The Chilcott family

[BeckyJL]

Looking for the parents of Thomas Chilcott who married Elizabeth Winter in 1799. Mother could be Mary Hill who had an illegitimate son, Thomas in 1755 Cullompton.

[ronc]

Hi Beckyjl, you say that fred died in ww1. Do you have any further details about him and eliza. Date of birth etc.. Who were there parents. I do have lots of details about the Chilcotts in Somerset. We have been looking at the chilcott family for a long time trying to work it out. We have spoken to a few Chilcott's but not got far as they do not seem interested.
Thank you

[BeckyJL]

Eliza Stockham married Frederick Chilcott in1869. I got back as far as 1799 to Thomas Chilcott who married Elizabeth Winter, and had one son John, born 1801. They were in Dulverton. My Grandmother told me that they came from Dulverton, and it looks like she was correct. There are a lot of Chilcotts in that Parish.(Brushford). I can't get any more info yet. I did find something that is puzzling me-Under 'Strays' in the Somerset Parish records, I found a marriage between a John Chilcott and Mary (Hill???) 1757.Under 'Strays' there is a baptism of a Mary Chilcott 1757 (same year) and parents named as John and Mary. Why would a Chilcott be classed as a 'Stray' in a Parish full of Chilcotts?

[BeckyJL]

I have found a Cullompton Baptism 1755, Thomas- son of Mary Hill. All the other sons and daughters on the list have the name of the Father, (except one other woman whose child is described as 'base born'). Does this signify that Thomas was an illegitimate child? If it's the same Mary Hill who married the (Stray) John Chilcott in Dulverton 1757 then this Thomas could be my Great Great Great Grandfather. Sorry to bore everyone with my findings, but my Gran insisted we have Romany blood. Maybe John Chilcott fathered Thomas out of wedlock with Mary????and married her later on in Dulverton? Who knows? If it is him, that makes Thomas about 44 when he got married to Elizabeth Winter. Is this unusual??

[ronc]

Hi Beckyjl, Yes base born is illegitimate. You say Frederick married eliza in 1869? I may be wrong but Frederick shows that he was born 1871 and Eliza in 1872.
John did marry Mary hill in 1723.

[CitizenSmith]

Hi BeckyJL

Why would a Chilcott be classed as a 'Stray' in a Parish full of Chilcotts?

He might be considered a 'stray' if he hadn't been born in the parish but had come in from somewhere else. Under the Settlement legislation in force at the time, someone who didn't officially belong to a parish couldn't claim poor relief from it if he fell on hard times. So parish clerks were careful to note in their records if baptisms or marriages related to in-comers.

Best wishes
Sharon

[CitizenSmith]

Hi BeckyJL

If it is him, that makes Thomas about 44 when he got married to Elizabeth Winter. Is this unusual??

Perhaps Thomas had another wife before he married Elizabeth. Does his marriage entry record him as a bachelor or widower?

A question: does it look like this family spent most of their time in Dulverton or surrounding villages - baptised, married and buried there over several generations? If so, that sedentary nature goes against them having Romany blood. In the 18th and 19th centuries, you'd expect to see some hard evidence of mobility if these Chilcotts were Gypsies.

You might have to consider that the Romany blood comes not from the Chilcotts but from a woman who married into the family.

Best wishes
Sharon

[BeckyJL]

Citizensmith, you are right, that wedding date is clearly wrong. I'm not sure where that popped out from. You have found a different John and Mary Hill date too. Perhaps Gran just made it all up! Thanks for your information though. It's still a fascinating family, whether we descended from Romanys or not, maybe something will emerge later on down the road!! I do want to find out about Thomas Chilcott and Elizabeth Winter 1799, if you hear or see any info, I would be most grateful. I read that Winter is a German Romany/Sinti name. Oh dear, I'm off again!!!!

[CitizenSmith]

Hi BeckyJL

Yes - Winter is a recognised Romany name but it's most often found among Romany families further north and further east: Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Cheshire and Suffolk, according to Bob Dawson's 'Gypsy Names for Genealogists: Volume 1 - Surnames'.

Best wishes
Sharon