Cording - Somerset 1841 Census

[Aussie possum]

Looking for a Jane Ann Cording on the 1841 Census.  She would be approx 13 years of age.  The rest of her family were at Timberscombe in 1851, 1861 Census, etc  so this would be a good place to target.   She must have been unsure of her place of birth as it seems in later census to alternate between being at Huish Somerset, and Uffculme Devon, although in 1901 it is listed as Culmstock!  Her parents names were Edward and Mellony Cording.

[wurzel]

Hello Aussie Possum,

I think Jane Anne Cording was born about 1826 in Huish Champflower in Somerset. Not sure where I have these details from so I cant guarantee the authenticity. She had 3 sisters and six brothers, one of them being Gregory Cording (my G.G.G. Grandfather). I think they probably were in Timberscombe in 1841. Edward, Mellony and Edwards brother James (died 1837) are buried in the churchyard there.

Are you closely related to me?

Cheers

Wurzel

[Aussie possum]

Oops, forgot I had posted this.  I gave up on a reply in the end and have got the census film out at present.  John, Jane Ann, Elizabeth and Edwin were the only ones at home the night of the 1841 census.  I thought Mary William James and Gregory (if I have my names researched right)  would all have been of an age to be still at home.   Jane Ann was my great grandmother, so we are not closely related but I still get a buzz from meeting a real live connection, so to speak!  I have a photo of her that I could try to scan if you are interested.  I have also previously been in touch with someone in America regarding this connection, and she also had some interesting snippets about this Cording family.  I am hoping to visit the Timberscombe area next March....have accommodation booked, and its all terribly exciting...well to me anyway.  The other half is not quite so impressed, even though his folks came from close to the same area as mine mainly came from, around the Culmstock area. 

[Aussie possum]

Forgot to add that you are correct, that Jane Ann was christened in Huish Champflower.  (St Peters)  I got this off a parish transcript off the net.  I am also interested in anything you have officially on Mellony.  Jane Ann married John Townsend, but Mellony herself was a Townsend.  I am looking at the possibility that Jane and John were first cousins, as I have only been able to find the one Townsend family in official records of Culmstock, so far.

[wurzel]

Hello,
I am afraid I dont really have anything official on Mellony, I can tell you exactly where she is buried and that she lived at Croydon Farm which is about a mile (1.6km) south of Timberscombe. Edward and Mellony were also very active Bible Christian Methodists and I believe they helped or possibly completely financed the building of the Methodist chapel in Timberscombe. I am not sure of the exact details but it would be fairly easy to find out more given time. There is a magazine concerning the local area (Exmoor), which is generally aimed at tourists but last year there was quite a large article about the methodist chapels scattered aroundthe hills, in it there was a bit about the Cordings with pictures of Edward and Mellony. On the subject of the Townsends, if you look at the 1881 census for  Luccombe, there was a family of Townsends living at East Harwood Farm with William aged 81 having been born in Culmstock.  Always thought there could be a link. East Harwood is about 2 miles west of Croydon and is now in Timberscombe parish. I also think there may have been more Townsends in Timberscombe village at this time. I was born at North Hawkwell, about 1 mile south west of East Harwood, you have quite a lot of distant relations around there.

If I can help more, I will try.
Peter

[Aussie possum]

I am aware of this family, and I think you will find it is Henry  aged 81, and living with William his son on the 1881 census.   Henry is definitely my gg grandfather James' brother, and a Henry Townsend was a witness along with Elizabeth Baker at Edward and Mellony's wedding in Culmstock, but so far I have not been actually able to prove with documentation that Henry & Mellony were brother and sister, although I strongly suspect this.  In Culmstock records Mellony's marriage is recorded, but not her birth.  But the family were at members of Prescott Baptist at Culmstock, and therefore not into Christenings, and the births were recorded very haphazardly.  Every now and again he would catch the register up, and Joan, Henry and Elizabeth Townsends births, 1795, 1799, 1797 were all written up on the one page, in that order.   (Well, it was great for getting a photocopy....I only needed the one page!)  But other times he would say....these are the births & deaths to the best of my knowledge....the register not having been kept.  So I could understand Mellony's birth getting completely missed, and he would have been getting on a bit in years by that stage.
I am aware that there was a drift north to the areas around Exmoor by some members of the Townsend family, and I don't know if it was because of Edward and Mellony's presence there, or if the family had some previous connection to the area.  Certainly Henry & his descendants seem to have largely settled in the area, although there was another brother John who's line I have not really been able to trace and have the gut feeling they moved north also.
About the Magazine, do you know if copies are still available and how I would go about obtaining one?  I will be a tourist in March next year, so does that mean I qualify!
More questions....sorry!  Are you familiar with the person who has a family tree listed on the rootsweb family trees section, that says she is a descendant of James, the Cording who went to America?  I emailed her a couple of times, and she told me about the Bible Christian connection, but she seemed limited in her knowledge of that line in her family tree, and maybe not quite as passionate about genealogy as I am.  I might contact you through the personal section of this site....save clogging this forum up with further details of Jane Cordings descendents, that is if you're interested.  I promise I won't be a nuisance if you're not really into genealogy, as I notice you are new to this site.   It can be a bit intruisive into people's lives and not everyone's cup of tea.

[wurzel]

Yes, good idea. If you know how, contact me through the personal area of the site.

Pete

[Aussie possum]

I thought I sent one a couple of days ago, but maybe I did something wrong as I can't even find a copy in my outbox.  Can you confirm you have not heard from me, and I will give it another go.  I haven't done it before, but I thought it looked pretty foolproof.   My main concern is that I have changed my email address since joining rootschat, so that could be a hiccup (although everything else here has been still getting through)

[mmarti]

I am up way too late, but just wanted to add that my parents visited Timberscombe because my mother wanted to learn more of her ancestors, the Cordings.  She brought back with her a book entitled, The Romance of a Country Circuit.  She copied some pages and sent them to me.  My great, great, great grandfather is Edward Cording, James Cording was his son (my great, great grandfather), and John Cording was Edward's father (my great, great, great, great, grandfather).  I think she has some pictures as well.  She keeps telling me that she is going to put it all together in books for my sisters and me.  I learned a lot about Edward reading the copies she sent to me.  I can write more later if anyone is interested.  I am quite tired right now as it it 2:48AM here in the US.