George CANNON born between 1816-1821
George CANNON is my 3xGreat-grandfather. He married my 3xGreat-grandmother, Eliza MASKELL, on 6th June 1846 in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England, although his surname is given as CANNING.
All the same, with my 3xGreat-grandmother's name being correct, I think it's a fair hunch that it's the correct wedding. He gives his age as 27, giving a year of birth of 1819, with an occupation of Labourer. His father is given as Wm CANNING, a Grocer. He signs the register with a mark, as does the bride and one of the witnesses, Thos WHITBY, so he was probably none the wiser about how his surname was written.
On the 1851 Census, he is living in Sawbridgeworth with his father-in-law, James MASKELL, and his wife Eliza and two of his children, Ann aged 4 and Mary aged 1. In looking at the births registered for the surname CANNON with mother's maiden name of MASKELL, I believe Mary is the Elizabeth Mary born on 14th Sep 1849 and my 2xGreat-grandmother. George CANNON gives his age as 31, giving a year of birth of 1820, with the place of birth as Gilston, Hertfordshire. The reference for this Census entry is: Class: HO107; Piece: 1706; Folio: 84; Page: 13.
On the 1861 Census, he is living in Gilston, Hertfordshire with his wife, Eliza, and growing family. He again gives his place of birth as Gilston, Hertfordshire but gives his age as 43, giving a year of birth of 1818. The reference for this Census entry is: Class: RG 9; Piece: 804; Folio: 61; Page: 4 & 5.
On the 1871 Census, he is still living in Gilston, Hertfordshire, aged 55, giving a year of birth of 1816. He still gives Gilston, Hertfordshire as his birth place. The reference for this Census entry is: Class: RG10; Piece: 1350; Folio: 13; Page: 7.
On the 1881 Census, he has moved to Tottenham, Middlesex, aged 60, giving a year of birth of 1821 but he still gives his place of birth as Gilston, Hertfordshire. The reference for this Census is: Class: RG11; Piece: 1380; Folio: 43; Page: 13.
Finally, on the 1891 Census, he is in the Edmonton Union Workhouse as a 74 year old widower, with Gilston, Hertfordshire as his place of birth. This age gives a year of birth of 1817.
So, all these Census entries plus his marriage suggest a year of birth somewhere between 1816 and 1821 and he's very consistent in saying he was born in Gilston, Hertfordshire.
Hertfordshire baptisms are on line with findmypast.co.uk and searching with a range of 1818 +/- 5 years ie 1813 to 1823 just with a name of George in Gilston, Hertfordshire, only gives one possible baptism. George CANNON baptised on 2nd November 1817 with parents of William and Maria CANNON. William's occupation is given as Labourer, so this is different to the occupation of Grocer when George marries in 1846 but there is a 29 year gap so his occupation could have changed.
I wondered if William CANNON was a Grocer on the 1841 Census, just 5 years before his son was married? There is a William CANNON on the 1841 Census living in Gilston, Hertfordshire and a Grocer. However, the woman of a similar age who I would guess is his wife, has the name of Mary and not Maria and George is not one of the people living in the same house. The other names are: Joseph, aged 20, an Ag Lab; Robert, aged 15, an Ag Lab and Mary, aged 8. Everyone has 'Y' against whether they were born in the same County. The reference for this Census entry is: Class: HO107; Piece: 434; Book: 6; Civil Parish: Gilston; County: Hertfordshire; Enumeration District: 10; Folio: 6; Page: 7.
Because of the way ages were entered for the 1841 Census, Joseph could be anything between 20 and 24, Robert could be between 15 and 19 and only Mary is likely to actually be 8 years old ie born in approximately 1833. Again, searching the baptisms at findmypast.co.uk, there is a baptism of a Mary CANNON on 3rd Feb 1833 with parents of William and Mary CANNON; William is a Servant.
Is this the same couple who are the parents of my George?
Searching the Gilston baptisms looking for baptisms for CANNON where the father is William over a period 1793 +/- 40 years (for completeness as much as anything!) produces the following:
I can find a marriage for William CANNON and Maria MARKENT on 23 Jan 1812 in Gilston but are the baptisms for children where the parents are William and Mary a different couple or the Vicar writing Mary instead of Maria?
The baptisms in the 1700s are probably a different couple entirely.
What strongly suggests there are two couples are the baptisms in 1815; Joseph baptised in April 1815 and William baptised in September 1815, so barely 5 months between the baptisms. I have had a scan through baptisms between 1814 and 1826 and only found a couple of baptisms where the date of birth has been entered. One was a month before the baptism, from which I can infer that babies were probably baptised very soon after birth thus increasing the likelihood that Joseph and William baptised in 1815 were born to different couples. However, I am inferring this! The fact that a date of birth or age is not given for the two babies baptised in 1815 doesn't prove anything!
Can I find any further marriages for someone called William CANNON? Not with any certainty!
It is getting a little confusing as George CANNON's marriage gives his father's occupation as Grocer, George's baptism suggests his mother is Maria but the Mary (possible sister) living in 1841 with the William CANNON who says he's a Grocer has a baptism with the mother as Mary. However, the gaps between the baptisms for the children of William and Maria are 3, 2, 2, 3 years, the last being in 1821. There is then a gap of 12 years to 1833 when Mary is baptised. It does suggest that Maria died and William married a Mary!
Can I find a burial for Maria CANNON sometime between 1821 and 1833? Again, no!
So, I think I will take each of the CANNON children born from 1812 and try to trace them forward. If I can find when they got married, the wedding certificates should be interesting!
The first is:
Elizabeth CANNON, baptised on 31 May 1812 with parents of William & Maria CANNON.
There is no burial at findmypast.co.uk in the Hertfordshire burial registers.
I can't find a likely marriage in the Hertfordshire marriages, nor the Essex ones.
I can't find her on the 1841 census, assuming she hadn't got married.
Joseph CANNON, baptised on 17 Oct 1813 with parents of William & Mary CANNON.
Again, I can't find anything really concrete. Nor for the Joseph baptised in 1815.
William CANNON, baptised on 24 Sep 1815 with parents of William and Maria CANNON.
Again tricky to pin down.
Benjamin CANNON, baptised on 12 Sep 1819 with parents of William & Maria CANNON.
No burials in the Hertfordshire registers.
At this point, I gave up! Tracing forward unless you are lucky and the children stay close is difficult! It's so difficult to be sure you have the right people!
However, after a little pause, the two Josephs baptised in 1813 and 1815 worry me! They both have parents of William and Mary CANNON. If they do both have the same parents, it does suggest that the first Joseph died and they re-used the name. I will try going through the Gilston Burial Register, page by page, to see if there's a burial that fits.
In looking at findmypast.co.uk for Gilston registers, the first thing that shows is that the only burial register you can scan through for this time period is for 1807-1814. There are none after 1814. In actual fact, looking at the register, the latest burial is actually 1812. So, this would explain why I can't find a burial for the first Joseph! It would also explain why I can't find a burial for a Maria CANNON. I've tried again looking at both findmypast.co.uk and ancestry for a later marriage for a William CANNON but nothing looks likely.
So, I thought I'd try another tack and find more information about the Maria MARKENT that married William CANNON in 1812. Assuming that Maria was at least 18, her birth could be from 1794 or earlier. I'll look in the Gilston area to start with!
I can find a Mereiah MARKENT baptised in Gilston in 1787 with parents of Robt (presumably Robert) and Ann. If this is Maria (and it does look like a phonetic spelling for Maria), she was 25 when she married in 1812 and 46 years old in 1833 when Mary CANNON was born! That's not impossible but pushing it a bit!
Further, on the 1851 Census, the William CANNON who is living in Gilston, is 65 years old and is a Grocer has a wife Mary who is 51 years old, giving a birth year for her of around 1800. Clearly, this Mary can't be the woman who got married in 1812! However, she does say she was born in Gilston.
If I look for anyone called Mary born in Gilston in 1800 +/- 5 years, I find the following:
Mary HUGGEL baptised on 28 Jul 1799
Mary SURIGE baptised on 29 Dec 1799
Mary TURNIL baptised on 29 Jun 1800 (but was living in Sawbridgeworth)
Marey CULVER baptised on 7 Sep 1800
Marey HARDING baptised on 17 Jan 1802
Going off on a complete tangent, I wondered whether there are more extensive burial records for Gilston anywhere else. I checked the familysearch wiki and, sure enough, on the familysearch database, Maria CANNON was buried on 27 Jan 1824 in Gilston, Hertfordshire. I can't find a burial there for Joseph, however.
I will have to somehow find the actual burial record as this is just a transcription. However, it does suggest that William CANNON's first wife was Maria MARKENT who died in 1824. The two baptisms for children named Joseph CANNON in 1813 and 1815 where the mother is Mary still 'bug' me a little but Maria could have been written as Mary by the Vicar. The 5 month gap between the 1815 Joseph CANNON and the 1815 William CANNON is also a sticking point!
William CANNON must have married again to someone called Mary, sometime between 1824 and 1833, and she is the mother of the Mary born in 1833. However, that marriage is proving to be difficult to find. On later censuses, she repeatedly said she came from Gilston, so it would be the most likely place for the marriage. However, even searching for marriages near Gilston for any William and Mary (just in case the surnames were poorly written) doesn't give anything.
So ...... at this point, I think I need to update Family Historian with what I've found :)
All the same, with my 3xGreat-grandmother's name being correct, I think it's a fair hunch that it's the correct wedding. He gives his age as 27, giving a year of birth of 1819, with an occupation of Labourer. His father is given as Wm CANNING, a Grocer. He signs the register with a mark, as does the bride and one of the witnesses, Thos WHITBY, so he was probably none the wiser about how his surname was written.
On the 1851 Census, he is living in Sawbridgeworth with his father-in-law, James MASKELL, and his wife Eliza and two of his children, Ann aged 4 and Mary aged 1. In looking at the births registered for the surname CANNON with mother's maiden name of MASKELL, I believe Mary is the Elizabeth Mary born on 14th Sep 1849 and my 2xGreat-grandmother. George CANNON gives his age as 31, giving a year of birth of 1820, with the place of birth as Gilston, Hertfordshire. The reference for this Census entry is: Class: HO107; Piece: 1706; Folio: 84; Page: 13.
On the 1861 Census, he is living in Gilston, Hertfordshire with his wife, Eliza, and growing family. He again gives his place of birth as Gilston, Hertfordshire but gives his age as 43, giving a year of birth of 1818. The reference for this Census entry is: Class: RG 9; Piece: 804; Folio: 61; Page: 4 & 5.
On the 1871 Census, he is still living in Gilston, Hertfordshire, aged 55, giving a year of birth of 1816. He still gives Gilston, Hertfordshire as his birth place. The reference for this Census entry is: Class: RG10; Piece: 1350; Folio: 13; Page: 7.
On the 1881 Census, he has moved to Tottenham, Middlesex, aged 60, giving a year of birth of 1821 but he still gives his place of birth as Gilston, Hertfordshire. The reference for this Census is: Class: RG11; Piece: 1380; Folio: 43; Page: 13.
Finally, on the 1891 Census, he is in the Edmonton Union Workhouse as a 74 year old widower, with Gilston, Hertfordshire as his place of birth. This age gives a year of birth of 1817.
So, all these Census entries plus his marriage suggest a year of birth somewhere between 1816 and 1821 and he's very consistent in saying he was born in Gilston, Hertfordshire.
Hertfordshire baptisms are on line with findmypast.co.uk and searching with a range of 1818 +/- 5 years ie 1813 to 1823 just with a name of George in Gilston, Hertfordshire, only gives one possible baptism. George CANNON baptised on 2nd November 1817 with parents of William and Maria CANNON. William's occupation is given as Labourer, so this is different to the occupation of Grocer when George marries in 1846 but there is a 29 year gap so his occupation could have changed.
I wondered if William CANNON was a Grocer on the 1841 Census, just 5 years before his son was married? There is a William CANNON on the 1841 Census living in Gilston, Hertfordshire and a Grocer. However, the woman of a similar age who I would guess is his wife, has the name of Mary and not Maria and George is not one of the people living in the same house. The other names are: Joseph, aged 20, an Ag Lab; Robert, aged 15, an Ag Lab and Mary, aged 8. Everyone has 'Y' against whether they were born in the same County. The reference for this Census entry is: Class: HO107; Piece: 434; Book: 6; Civil Parish: Gilston; County: Hertfordshire; Enumeration District: 10; Folio: 6; Page: 7.
Because of the way ages were entered for the 1841 Census, Joseph could be anything between 20 and 24, Robert could be between 15 and 19 and only Mary is likely to actually be 8 years old ie born in approximately 1833. Again, searching the baptisms at findmypast.co.uk, there is a baptism of a Mary CANNON on 3rd Feb 1833 with parents of William and Mary CANNON; William is a Servant.
Is this the same couple who are the parents of my George?
Searching the Gilston baptisms looking for baptisms for CANNON where the father is William over a period 1793 +/- 40 years (for completeness as much as anything!) produces the following:
| Child's First Name | Child's Surname | Date of Baptism | Father's First Name | Mother's First Name |
| Thos | CANNON | 13 Nov 1768 | Wm | Mary |
| Sarah | CANNAN | 10 Feb 1771 | Wm | Mary |
| Mary | CANNON | 01 Aug 1773 | Wm | Mary |
| Robbin | CANNON | 24 Mar 1776 | Wm | Mary |
| Sarah | CANNON | 04 Jul 1784 | Wm | Mary |
| Eleanor | CANNON | 17 Apr 1791 | Wm | Mary |
| Elizabeth | CANNON | 31 May 1812 | William | Maria |
| Joseph | CANNON | 17 Oct 1813 | William | Mary |
| Joseph | CANNON | 23 Apr 1815 | William | Mary |
| William | CANNON | 24 Sep 1815 | William | Maria |
| George | CANNON | 02 Nov 1817 | William | Maria |
| Benjamin | CANNON | 12 Sep 1819 | William | Maria |
| Robert | CANNON | 29 Apr 1821 | William | Maria |
| Mary | CANNON | 03 Feb 1833 | William | Mary |
I can find a marriage for William CANNON and Maria MARKENT on 23 Jan 1812 in Gilston but are the baptisms for children where the parents are William and Mary a different couple or the Vicar writing Mary instead of Maria?
The baptisms in the 1700s are probably a different couple entirely.
What strongly suggests there are two couples are the baptisms in 1815; Joseph baptised in April 1815 and William baptised in September 1815, so barely 5 months between the baptisms. I have had a scan through baptisms between 1814 and 1826 and only found a couple of baptisms where the date of birth has been entered. One was a month before the baptism, from which I can infer that babies were probably baptised very soon after birth thus increasing the likelihood that Joseph and William baptised in 1815 were born to different couples. However, I am inferring this! The fact that a date of birth or age is not given for the two babies baptised in 1815 doesn't prove anything!
Can I find any further marriages for someone called William CANNON? Not with any certainty!
It is getting a little confusing as George CANNON's marriage gives his father's occupation as Grocer, George's baptism suggests his mother is Maria but the Mary (possible sister) living in 1841 with the William CANNON who says he's a Grocer has a baptism with the mother as Mary. However, the gaps between the baptisms for the children of William and Maria are 3, 2, 2, 3 years, the last being in 1821. There is then a gap of 12 years to 1833 when Mary is baptised. It does suggest that Maria died and William married a Mary!
Can I find a burial for Maria CANNON sometime between 1821 and 1833? Again, no!
So, I think I will take each of the CANNON children born from 1812 and try to trace them forward. If I can find when they got married, the wedding certificates should be interesting!
The first is:
Elizabeth CANNON, baptised on 31 May 1812 with parents of William & Maria CANNON.
There is no burial at findmypast.co.uk in the Hertfordshire burial registers.
I can't find a likely marriage in the Hertfordshire marriages, nor the Essex ones.
I can't find her on the 1841 census, assuming she hadn't got married.
Joseph CANNON, baptised on 17 Oct 1813 with parents of William & Mary CANNON.
Again, I can't find anything really concrete. Nor for the Joseph baptised in 1815.
William CANNON, baptised on 24 Sep 1815 with parents of William and Maria CANNON.
Again tricky to pin down.
Benjamin CANNON, baptised on 12 Sep 1819 with parents of William & Maria CANNON.
No burials in the Hertfordshire registers.
At this point, I gave up! Tracing forward unless you are lucky and the children stay close is difficult! It's so difficult to be sure you have the right people!
However, after a little pause, the two Josephs baptised in 1813 and 1815 worry me! They both have parents of William and Mary CANNON. If they do both have the same parents, it does suggest that the first Joseph died and they re-used the name. I will try going through the Gilston Burial Register, page by page, to see if there's a burial that fits.
In looking at findmypast.co.uk for Gilston registers, the first thing that shows is that the only burial register you can scan through for this time period is for 1807-1814. There are none after 1814. In actual fact, looking at the register, the latest burial is actually 1812. So, this would explain why I can't find a burial for the first Joseph! It would also explain why I can't find a burial for a Maria CANNON. I've tried again looking at both findmypast.co.uk and ancestry for a later marriage for a William CANNON but nothing looks likely.
So, I thought I'd try another tack and find more information about the Maria MARKENT that married William CANNON in 1812. Assuming that Maria was at least 18, her birth could be from 1794 or earlier. I'll look in the Gilston area to start with!
I can find a Mereiah MARKENT baptised in Gilston in 1787 with parents of Robt (presumably Robert) and Ann. If this is Maria (and it does look like a phonetic spelling for Maria), she was 25 when she married in 1812 and 46 years old in 1833 when Mary CANNON was born! That's not impossible but pushing it a bit!
Further, on the 1851 Census, the William CANNON who is living in Gilston, is 65 years old and is a Grocer has a wife Mary who is 51 years old, giving a birth year for her of around 1800. Clearly, this Mary can't be the woman who got married in 1812! However, she does say she was born in Gilston.
If I look for anyone called Mary born in Gilston in 1800 +/- 5 years, I find the following:
Mary HUGGEL baptised on 28 Jul 1799
Mary SURIGE baptised on 29 Dec 1799
Mary TURNIL baptised on 29 Jun 1800 (but was living in Sawbridgeworth)
Marey CULVER baptised on 7 Sep 1800
Marey HARDING baptised on 17 Jan 1802
Going off on a complete tangent, I wondered whether there are more extensive burial records for Gilston anywhere else. I checked the familysearch wiki and, sure enough, on the familysearch database, Maria CANNON was buried on 27 Jan 1824 in Gilston, Hertfordshire. I can't find a burial there for Joseph, however.
I will have to somehow find the actual burial record as this is just a transcription. However, it does suggest that William CANNON's first wife was Maria MARKENT who died in 1824. The two baptisms for children named Joseph CANNON in 1813 and 1815 where the mother is Mary still 'bug' me a little but Maria could have been written as Mary by the Vicar. The 5 month gap between the 1815 Joseph CANNON and the 1815 William CANNON is also a sticking point!
William CANNON must have married again to someone called Mary, sometime between 1824 and 1833, and she is the mother of the Mary born in 1833. However, that marriage is proving to be difficult to find. On later censuses, she repeatedly said she came from Gilston, so it would be the most likely place for the marriage. However, even searching for marriages near Gilston for any William and Mary (just in case the surnames were poorly written) doesn't give anything.
So ...... at this point, I think I need to update Family Historian with what I've found :)
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