{"id":33,"date":"2014-09-03T13:07:37","date_gmt":"2014-09-03T13:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chaldecott.com\/?page_id=33"},"modified":"2018-11-10T14:18:31","modified_gmt":"2018-11-10T14:18:31","slug":"the-early-days","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chaldecott.com\/?page_id=33","title":{"rendered":"The Early Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Early Years\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The Family Name<\/p>\n

It is not recorded when our ancestors first came to this country, although it was probably some time before 1166,\u00a0\u00a0this is the date recorded in the heralds visitation of\u00a0\u00a01623 as being the date that the arms were first granted, to whom they were granted it was not mentioned, if it had been it would only have been a Christian name followed by the persons present home or place of origin due to the fact that at this time surnames as such were not in common usage.<\/p>\n

Where the family name was derived from will probably always be a mystery,<\/p>\n

The most commonly suggested\u00a0\u00a0origin is that it was based on the ancient Norse or English meaning of\u00a0\u00a0a place where people and animals retired during the winter months.<\/p>\n

I do not believe this was the case in the origins of our family name,\u00a0\u00a0since in the earliest references to the name\u00a0\u00a0both in the original and transcribed documents, it has always been written beginning\u00a0\u00a0with Ch\u00a0\u00a0In earlier times\u00a0\u00a0referred to as being De-Chalcotte with or without the \u201d E\u201d at the end. In later years it was referred to as we spell it today, but there again it some times had the E on the end, one can quite see how the present day spelling evolved, through common usage in pronouncing the name, the DE would easily get transposed, from the beginning to the middle, particularly taking into consideration the fact that a great many people in those days were unable to read or write, and from some of the documents, and has I have seen some of the scribes spelling , grammar, arrangement\u00a0\u00a0of text and spelling of names left a lot to be desired.<\/p>\n

Another reason that I don\u2019t believe that it was derived from the Norse origin,\u00a0\u00a0even though the Normans, original roots were, Viking, it is due to the fact, that most Norman families, were named after the region from whence they came in Normandy.<\/p>\n

There is in earlier records similar names, of\u00a0\u00a0people residing in Normandy\u00a0\u00a0at those early times\u00a0\u00a0such as Reinbaldo De-cherlecote, and a\u00a0\u00a0Walterius Couldercourt,\u00a0\u00a0there was also a\u00a0\u00a0henrico Caldecotte a fish merchant of Dieppe<\/p>\n

In the thirteenth century\u00a0\u00a0there were numerous mentions of the name Caldecott, mostly in connection with Essex, whether or not these people were really\u00a0\u00a0Chaldecotts or not\u00a0who knows ?.\u00a0\u00a0The name of Caldecott after this time gets very little mention unless it is an error in reference to one of our family,\u00a0\u00a0the name did however became more commonplace again from the 17th<\/sup>\u00a0century, in certain parts of the country,\u00a0\u00a0This arose through the surge at about this period for people rushing to prove their ancestral roots, to the heralds during their visitations and in order to do this inventing\u00a0\u00a0a false antecedence.<\/p>\n

There Has\u00a0\u00a0been a suggestion that the original name was derived from someone called Charles De-court meaning he was the servant of the king. I am afraid that this could not be the case since\u00a0\u00a0as I have been given to believe, that the name Charles did not did not come into common usage until several centuries later, it was suggested that this was mentioned in the doomsday book, but alas I have searched through the indexes of a number of transcriptions of the Doomsday\u00a0\u00a0Book, and have not found any reference, to the name Charles in any of them.<\/p>\n

In the early days the matter of surnames, was very confusing and complex and in reality the fact, is that if a person bears a certain family name, it does not necessarily mean that this individual was in the direct \u201cblood line\u201d of\u00a0\u00a0the family.\u00a0\u00a0It is said\u00a0\u00a0that servants, and others living within, a family home, could also have borne the, same name as their employer.<\/p>\n

In those days a great many men did not marry until later in life so therefore this lead to, a\u00a0\u00a0great number of\u00a0\u00a0widows these, would remarry, and the children, would often take the family name, of the<\/p>\n

new husband.\u00a0\u00a0The adopting of\u00a0\u00a0the new husbands, family name was done as an obvious matter of convenience, for all concerned, particularly in respect of inheritance, and the passing on of the family name.<\/p>\n

In my younger days\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0\u00a0noticed around the Dorset\u00a0\u00a0countryside,\u00a0\u00a0that among the villagers, the\u00a0\u00a0name was\u00a0\u00a0quite commonly referred to as chalcott\u00a0\u00a0and\u00a0\u00a0sometimes by the older people as chilcot\u00a0\u00a0this\u00a0\u00a0proves\u00a0\u00a0point that one should not place a too great a provenance on the family name.\u00a0\u00a0When\u00a0\u00a0I was engaged in my researches concerning the Shaftesbury\u00a0family,\u00a0\u00a0I found that one of the properties they had owned in Somerset,\u00a0\u00a0was in some sort census return was mentioned as being now owned by the Chilcot family, this would indeed be a strange coincidence if two families with such similar\u00a0\u00a0sounding names had lived in the same property.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It makes one wonder if indeed some of the chilcots of somerset\u00a0\u00a0were originally Chaldecott.\u00a0\u00a0Chilcot is quite a common name in that part of the country.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\"corfe<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Corfe Castle and The Doomsday Book<\/b>.<\/p>\n

It has been suggested that a Charles was mentioned in the above publication, in reference to Corfe Castle this, also sadly appears to be incorrect due to the fact that the castle at this time did not exist the, spot on which the present castle now stands,\u00a0\u00a0was known as wareham castle this is stated in the index to \u201cplaces\u201d in the modern transcription of the document.\u00a0\u00a0At the time of the compilation, of\u00a0\u00a0the domesday Book it was just the site of an ancient hill top fortification, and remained so, until approximately a century later.<\/p>\n

In about 1135, a castle was built on the spot, and around about\u00a0\u00a01140, it was considerably re-enforced and extended,\u00a0\u00a0and over the years from this time on, I believe members of the family could have been involved in various ways with the castle. Since it appears that at those times it was the seat of\u00a0\u00a0government for the locality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The family as recorded In The early Years.<\/b><\/p>\n

According to earlier transcripts and references to documents it would\u00a0\u00a0seem that for quite a number of\u00a0\u00a0generations they were escheaters or tax collectors, in return for this, they were given a modest salary which was topped up by being given, leases to various pieces of land and properties for which they could collect and keep rents from tenants,\u00a0\u00a0they also appear to have been gifted with some land or properties by the king.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In the very early years up until about 1455 in official documents they were referred to as being of\u00a0\u00a0Moreton,\u00a0\u00a0this is a bit of a mystery since they appeared to have lived mostly at Kimmeridge, they could however have had a house at Moreton as their official address, this would have been nearer Dorchester and therefore been more convenient in regard to the carrying out of\u00a0\u00a0their official duties.<\/p>\n

The village\u00a0\u00a0of\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Moreton\u00a0\u00a0is to the west of\u00a0\u00a0Wareham, and Until about the 1500\u2019s , the family did not seem to have moved very far from an area, bounded by Wareham to the East, Swanage , Kimmeridge and steeple to the South West, also an area from\u00a0\u00a0Dorchester to the coast.<\/p>\n

But having stated this is as it appears in official records, but in fact this does not seem to have actually to been the case since they did have properties elsewhere,\u00a0\u00a0I suspect that in carrying out their\u00a0\u00a0duties, they would have to have travelled around to a great extent so were granted a number of properties so they could use them as a base within various parts of the county.<\/p>\n

One of such properties is shown in\u00a0the photograph, which is said to have been in families possession for a great number of\u00a0\u00a0years probably from the thirteenth to the to the early sixteenth century<\/p>\n

It is a grade II listed building\u00a0\u00a0and as such is still in existence today. Its exact location I cannot remember do not know other than it is\u00a0\u00a0within two or three miles of\u00a0\u00a0Buckland Newton and Hilton probably either piddlehinton or piddletrenthide and is still a private residence. The photograph was passed to me some years ago with a note to the effect that it was believed that it was once the property of the\u00a0\u00a0Chaldecotts who were tax collectors.\u00a0\u00a0It is I would think be typical of the type of house, in which these our earlier ancestors lived, and although not very palatial, were often described as manor houses. There are probably\u00a0\u00a0a number of\u00a0\u00a0such buildings which were once in our families possession which are still in existence, and some research into the listed buildings register for Dorset could be very fruitful, although finding the actual building, could prove to a little difficult, mainly due to the modern trend in completely surrounding buildings with trees and bushes.<\/p>\n

\"image007\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0\u00a0family and The Church<\/p>\n

In the earlier years there appears to have been number of clergymen in the family.\u00a0\u00a0I have never been able to reconcile to which branch of the family they belonged. In 1332 there was a John\u00a0\u00a0De chalcott\u00a0\u00a0referred to as being a vicars chaplain at steeple., I have also seen references elsewhere regarding members of family as being\u00a0\u00a0priests and rectors, a number of them have been\u00a0\u00a0named as\u00a0\u00a0Caldecott. which is not surprising, since often in earlier documents, the members of our family\u00a0\u00a0were\u00a0\u00a0recorded thus. These\u00a0\u00a0members of the church were some times referred to as Kings chaplains. This was not that they were actually chaplains to the King, but\u00a0\u00a0that they were merely, sponsored by the crown, this probably was for the reason, that many of these churches were quite small and it was the only way that they could be financed if, the families of the clergy, or the church were unwilling or unable to support them.<\/p>\n

In the foregoing matter, I would also suspect, there was to a more ulterior motive,\u00a0\u00a0in as much as,\u00a0\u00a0have a certain amount\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of influence in church matters.\u00a0\u00a0There were two such appointments to these posts had be sanctioned by the King, therefore the crown would appointees\u00a0\u00a0in the thirteenth century. in such posts in both Byfleet and Guildford in Surrey,<\/p>\n

both of these were named Caldecott I strongly suspect that in actual fact that they were members of our family.<\/p>\n

Background note<\/p>\n

In carrying out my researches into this early period I found that although there was a surprising\u00a0\u00a0amount of references, to our name in indexes and calendars, when it came to tracing the actual document, this could be difficult. On several occasions\u00a0\u00a0after I had located the item. When I came to look at it\u00a0\u00a0I often found\u00a0\u00a0it would\u00a0\u00a0have deteriorated,\u00a0\u00a0to an extent that it was unreadable.\u00a0\u00a0On other occasions some,\u00a0\u00a0were in a remarkably good condition, and\u00a0\u00a0I could, with assistance from one of the<\/p>\n

curators, gather some very useful information. There was also a problem with referencing, at times\u00a0\u00a0when finding\u00a0\u00a0an item,\u00a0\u00a0it probably\u00a0\u00a0referred to a different subject or family altogether.<\/p>\n

Also on some of the documents the wording was so muddled and ambiguous, that\u00a0\u00a0even\u00a0\u00a0when read by an experienced member of\u00a0\u00a0the archive staff, very little useful\u00a0information\u00a0\u00a0would be gained.\u00a0\u00a0In spite of these problems I have managed, to establish an authenticated link\u00a0\u00a0to members of our present day family\u00a0\u00a0up to fairly recent\u00a0\u00a0times.<\/p>\n

In the following pages I will be outlining\u00a0\u00a0an individual profile,\u00a0\u00a0of our direct ancestors from 1348 until comparatively recent times. In order to keep your interest, I will not go into too much detail,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Early Years\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Family Name It is not recorded when our ancestors first came to this country, although it was probably some time before 1166,\u00a0\u00a0this is the date recorded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chaldecott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chaldecott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chaldecott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chaldecott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chaldecott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chaldecott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3227,"href":"https:\/\/chaldecott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33\/revisions\/3227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chaldecott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}