Hi There,
Going back to your original questions re 'cousins' . . .
Was the full quote re Samuel and David John plus their relation as cousins to the others on an actual headstone ?
If so, my theory is a roundabout one . . .
I am guessing that Samuel and David John 'clubbed together ' to pay for a headstone . . .
Therefore they may both have wanted to relay their relation to those interred . . .
The issue then would be that there would be numerous different relationship scenarios involved . . .
Just say Samuel was the baby and William the eldest son of a large family . . . That would make those interred his siblings and David John's aunt's / uncles . . . So, how do you convey all these relationships onto one headstone . . . Maybe the solution was to simple say 'cousin' . . . Which I have seen used as a generic family tree reference . . . It even gets used these days to confer a close family friend . . .
If Samuel was half sibling to William etc and David John half nephew to all these aunts and uncles, again, how to you convey this family dynamic on a headstone (or even a newspaper article) . . . again, possibly 'cousin' was the simplest thing to do . . .
Worst case scenario, and if the relationship was a further generation out, and Samuel actually being a cousin to William, it still leads to the term 'cousin' being used . . .
I suppose what I am leading to is that fact that those interred never got married so we have no parentage for them . . .
They were also born long before official records began so no way to prove the family connection . . .
If it were MY family tree, I would lean towards putting them as full elder siblings of Samuel . . .
A 20 year difference between eldest and youngest sibling is not unheard of especially for that timeline . . . A mum having her first child at say 21 and last child well into her 40's is often seen . . .
So, to recap, in my HUMBLE 😂 opinion, Samuel and those listed were his full siblings and the term 'cousin' was used to simplify the family dynamic to include David John . . .
If David John wasn't included I would hazard a bet and say that the headstone would have stated BROTHER William . . .
I hope this rambling makes sense and I know it doesn't answer your question definitively but Hey you never know, someone may see your post and have the answer . . .
Wishing You Luck
Tara
