons of her employment, before he turned one year old, and was baptized there.

Subsequent searches of census and other records, showed his mother and her family were from Denbury. She apparently went back there shortly after his birth. A Margaret Standard, possibly the same woman, married a William Haddy in Denbury, in 1830.

On censuses between 1861 and 1901, there is different information about George’s place of birth. He has not been identified on either the 1841 or 1851 censuses. The various censuses indicate he was born in either later 1825 or early 1826, except for the 1891 census which indicates 1824-25. All entries, however, show his surname as Chapple.

According to his descendants, he married Maria Angel on August 1, 1849, under the name of George Chapple Standard. His designation at that time was seaman. The name of his father was not shown on the marriage certificate. George has not been found on the 1851 census but his wife, Maria Standard, is shown living in Denbury.

According to George’s descendants, his first three children were baptized George Herbert Standard in 1856, William Angel Standard in 1859, and Henry Standard in 1861. The civil birth records for George Herbert and William Angel, in Newton Abbott Registration District, shows their surname as Standard but a birth record for Henry, in the same registration district, shows his surname as Chapple. On the 1861 census, and from then on, they are all shown with the surname of Chapple. George’s fourth son, James, born in 1867, was also registered with the surname Chapple.

1851 England Census – Denbury Parish, Devon – Maria Standard, born in Newton Abbott, Devon; shown as married but living alone

1861 England Census – Denbury Parish, Devon – George Chapple, seaman in Royal Navy, born in Cornwood, Devon, living with wife, Mary, born in Newton [Abbott], Devon, and three children, all born in Denbury, Devon

1871 England Census – Devonport, East Stonehouse Parish, Plymouth, Devon – George Chapple, naval pensioner, with wife, Maria, and four children; all family members shown as born in Denbury, Devon

1881 England Census – Denbury, Devon – George Chapple, widower, agricultural labourer, living with son, James; both shown as born in Denbury, Devon

Maria died in 1879. George married Susanna Grant in 1882 using the name of George Standard Chapple, with his father shown as John Chapple. There are a couple of John Chapples, born in Cornwood, who could be his father – one in 1806 and one in 1796 – but confirmation of either cannot be made.

1891 England Census – Denbury, Devon – George Chapple, farm labourer, living with wife Susana and six children; all family members shown as born in Denbury, Devon

1901 England Census – Denbury, Devon – George Chapple, widower, naval pensioner, born in Cornwood, Devon, living with four of his children, all born in Denbury, Devon

George died in 1908, aged 86 according to a descendant, which would make his birth year either 1821 or 1822. There is a death index for a George Chapple in the June quarter of 1908 (Totnes Registration District, Devon) that says this man was 87 (born 1821).

So there is a bit of a conundrum – with name, place and date of birth. And where was he in 1851? According to the service record, he did not join the navy until 1854. But his 1849 marriage record says he was a seaman. Was he privately employed in the merchant marine service? Most importantly, what happened prior to 1861 to make him want to change his name – and that of all the members of his family as well?

Baptism images reproduced here are used with the kind permission of the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office (PWDRO), Census records are the property of The National Archives and published under their Open Government License. Images were downloaded from Ancestry or FindMyPast , or copied from my own microfiche.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He serves as the Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.

Historical Trends as Recorded in Parish Registers

An analysis of long or short term trends in the annual numbers of births/baptisms, marriages and deaths/burials (BMDs) is a great way to add to the understanding of the history of ancestors’ lives and the areas in which they lived. The effects of major events such as wars, famines, industrial developments and migration can be seen in BMD summaries. As an Online Parish Clerk, I have collected and transcribed the data from the registers of the parishes I administer in Southwest Devon: Cornwood, Harford, Plympton St. Mary and Plympton St. Maurice (Figure 1).

Figure 1 – index map to parishes in Southwest Devon

Important local historical events can be observed on the graphs as spikes and troughs and represent rapid changes from year-to-year. Some of those which can be noted on the diagrams are supported by comments recorded in the parish registers.

There was a very prominent increase in the number of marriages in Plympton St. Maurice parish between 1653 and 1658 (Figure 2). This was, of course, during the Interregnum (1649-1660), after Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan government had seized power. In 1653, Parliament enacted a law regarding the registration of birth, marriages and burials – An Act touching Marriages and the Registring thereof. The whole act can be read on the British History Online website.

Figure 2 – total marriages, by year, between 1648 and 1665, for Plympton St. Mary and Plympton St. Maurice parishes, Devon

Beginning on September 29, 1853, those wishing to be married were to provide information as to their names, places of residence and parents or guardians to a Register, an individual appointed to keep a registration book. A contract between the parties was then published in advance of the marriage, in much the manner as banns had been published by the church in prior years.

Marriages were to be performed by a Justice of the Peace “in the publique Meetingplace commonly called the Church or Chappel; or (if the parties so to be married shall desire it) in the Market-place next to the said Church or Chappel” three weeks following posting of the information about the couple. The Church was restricted from baptizing or marrying individuals. Birth dates, rather than baptism dates were recorded by the Register and those wishing to get married generally had to travel to the nearest market town for a ceremony. In some cases, the register books of the Church continued to be used by the new Register. Many of these reverted back to the Vicars at the end of the Interregnum. In other cases, new books were produced. In many areas these new books were destroyed when the Monarchy was re-established in 1660.

Plympton is the central market town for both Plympton St. Mary and Plympton St. Maurice parishes. The ecclesiastical registers were used before, during and after the Interregnum period which allows a unique comparison of entries. Figure 3 shows the first two pages of the Plympton Register with contracts published on the left side and marriages records on the right.

Figure 3 – marriage register for Plympton St. Maurice parish, 1653; marriage contracts published on left side, marriages recorded on right side

An examination of the rapid increase in marriages in Plympton St. Maurice shows that most of the couples came from nearby parishes (Figure 4), almost all within about 5 miles from Plympton Town. Total marriages peaked at 53 in 1654 from the normal annual numbers of two or three in prior years. The number of marriages in Plympton St. Mary parish stayed relatively constant during the period, except for a slight drop in 1656-57. The number of couples from Plympton St. Maurice more than doubled from the normal three per year. The very large numbers of marriage were mostly for couples who came from many nearby parishes. All of them lived within five miles of Plympton Town.

Figure 4 – total marriages, by year, between 1648 and 1665, for Plympton St. Maurice parish, Devon, showing breakdown of place of origin of grooms

The policies of the Cromwell Government were not universally popular as shown by a comment written into the first page of the new registers for both marriages and burials, probably by the parish Vicar of Clerk who took over at the end of the Interregnum period (Figures 3 & 5). The writer noted that “This is ye hour & power of Darkness” likely referring to the beginning of the Cromwell period.

Figure 5 – top portion of burial register showing note written in different hand

Family historians looking for birth, marriage or death information for this period in English history may well find the data in the records of the nearest town rather than in church registers of the parishes in which the individuals lived.

Marriage images reproduced here are used with the kind permission of the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office (PWDRO),  Images were downloaded from FindMyPast , or copied from my own files or microfiche.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He serves as the Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.

Confusion in Names and Places

Here is another example of how family historians can be confused by different surname spellings and references to places. As the OPC for Plympton St. Mary parish in Southwest Devon, I get lots of queries about birth, marriage and death records for that area. Unfortunately Plympton St. Mary is also the name of the Registration District for civil registration of births, marriage and deaths after 1837. The two are often confused with each other.

I recently received the following request for information from a lady in Australia: “Would you have any information on the birth of William Sherrell born about 1820, also who were his parents. William is my 2nd great grandfather. I believe his son, James Cawse Sherrell, born and died in 1850 is buried at St. Mary. Any information on this family would be very helpful.”

There were a number of facts here that should have allowed us to find the family: their names, of course; the birth dates of the father and son; and the possible birth and burial place of the son. But nothing showed up in my inspection of the birth or burial registers of either Plympton St. Mary or Plympton St. Maurice parishes, for which I have copies of all of the registers.

I asked the researcher about the references she had used to identify the people concerned and got some additional information back: “James Cawse Sherrell was born and died in 1850 at Plympton St Mary, Devon. Ref: England and Wales birth and death records. I thought there might be records relating to his grandparents, James and Honour Sherrell.  The other family connection are the Cawse family. William Sherrell married Jane Cawse in 1845 at Plymstock, Devon. I have been trying to find any records for John and Jane Cawse who were the parents of Jane who married William Sherrell.”

Now I had some more names and areas that might help in the search: the “England and Wales” records, presumably the civil registration of births and deaths; an 1845 marriage in Plymstock parish; possible parents’ names for both William Sherrell and his wife, Jane; and the maiden name of Jane. I did not know, at this point, whether the family historian had actually seen any birth, death or marriage entries, from either the General Record Office or parish registers, but I had a suspicion that, for the 1850 birth and death, at least, she was looking at Plympton St. Mary Registration District, not Plympton St. Mary parish. The registration district contains records from 24 individual Devon parishes, including Plympton St. Mary, Plympton St. Maurice and Plymstock.

I did a quick search on FindMyPast for William or Jane Sherrell, using the years provided and came up with possible baptisms for William in Egg Buckland parish and Jane in Plympton St. Maurice parish. An 1845 marriage entry was found for William Sherrell, a wheelwright, and Jane Cawse, in Plymstock, that gave the couple’s ages and names of their fathers. The groom’s father was James Sherrell, labourer, and the bride’s father was John Cawse, shoemaker.

I also found an 1851 census record for the family of William and Jane Sherwill, living in Plymstock parish. The surname seemed too similar to Sherrell to be anyone but the right people, especially when additional data showed: their ages fit with the other records; he was a wheelwright; he was born in Egg Buckland; and she was born in Plympton. There were two children listed, Sarah, age four and born “at sea” and William, two months of age and born in Plymstock. From there I went back to the baptism register of Plympton St. Maurice and found Jane’s baptism in 1823, along with three siblings. The father was shown as a cordwainer which seemed to confirm this was the right person.

The main differences between what the Australian descendant had, and what I found in the parish records, were the names of the parents: James and Elizabeth Sherell, rather than James and Honour; and John and Elizabeth Cawse, rather than John and Jane Cawse.

A further search on Ancestry yielded an 1853 passenger list to New South Wales, Australia for the same family. The family researcher confirmed this was her family and the entry was one of the records that started her on her journey through Devon sources.

At this point we believe we are the right track with these two families and the search has expanded to include the Devon parishes of Broadhempston, Egg Buckland. St, Budeaux and Stoke Damerel, as well. Unfortunately not all of them have Online Parish Clerks like me, so assistance will be sought from the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office and the Devon Family History Society, among others places.

The important things to note in this example, which allowed us to identify members of the families of William Sherrell and Jane Cawse were the similar sounding surname on the 1851 England census and the fact that the reference Plympton St. Mary was for the registration district, not the parish. Both are very common mistakes encountered in the search for ancestors.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He serves as the Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.