Canton Family History

British History Online has an excellent section about Spital Square in London, where John Canton ran his school. From this I have learned that he lived at No. 3 Spital Square - sadly, the house is long demolished but, by visiting this site, it is possible to reconstruct what life there was like.
http://www.british-history.acuk/report.aspx?compid=50153

Also worth reading is the (earlier) section on Norton Folgate, the extra-parochial area where members of the Canton family lived - for example, John Canton’s grandson, Nathaniel John Canton, also a schoolmaster.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50148

The Royal Society, of which John Canton was a Fellow, has a good outline of his life and scientific work at

http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=5994&inst_id=18

You may like to know that the National Burial Index (published by the Federation of Family History Societies) can now be seen at www.findmypast.com (used to be 1837online.com). This is a fee-paying site, but units can be purchased quite reasonably - I always seem to have plenty in reserve, by the way, for anyone wanting a quick search. It has been rather overshadowed by www.ancestry.co.uk but has excellent BMD index search and certificate-ordering facilities and is steadily adding many unusual sources.  

I have the NBI in its beautifully produced CD format and it is a basic working tool for genealogy - 13 million names in the second edition. What, I wondered, could the online version add, especially as, intriguingly, it contains (only!) 10 million names.

When I compared the two versions for Canton (and variants) I found that several counties are not represented in the online version. A major omission is that London burials are missing, but these are available elsewhere, on a diferent fee-paying site. For a useful summary see

http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/MDX/ChurchRecords.html#Burials

I did, however, find about fifteen ‘new’ Cantons, added more recently to NBI. Some of these are early (17th century) and in unexpected places - they may represent lines which have died out, possibly with different origins from those which have survived. It’s impossible to pass judgement without seeing the original parish registers and I would observe that ‘Canton’ is very often misread in documents - perhaps a topic for another blog.

Among other new Canton entries are two offspring of Edwin James Canton (Line PM/P). Their deaths are registered as Pontardawe Registration District, a large area to search, but the burials took place at St John, Clydach, Glamorgan, which narrows the search and provides a new churchyard to explore!

These last are from Glamorgan FHS project work, which has covered a huge amount of ground and is shared generously. Key Canton areas such as Pembrokeshire are not covered at all in the published NBI. On the other hand, when I thought about it, I have many Canton burials for that county - fewer for other non-NBI areas - in my own records. I will look into publishing my list online.

A happy New Year to all readers!

My Christmas post included two further offers to take DNA tests, both from different and well-separated branches of the very large PM line (first certain ancestor in Pembrokeshire, Martletwy). This was marvellous news as these tests will provide most useful base information. Moreover, a female member of another key line, GL (descendants of John Canton FRS, born Gloucestershire), is going to approach close male relatives about taking a test.

Altogether, these were great Christmas presents!  Thanks to all who wrote to me about this.

News also came from Family Tree DNA that the first two test kits had been received at the laboratory. The predicted date for results is mid-February, though I imagine this is so as to be covered for unforeseen delays and that, in fact, we can hope for them rather earlier. It looks as if 2008 will hold a lot of new Canton information.

Just before Christmas I was in London at a family event and spent a few hours at TNA (the National Archives), this time looking at some Canton Divorce Petitions of the 1920s and 30s - just three in total. The TNA references are: J77/2665/2758,  J77/2293/1825 and J77/3322/1489. The online catalogue gives brief details of the parties involved.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

You can order copies of the papers online, or I am able to pass on details to anyone researching these lines (PL, GL/A3 and GL/A4). Bear in mind that divorce then, and indeed not so long ago, involved ‘guilty’ parties and a certain amount of dirty family linen. In terms of family history this is, of course, very interesting!

[Added later] For a detailed account of the problems attached to divorce in the not-so-distant past, read

http://www.worldwidewords.org/nl/wpbz.htm

I hope to be at TNA for a few days in late February/March (subject to it being open at the specific time) and would be very glad to meet London-based readers over coffee - do get in touch.

A very happy Christmas to everyone and I hope you enjoy this item:

You probably know that the Christmas card was a Victorian invention - here you can see an early one, published by Robert Canton, Lithographer, as well as his trade mark: http://www.scrapalbum.com/xmasp3.htm

Christmas Cards in Shire Publications <www.shirebooks.co.uk >  has three of Robert Canton’s cards as illustrations.

Robert William Canton was born about 1821, but not baptised until 1825 at St Leonard’s, Shoreditch, the son of William Lawrence Canton and Mary Brown. His father was the eldest grandson of John Canton, FRS, the 18th century scientist. Robert was his parents’ third son and the third child out of 11. In 1844 he married Anne Hurst Wright - they had only daughters so there are no Canton descendants of this line.

Robert Canton died 5 June 1893 in Wandsworth, aged 72 according to the GRO Deaths Index. His will, dated 20 Oct 1876, names him as Robert William Canton of Nos 22 & 23 Aldersgate St, City of London, Printer and Publisher (trading as and sometimes known as Robert Canton only)  and was proved to his ‘beloved wife Anne Hurst Canton’ on 4 Jul 1893.

This has turned out to be an exciting year for Canton research. I have not personally done a great deal of ‘paper research’ because I really had to give my energies to moving house in quite exacting circumstances. In the middle of all that, I happened to read the most recent article by Susan C. Meates about DNA-tests and genealogy (references are in one of the newsletters I sent and will be repeated on this blog soon). This really inspired me as it showed how DNA testing of the Y-chromosome (passed through the male line only, from father to son, normally with a common surname) could help to overcome the lack of early written sources.

Susan has her ear to the ground on these things and had noticed that the registered surnames of many Guild members were already taken as DNA projects, sometimes by people who had no great interest in the name apart from wanting to trace their personal line. She showed how it was possible to set up a project even if you didn’t have time to activate it at once, so I took a deep breath, read lots more, then set up a project with Family Tree DNA.

By October, finally settled in our new home, other factors contributed to make me activate the project. While sorting my papers I was observing how many once-strong Canton lines were dying out. I can immerse myself in Cantons of, say, the nineteenth century, finding out things which make them come alive to me, yet - it seemed - losing track of the fact that male survivors of several once-robust lines can be counted on one hand.  Once a line has expired, that’s it, and it’s too late to hope that DNA tests will come to the rescue.

I sent (at least) three long newsletters, covering most aspects of the Project, and I worried that the recipients would either be bored or, worse, that the letters would end up in trash folders - though I sent attachments by blind copy, such things often don’t get through filters and the like. However, I have been delighted that three male Cantons replied very quickly to say they would take part - I can’t say how much this has been appreciated. At the time of writing, all have applied for tests, two have received and returned the kits, and the third kit is even now winging its way from USA to UK. Results take something like 5-7 weeks to come through and we have Christmas in the middle …  However, they should be available quite early in the new year and they can be seen at https://www.familytreedna.com/surname_join.aspx?code=B79774&special=True

To avoid the problems of e-mail newsletters, I have gone over to this blog-format as a means of communicating with everyone, so I will write something about the test results here as well.

I have found it very useful to go to the FTDNA homepage and search for other surnames in my family.  If you find one of your names, it’s worth checking the link to that webpage, where you should see examples of test results. For instance, in the further reaches of my Pembrokeshire family are ancestors called CODD (Bosherston and thereabouts in 18C). There is a Codd DNA Project, with only a few tests in as yet but some striking results. And, by the way, their history is not too dissimilar to that of the PEM Cantons.

Today I have taken advantage of a new facility of the Guild of One-Name Studies to publicise the Canton Surname Project. You can see this at www.one-name.org/members/register.shtml  and click on DNA websites. An important publicity advance is that on 1 Jan 2008 Susan Meates will have an article on the subject of the Guild of One-Name Studies  in a top US and Canadian genealogical journal. There is more and more interest in this subject, thousands more people visiting such sites as FTDNA and, we hope, coming across the CSP.

However, we still badly need more people to come forward from my existing Canton network, especially because their basic modern genealogy is usually well-established, and against this we can evaluate the new DNA information.  I have personally been scribbling (well, typing) like mad, spreading the word, not just around my (now few) male Canton cousins but also around their sisters, aunts and cousins.  Please reflect on your relations and how you could do the same!

If this has an end of year feel about it, that is deliberate as I shall be away from home three times between now and the end of December. I shall be checking my e-mails every two or three days, either at home or away, so will not be right out of touch, but this blog will be quiet for a while - unless you contribute, which would be very welcome. (I will gladly make an exception if we have new tests or results to report.)

In the new year I plan to cover more general Canton news, new family history sources, some specific Canton lines and variants of the surname.

I do hope that you will enjoy looking at A Canton Christmas Card on this blog.

Seasons greetings and all good wishes,

Sheila

MAIN BRANCHES OF THE CANTON TREE

In Canton Connections No. 2, I published an outline of the main known Canton lines, to help with indexing, and this list was then published in each subsequent issue. At present, it refers only to Canton lines of which the earliest known origin is in Britain and Ireland. I concocted a simple system, using letters based chiefly on the county/country and parish of origin attached to each earliest known ancestor in a particular line.

The system worked well during the life of the magazine and I haven’t found it necessary to change it. I wrote optimistically, ‘if/when we are able to attach one branch to another, it will not be too complicated to modify their “labels” further’. This has happened once, as far as I can tell, in that the then X-labelled Cantans of Kent became firmly PM/K. (Really, this should be just part of PM/J but it has been useful to distinguish them still.) 

More amalgamations may come about in the future – who knows what DNA testing may bring! 

The following are the chief lines identified so far:·     

• GL Gloucestershire (Stroud)/London. These are the descendants of John Canton, FRS, to a great degree London-based for two centuries. They form a very numerous branch, needing subdivision which it is easier to define by letters and numbers related to people, not places, in view of mobility within London. (London-based Cantons not yet connected to this line appear as XL).·First come the sons of John, FRS:
• GL/A descendants of William. This is a particularly prolific line, William having four sons with many descendants. Therefore this line is further sub-divided as:
  • GL/A1 descendants of William Lawrence
  • GL/A2 descendants of Nathaniel John
  • GL/A3 descendants of Charles James
  • GL/A4 descendants of George Augustus.
• GL/B descendants of Thomas
• GL/C descendants of John (if any)     
• GO Gloucestershire/Others. These include Cantons in several parishes, including Stroud, which have not been connected to the family of John Canton, FRS.·     
• I Ireland (sub-divisions unclear as yet).·     
• PA Pembrokeshire, Amroth.·     
• PB Pembrokeshire, Begelly.·     
• PC Pembrokeshire, Cosheston.·     
• PF Pembrokeshire, Freystrop; later Nolton Haven.·     
• PJ Pembrokeshire, Jeffreston (early residents, quite separate from PM/J).·     
• PL Pembrokeshire, Lampeter Velfrey.·     
• PM Pembrokeshire, Martletwy (including Coedcanlas). A very large branch, needing subdivision on occasion for extra clarity:
  • PM/J Jeffreston
    • PM/K Kent (19C) - often as CANTAN - is a sub-division of PM/J
  • PM/P Pembroke;
  • PM/R Reynalton, with further subdivision PM/NZ New Zealand
  • PM/S Stackpole.·     
• PMn Pembrokeshire, Manorbier.·     
• PR Pembrokeshire, Rhoscrowther.·     
• PS Pembrokeshire, Slebech.·     
• SE Sussex, Eastbourne.·     
• X Miscellaneous unidentified lines other than in London.·    
• XL Unidentified lines based in London. 

For new readers: Canton occurs as a surname in several countries of the world other than Britain and Ireland, with a variety of ‘meanings’ and I have not attempted to deal with them here, but this may change.

Postscript: Our first three tests, in date order, are from lines PM/S, PR, PL.

Canton and its variants form a very small surname-group so we are unlikely ever to reach the number of tests (100+, 200+) I note in other surname projects. If it were likely we would do so, I might be persuaded to calm down about each new test but, as it is, to have reached test #3 within a very few weeks since announcing the existence of our project is extremely good news.

I am very grateful for our DNA test pioneers for we can reasonably hope others will now be inspired to take part.

Test #3 is being taken by a member of line PL, shorthand for (earliest known ancestor found in) Pembrokeshire, Lampeter Velfrey. This line is, in the present state of knowledge, a distinct and separate PEM line. Lampeter Velfrey PRs (parish registers) were once known to have existed for christenings and burials 1779-1812 but are now officially ‘apparently lost’. Though marriage registers exist from 1755 and there are scanty 18C BTs (bishops transcripts), it is very difficult to take a line further back. Much the same is true of other nearby parishes.

DNA testing will quite possibly show connections between this and other PEM lines - the only way to be certain is to test someone - or preferably two people, not closer than second cousins - from each known line. So we have some way to go but it’s a very healthy start.

Next time I will post a list of known lines with their shorthand code. This will be well-known to anyone who read Canton Connections  (family history magazine 1996-2004) but not to casual visitors (and hopefully potential test-candidates). It refers to Cantons whose origins lie in the British Isles, but this reflects just our current state of knowledge and Cantons from any country are welcome to take part in the project.

Useful Links

Canton One-Name Study Guild Profile

 http://www.one-name.org/profiles/canton.html

FTDNA Canton Profile Page

https://www.familytreedna.com/surname_join.aspx?code=B79774&special=True

FTDNA CSP Webpage

http://www.familytreedna.com/public/CantonSurnameProject/

A few lines about the financial aspects of CSP. First, a reminder that, as a Surname Project we get a group rate which is a large reduction on the charge for a single test.

FamilyTree DNA has also offered several discount Gift Certificates this ‘holiday season’. For the only test which this project will find useful - for 37 markers - the two 30 USD vouchers have now been taken by the first two tests. If that is a disappointment, please read on!

FTDNA also offer some 15 USD Gift Certificates, for 25 marker Y-DNA tests and for mtDNA (testing female lines). I would strongly recommend that no-one takes the 25 marker test just to get this discount - it isn’t sufficiently accurate for our genealogical purposes. With regard to the mtDNA vouchers, I would naturally support anyone who wishes to take this test, though it will not contribute to the CSP. In short, if - now or later - you want to take advantage of any such offers, please be sure to contact me first as, as project administrator, I have to carry out some formalities.

Donations: I mentioned in an early newsletter on this subject that I would be fund-raising. As a result we have three more 30 USD vouchers on offer. There is at present no time-limit on these, though all donors will be hoping they will be taken up soon!  Each reduces the cost of a 37-marker test to 159 USD.

We also had a donation of 30 USD which was earmarked by the donor for a particular branch, the PM/S (Stackpole) line, so - rather appropriately - this went to subsidise our first test. There remains  90 USD in the fund, without any conditions, and I think it is most appropriate to use it to attract three more new tests.

If anyone reading this wants to sponsor a test from a particular line, this can be done by clicking on the Donations link at http://www.familytreedna.com/public/CantonSurnameProject/  and letting me know at once if you want it dedicated to a specific purpose - no need to do so if it is a general donation.

As any reader of this blog will know, I believe strongly that DNA tests will help us sort out some problems and find unexplored links in Canton genealogy. As I can’t take a test myself, I intend to make a major contribution to the costs of the first PM/P tests - this will be separate from the existing funds. The ideal is to find two PM/P descendants early on, no closer than second cousins - i.e. with a common great-grandfather in James Canton. These two tests would, I believe, provide some good base data against which to measure other results. I am trying to contact possible candidates and will keep you informed.

To take advantage of the discounts outlined above:

1. Let me know that you plan to take a test. This is only because of the discount and is not necessary otherwise. It won’t work if I am, for instance, away from home - but when I am here (most of the time) I do check my emails several times each day.

2. Complete the online form for joining and be sure to request ‘pay by invoice’.

3. Notify me as quickly as possible that you have joined, quoting the ‘Kit Number’ you will have been given. This needs to be in writing and please check you have copied it accurately.

4. I will then e-mail FTDNA and ask that the relevant discount is credited to you - the system works well in practice because the staff are very helpful. Kits are posted out, with invoices, on the next working day. (For UK members: the office is six hours behind our time.)

Of course I will let you know that the procedure has been carried out.

Finally, a reminder that readers are very welcome to leave comments here or to me by email (see below).

Sheila

My contact details are at

http://www.one-name.org/profiles/canton.html

UPDATE: The ‘holiday season’ discount vouchers are no longer available, having expired at the turn of the year. Canton Surname Project is still able to offer its own 30 USD discounts - details on request. 

Recently on the Guild of ONS mailing list someone sent these links:

Records of Sun Fire Insurance are at the Guildhall Library, see
http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/fire.htm and
http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/sun.htm
For the GL lines (earliest known ancestors in GLS, later in London) these are records worth a look: Nathaniel Canton (1785-1865) and George Augustus Canton (1790-1860) appear among the insured parties, and there are fascinating references to one or more buildings named Canton Cottage, East India Road, Poplar (sometimes Canton Place etc) - I hope we could find out more about this.

Also via the Guild mailing-list, for early Australian electoral rolls see http://www.ancestry.com.au/

The index has over 40 Canton entries, though a given individual might appear in up to half a dozen entries, e.g., John Thomas Canton. The first time I tried to see full details I seemed to be told I should have a different subscription - but the next time the links worked. It’s a great deal of useful information.

We are delighted to announce a second Y-DNA test booked for the Canton Surname Project. This is by a descendant of line PR, traced back to Rhoscrowther parish, PEM, but fairly likely an offshoot of another known line. As we must wait patiently for some actual results to compare, there’s no point in surmising right now, but it is all potentially very exciting.

Please consider adding soon to the numbers being tested, either yourself or by asking a Canton you know.

Sheila