Liberty
LostCousins Megastar
I like to think of this as success story, although I suspect my case wouldn't stand up in a court of law.
I started by looking through the 1814 will of my 4G grandfather Robert Cubitt of Bacton Abbey. (Norfolk Council have made the images of some wills available online). He refers to his 4 sons by name, 3 daughters along with the names of their husbands, he names a nephew, and also his sister Elizabeth Engall. This led to me to the 1758 marriage at Bacton of Elizabeth Cubitt to John Engall, with confidence that this was my 'aunt'. John and Elizabeth had 3 children christened at Bacton, then a further 5 at nearby Ridlington.
I put the combination of 'Cubitt' and 'Engall' into a Google search, just in case there was any reference to the marriage and was rather startled to find mention of a man called Cubitt Engall Bartram within a wikipedia article. (He was the protege of a Richard Bartram (1749 – 1826) who was the English Consul of Civita Vecchia in the early 19th century.) The combination of names made me think he MUST be some connection. I found his christening at Brumstead, Norfolk in 1798, and identified that his parents were James Bartram and Elizabeth Engall, who married in Brumstead in 1785 and had 12 children between then and 1804. My reasoning gets a bit tenuous here, but John and Elizabeth Engall (nee Cubitt) had a daughter Elizabeth who was christened Ridlington in 1767, and thus would have been old enough to marry in 1785 (aged 18 or more) and young enough to have a baby in 1804 (aged 37). Not proof, but very suggestive, particularly combined with the very distinctive Christian names of their 3rd son.
But there's more. I found another interesting baby christened Cubitt, within a few years of Cubitt Bartram - this was Cubitt Oakley, christened Stalham 1801. He was the 6th of 7 children of Thomas Oakley and a Sarah Engall! His mother's name was given on his christening record so there is no doubt about that much, and I feel fairly confident in identifying them as the couple who were married in Ridlington in 1794, with a note that the groom was from Stalham. Their children were christened in Stalham between 1795 and 1804. 'A' Sarah Oakley was buried at Stalham 17 January 1817 aged 51 (i.e. born c 1766), which slight variation in age doesn't rule out her being the Sarah Engall (my 'cousin') who was christened Ridlington in August 1764. Again, the choice of Cubitt as name for a baby (having run through Thomas,William and Robert for his older brothers) looks like a strong indicator.
In case you are wondering about distances, and likelihood of this parish-hopping, Bacton, Brumstead, Ridlington, and Stalham are all about 5 or 6 miles to the E of North Walsham, running in a rough arc from NE to SE.
The Engall women and their husbands were all too early to be pinned down on a census, but I feel pretty convinced that they were the daughters of Elizabeth Cubitt, and the granddaughters of my 5G GF. No definitive proof, but I think the balance of probability runs in my favour. What do you think?
I started by looking through the 1814 will of my 4G grandfather Robert Cubitt of Bacton Abbey. (Norfolk Council have made the images of some wills available online). He refers to his 4 sons by name, 3 daughters along with the names of their husbands, he names a nephew, and also his sister Elizabeth Engall. This led to me to the 1758 marriage at Bacton of Elizabeth Cubitt to John Engall, with confidence that this was my 'aunt'. John and Elizabeth had 3 children christened at Bacton, then a further 5 at nearby Ridlington.
I put the combination of 'Cubitt' and 'Engall' into a Google search, just in case there was any reference to the marriage and was rather startled to find mention of a man called Cubitt Engall Bartram within a wikipedia article. (He was the protege of a Richard Bartram (1749 – 1826) who was the English Consul of Civita Vecchia in the early 19th century.) The combination of names made me think he MUST be some connection. I found his christening at Brumstead, Norfolk in 1798, and identified that his parents were James Bartram and Elizabeth Engall, who married in Brumstead in 1785 and had 12 children between then and 1804. My reasoning gets a bit tenuous here, but John and Elizabeth Engall (nee Cubitt) had a daughter Elizabeth who was christened Ridlington in 1767, and thus would have been old enough to marry in 1785 (aged 18 or more) and young enough to have a baby in 1804 (aged 37). Not proof, but very suggestive, particularly combined with the very distinctive Christian names of their 3rd son.
But there's more. I found another interesting baby christened Cubitt, within a few years of Cubitt Bartram - this was Cubitt Oakley, christened Stalham 1801. He was the 6th of 7 children of Thomas Oakley and a Sarah Engall! His mother's name was given on his christening record so there is no doubt about that much, and I feel fairly confident in identifying them as the couple who were married in Ridlington in 1794, with a note that the groom was from Stalham. Their children were christened in Stalham between 1795 and 1804. 'A' Sarah Oakley was buried at Stalham 17 January 1817 aged 51 (i.e. born c 1766), which slight variation in age doesn't rule out her being the Sarah Engall (my 'cousin') who was christened Ridlington in August 1764. Again, the choice of Cubitt as name for a baby (having run through Thomas,William and Robert for his older brothers) looks like a strong indicator.
In case you are wondering about distances, and likelihood of this parish-hopping, Bacton, Brumstead, Ridlington, and Stalham are all about 5 or 6 miles to the E of North Walsham, running in a rough arc from NE to SE.
The Engall women and their husbands were all too early to be pinned down on a census, but I feel pretty convinced that they were the daughters of Elizabeth Cubitt, and the granddaughters of my 5G GF. No definitive proof, but I think the balance of probability runs in my favour. What do you think?
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