The two John and Elizabeth Butson Families of St Agnes, Cornwall 1807-1837
Research note by Wesley Johnston, last updated 23 Aug 2013 - this may change if later information is found that sheds more light
Background
There were two St Agnes marriages of a John Butson and a bride named Elizabeth in the first decades of the 1800's.
1807 Jan 19 - John Butson and Elizabeth Remphry
1824 Jul 5 - John Butson and Elizabeth Tyzzer
There were at least John Butsons who may have been the groom in those marriages, three baptized at St Agnes and one for whom I can find no baptism.
1771 Apr 20 - John Butson son of Thomas and Jane (Williams) Butson
1779 Jun 29 - John Butson son of Samson and Elizabeth (Barkla) Butson
1802 Dec 25 - John Butson son of Peter and Joanna (maiden name unknown) Butson
c1800 - John Butson son of Isaac and Mary (Martyn) Butson
There may have been a fifth John, since the 1836 burial of the John Butson who died at Cross Coombe in St Agnes was shown as 26 years old, thus:
c1810 - John Butson buried 1836 from Cross Coombe at St Agnes
There were at least 11 children of these two couples baptized at St Agnes. The key issue is which ones belonged to which couple. Clearly those before the 1824 marriage belonged to the first couple. But there is a question about those born after that marriage: which couple were their parents?
1807 May 24 - Mary BUTSON
1811 Sep 11 - Elizabeth BUTSON
1816 Nov 16 - Elizabeth BUTSON
1823 Oct 12 - John BUTSON
1825 Aug 14 - Mary BUTSON
1827 Jul 1 - Isaac BUTSON
1828 Jun 29 - Mary Tyzzer BUTSON
1832 Jun 17 - Elizabeth BUTSON
1832 Jun 17 - John BUTSON
1835 May 24 - Edward BUTSON
1836 Sep 21 - Thomas BUTSON
The 1779 John Butson's Will
The key document that resolves all of the questions -- except for the 1825 Mary's parentage and which John married Elizabeth Tyzzer -- is the will of the 1779 John Butson. The image of the original is in the Cornwall County Record Office, with call number SO/W/148. It was abstracted 28 Sep 1994 by Linda Lowrey (Chacewater/Kenwyn Butson descendant of British Columbia, Canada). A copy of the abstract in the family history book at the St. Agnes Museum was found on a 22 Jun 2013 visit by John and Carol Butson of Plymouth and Wesley Johnston and Anthony El Zakhem of California and photographed by Wesley Johnston.
John Butson, husband of Elizabeth, miner in St Agnes parish, made the will 13 Jul 1826. He then died 17 Feb 1827 at Silverwell, which is near the border between the parishes of St Agnes and Perranzabuloe. He was buried 20 Feb 1827 at St Agnes. And his estate was probated 26 Jul 1828 in the Peculiar Court of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter.
In his will, John Butson identifies his wife as Elizabeth and surviving children as John, Mary and Elizabeth Butson. He also appoints his two brothers Thomas and Sampson Butson as guardians of his children.
The children identified in the will are those listed above, born of the 1807 marriage of John Butson to Elizabeth Remphry.
The brothers identified in the will are the brothers of the 1779 John Butson, son of Samson and Elizabeth (Barkla) Butson. The 20 Feb 1827 burial record of the John Butson of the will shows his age as 48, which computes to a birth about 1779.
Conclusions - except for the 1825 Mary and the husband of Elizabeth Tyzzer
The John Butson who married Elizabeth Remphry 19 Jan 1807 was the 1779 son of Samson and Elizabeth (Barkla) Butson. He died 17 Feb 1826 at Silverwell.
The John Butson born 1771 to Thomas and Jane (Williams) Butson did not figure in either marriage. This prompted a search for a burial for him, and he did in fact die in 1774, when his 9 Jan burial record explicitly identified him as the son of Thomas: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-12163-40959-33?cc=1769414&wc=MMVH-VHR:n1207094793
Clearly the children baptized prior to 1824 were those of the 1779 John and his wife Elizabeth Remphry. Either their son John was baptized several years after his birth (which seems most likely, since his baptism was 7 years after his nearest sister's), or else Elizabeth bore a child in about her 43rd year, which is not impossible.
The children born after 1825 were clearly those of Elizabeth Tyzzer, since they are not named in the will of the 1779 John Butson.
The 1825-baptized Mary Butson
However, the Mary Butson born to John and Elizabeth and baptized at St Agnes 14 Aug 1825 must be carefully examined. Could she have been the Mary mentioned in the 1826 will?
Did the 1807 St Agnes Mary die before 1825?
If so, then the earlier 1807 Mary would have had to have died, in order for her parents to reuse the name Mary. And there is indeed an exact match, within the information given (name, parish, age, date), for a 22 Aug 1808 burial for the 1807 Mary: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11610-165373-24?cc=1769414&wc=MMVH-VHL:n2026750177
This is not a certainty, since there is insufficient information to confirm or refute it. In fact, there was one other Mary Butson, baptized 22 Sep 1807 at neighboring Perranzabuloe, daughter of Isaac and Mary (Martyn?) Butson, who could also be the 1808 burial. Her baptism is at: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11093-95181-96?cc=1769414&wc=MMVH-VSG:n429472621
Do the 1807 and 1825 Marys appear in the 1841 and 1851 censuses?
It does appear that the 1807 Mary did not die, since it appears that both she (as the wife of Richard Edwards) and her widowed mother were living in Penwinick in St Agnes parish: http://search.ancestry.com/content/viewer.aspx?dbid=8860&iid=CONHO107_1909_1909-1231
So this would have been the Mary who the 1779 John Butson named in his 1826 will. It appears she married about 1828, since her oldest child in the 1851 census was 22. But I can find no marriage for Richard Edwards and Mary of any surname in the CFHS database nor in Cornwall OPC for the period when they likely would have married. But the 1851 census ages and birthplaces for her and for her mother do match the 1807 Mary. So it does appear that she survived and married and is the one named in the 1826 will.
The issue is finally resolved by the presence in the 1841 census of the 1825 Mary with her widowed mother, Elizabeth (Tyzzer) Butson, and siblings, thus confirming that the 1825 Mary was the daughter of John Butson and Elizabeth Tyzzer and not of John Butson and Elizabeth Remphry: http://search.ancestry.com/content/viewer.aspx?dbid=8978&iid=CONHO107_147_149-039
Which John Butson Married Elizabeth Tyzzer?
There are three John Butson records that might be for the husband of Elizabeth Tyzzer. I will consider them one at a time. The location of the births of the children of Elizabeth Tyzzer is important to know for all of these however. The oldest child, Mary, was born 1825 at Trevellas Downs. I cannot find a map that shows Trevellas downs, but Trevellas Coombe can be seen with Cross Coombe at:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=173000&Y=51500&A=Y&Z=120
Cross Coombe and Trevellas Coombe and Trevellas Downs appear repeatedly for the family of Elizabeth Tyzzer and her children.
The next line baptism after Mary was the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Butson, with her abode as Blowing House, which can be seen at:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=174500&Y=51500&A=Y&Z=120
Blowing House is right next to Trevellas. The most likely candidate for the mother of the illegitimate child is the 1798 Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac and Mary (Martyn) Butson. And in fact, Isaac Butson explicitly lists Elizabeth Butson daughter of his daughter Elizabeth in his will.
1802 Birth and Baptism of John Butson, son of Peter and Joanna
Until the discovery that Isaac Butson had a son named John who he named in his will, the only record of a John Butson born in the right time period was the 1802 birth and baptism of Peter and Joanna Butson's son. Thus, I had carried that John Butson in my tree as the husband of Elizabeth Tyzzer. This baptismal record can be seen at:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11610-169050-32
Since all of Peter and Joanna's children were baptized prior to the 1813 start of recording the abode, we do not know where they were born. However, we do know that Peter died in 1816 at the hamlet of Hurling Burrow, now known as Hurlingbarrow, The location of Hurlingbarrow can be seen at:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/place/Hurlingbarrow_in_Cornwall_283611_50611.htm
Hurling Burrow is also the location where Peter's daughter Jenny/Jane died in 1819. Thus it is likely that this was where John was born in 1802.
1836 Burial of John Butson
The burial record definitely states this John's age as 26. If that is correct, then he would only have been 14 at the 1824 marriage of John Butson and Elizabeth Tyzzer. That would rule him out.
However, everything else about this record fits with it being for the husband of Elizabeth Tyzzer. She had no further children after 1836 and is an apparent widow in the 1841 census. Furthermore, the abode of the John Butson who died in 1836 was Cross Coombe, which is the area of the St Agnes parish where Elizabeth Tyzzer and her children were living.
So could the age 26 have been an error? It seems most likely that it was. The date of burial was 26 Oct 1836. The last thing that the curate wrote before the age of the deceased was the "26" of October 26. And he may have then mis-written John's age as 26 instead of 36. That would be much more likely to have been the age of Elizabeth Tyzzer's husband, since she was born in 1803.
The Will of Isaac Butson, Naming His Son John Butson
The most recent discovery is that Isaac and Mary (Martyn) Butson had a son named John. I can find no baptism for him. But he is the first child listed in Isaac's 1835 will, apparently written at Mithian, where Isaac died soon after writing the will. Mithian is very close to Trevellas Coombe, as can be seen at:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=174581&Y=50614&A=Y&Z=120
Isaac and Mary did have a son William in 1794 who was killed in a mine in 1811. Furthermore, there is a gap in the baptisms of Isaac and Mary's children betwen 1796 and 1803. If the 1836 burial age should have been 36 and not 26, then an 1800 birth would fit the pattern of births very nicely. Certainly that does not prove that it is him. But it does not disprove it and does lend some small weight to Isaac's son being the husband of Elizabeth Tyzzer.
The condition of the Perranzabuloe baptismal records for 1800 is awful. The image can be seen at
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11093-96498-58?cc=1769414&wc=MMVH-VSG:n429472621
Most of the page is completely lost, and much of what is left is barely legible at best. So it seems likely that John was baptized and recorded on these pages but that the record of his baptism is forever lost.
Conclusion: Elizabeth Tyzzer's husband was the son of Isaac Butson
I came into this analysis unware of Isaac Butson's son John. Based on the information that I had before knowing that, the only John Butson who seemed to fit as the husband of Elizabeth Tyzzer was the 1802 son of Peter and Joanna.
However, after reviewing all the evidence, I am now changing my database to show that Isaac and Mary (Martyn) Butson's son John Butson, born about 1800, was the husband of Elizabeth Tyzzer who died in 1836 at age 36.
Some of the evidence that leads me to this conclusion is given above:
- the location fits Isaac's John
- the baptism of the illegitimate child of Elizabeth Butson in the same 1825 ceremony as John and Elizabeth's child probably was because the mother of the base child was John Butson's sister Elizabeth Butson, the daughter of Isaac and Mary (Martyn) Butson.
- an 1800 birth for John, who is listed first in Isaac's will, would fit the gap in the baptisms of Isaac's children
But there is one more important fact that also leads me to conclude that Elizabeth Tyzzer's husband was Isaac Butson's son:
- the first son of John and Elizabeth (Tyzzer) Butson was named Isaac, which fits perfectly with the pattern of naming the first son after the husband's father