CROASDELL FAMILY - POTTED HISTORIES - BRANCHES
John Croasdell and Ellen Guy
John Croasdell 1758 - 1804 was the fifth child and third son of James Croasdell and Jane Guest. He was born at Plumgreen, Finsthwaite and baptised at St Peter's church there on the 3rd December 1758. Nothing much is known of him until he married Ellen Guy on 7 May 1781, also at Finsthwaite, and at that time he was described as a cooper. Later he became a farmer and when he died aged 46 on 26 October 1804 he was farming at Hampsfield Hall, Cartmel. A death notice in The Cumberland Pacquet newspaper on 6th November 1804 refers to John having been "a member of the Samaritan Society of Newton and the first payable member that has died since its establishment, which was thirteen years yesterday." (Any information about this Society would be welcome)
John & Ellen had 8 children. The first three were born when their parents were living at Plumgreen, Finsthwaite. The fourth was born at Nook and there is no mention in the register of the birthplace of the last 4. All the children were baptised at Finsthwaite church. Unfortunately the parish register does not give the father's occupation at this period so it isn't clear when John turned to farming.
NB It is probably worth mentioning at this point that the lack of personal detail in some registers and the propensity for giving children the same names in different branches of the family can make it difficult to correctly place people in their family groups and assign their baptisms, marriages and burials with 100% certainty. The Croasdells (with various surname spellings) lived primarily in the parishes of Finsthwaite, Colton and Cartmel at this time and were closely related. Sometimes identifying the right person is a matter of eliminating all other possible candidates. In other cases additional evidence is needed to fully support initial, or even current, assumptions. But in the case of John & Ellen's family the existence of a detailed will for their son John (died 1864) has been a great help in confirming some of the family relationships.
John and Ellen had eight children
- James 1782 - 1850
- Born 23 February 1782 at Plumgreen and baptised the following day at Finsthwaite
- Married Anne (Nancy) Couperthwaite on 7 Nov 1811. They also had 8 children and one of their grandson's went to Australia
- James was a woodmonger and the family is found in the census in 1841- living at The Flags in Cartmel, and in Lower Allithwate, Cartmel in 1851
- Buried at Cartmel 3 March 1850 aged 68
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- Mary 1784 - ?
- Born 26th February 1784 at Plumgreen. Baptised at Finsthwaite 3rd March
- Illegitimate son John Croasdell - For John's descendants Click Here
- Married Robert Garnett 6th April 1807 at Lindale Chapel, Cartmel and had other children. In 1826 their son George Garnett was apprenticed as a chairmaker to William Croasdell of Hawkshead.
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- John 1786 - 1864
- Born 7 June 1786 at Plum Green and baptised 12th June at Finsthwaite
- Married firstly Jane Grainger of Ulverston on 15th February 1817 at Cartmel
- Married secondly to Sarah - mentioned as his wife in his will dated 1853
- Sarah was born about 1800 in Middlesex and her 82 year old widowed mother was known as Sarah White, a surgeon's widow, in 1861
- Died 28th September 1864 and buried at Cartmel on 3rd October
- Described as a "contractor of Ulverston" when his will was proved in November 1866. But in the 1861 census he was a woodmonger when he and Sarah were living at Sunderland Terrace, Ulverston.
- Will leaves bequests to the children of his late brother James; of his late brother Henry; of his late sister Elizabeth and shares in his estate to his brother George, sister Mary and sister Eleanor. It also refers to John Croasdell the son of his sister Mary Croasdell and to Mary's other "lawful" children.
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- Henry 1788 - 1848
- Born 7th April 1788 at Nook and baptised on 20th April at Finsthwaite
- Married Elizabeth Noble on 9 November 1833 at Cartmel when he was described as a husbandman
- They had four children. Three were born at Church town, Cartmel and Barber Green and the fourth was born (1846) and died (1848) in Ulverstone workhouse
- The family seem to have had a hard life and Henry also died in 1848 in Ulverston Workhouse on 25th March. He was buried on 28th March at Cartmel aged 60
- Elizabeth died 11th June 1887 at Ulverstone
- The descendants of the third son Henry have been traced into the 20th century by which time they had moved to Barrow.
- This family intermittently spelled the surname Croasdale and this became the main spelling for the descendants
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- Jenny/Jane 1790 - 1842
- Jenny was born on 21st March 1790 and baptised on 25th April at Finsthwaite
- She died on 13th May 1842 at Bouth and was buried at Cartmel on the 16th - her age being noted as 51
- In 1841 she was living at Bouth. Her death doesn't seem to have been recorded in the General Registration indexes.
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- George 1792 - 1864
- Born 30th June 1792 and baptised at Finsthwaite on 1st July
- Married Ellen Law on 10th November 1823 at Cartmel. The couple had 5 daughters and 2 sons but the male line seems to have died out
- George farmed at Hazelrigg, near Cartmel for many years and the family are found there in the censuses for 1841 and 1851. Ellen is not seen with the family in 1841 and George is a widower by 1851 so it seems likely that Ellen died sometime before the 1841 census. Ellen's burial has not been found.
- George died 18th November 1864. His will was proved 13th February 1865 but is not particularly informative. His estate was valued at under £200
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- Ellen 1795 - ?
- Born 15th August 1795 and baptised at Finsthwaite on 30th August
- It is not known what happened to Ellen.She is not mentioned in her brother, John's, will and so possibly died as a child
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- Elizabeth 1797 - ?
- Born 27th September 1797 and baptised on 20th October
- She died before her brother John made his will in 1853 but by that time seems to have married and had children. Details are yet to be discovered.