Solomon Butson - Born at Gwennap not Cubert
Research note by Wesley Johnston - Begun 25 Jun 2017, Last Updated 25 Jun 2017
Before linking a copy of this note, please check for the latest version of this note at the original location at
https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/12001386/person/12781823621/media/62aa3a19-c72a-4a6c-8fe6-d0012274fa2c
Where was Solomon BUTSON (husband of Elizabeth MITCHELL) born?
There are now several trees online that show Solomon BUTSON born 1 Nov 1785 at Cubert, Cornwall. None of these provide any documentation for this date or this location. The only documentation that does exist all points to him being born at Gwennap, Cornwall, which is 15 miles from Cubert.
This research note compiles all of the documentation for the birth place of Solomon, all of which - with one very late exception - shows his birth at Gwennap and not at Cubert.
1871 Census: Cubert
The only record that shows his birthplace as Cubert is the 1871 Census of Cubert, the image of which can be seen on Ancestry at
https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7619/CONRG10_2256_2261-0256?pid=15218052
Solomon is shown as age 76, a pauper, born at Cubert, living at Teveal Cottage. The household -- one of many at Teveal Cottage -- consists of him and his wife Betsey (age 71, Pauper Wife, born at Crantock) and their grand-daughter Mary TEAGUE (age 17, Shoe Maker Dau, born at St Agnes).
This was the final census before Solomon's death in 1873. So his health and mental capacity may not have been good. And the fact that Solomon and Betsey were paupers, apparently with their grand-daughter taking care of them, raises the question of whether it was their grand-daughter Mary TEAGUE who provided the household information to the census taker.
1861 Census: Gwennap
The image of him in the 1861 Census of Cubert is on Ancestry at
https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/8767/CONRG9_1541_1545-0729?pid=16100589
Solomon is shown as age 65, farmer of 10 acres, born at Gwennap, living at Green Bank. The household -- which is the only one at Green Bank -- consists of him and his wife Elizabeth (age 60, Wife, born at Crantock) and their son William BUTSON (unmarried, age 20, Carrier, born at Cubert).
Clearly, Solomon was functioning well since he farmed 10 acres. The source of the household information is not identified, but it came from either Solomon or Elizabeth or William, ao that if William was the source then he was a generation closer to the event than was Mary TEAGUE in 1871.
1851 Census: Gwennap
The image of him in the 1851 Census of Cubert is on Ancestry at
https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/8860/CONHO107_1905_1906-0105/7085105
Solomon is shown as age 54, Farmer of 63 acres employine one man, born at Gwennap, living at Cubert Church Town. The household is the entire family: Elizabeth and their children Elizabeth, Samuel, Jane and William with their grand-daughter Sarah MITCHELL and four lodgers.
Very clearly, Solomon is flourishing and functioning at high capability. The fact that he farms 63 acres, employs one man, lives in town and not on the farm and has 4 lodgers all show how hard it must have been to be reduced to a pauper 20 years later. The reduction from 63 acres with one employee in 1851 to 10 acres with no employees in 1861 shows him in decline over the intervening 10 years, which clearly continued in the following 10 years between 1861 and 1871.
1841 Census: Birth place Cornwall
The image of him in the 1841 Census of Cubert is on Ancestry at
https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/8978/CONHO107_149_150-0235/570289
The 1841 Census did not show the birthplace and only recorded a yes/no answer to whether the person was born in the county. Ages of adults in the 1841 Census were rounded to the nearest 5 years.
Solomon is shown as age 45, Farmer, bon in Cornwall, living at Cubert Church Town. The household consists of hsis wife Betsy with children Elizabeth, Samuel, John, Jane and the infant William.
This record is included for completeness. It provides no direct information to resolve the question of this research note.
Marriage 20 May 1822: No Image Available
The only information about the marriage that I have found is in the Cornwall Family History Society's Research Database. FamilySearch has no image of the record. The Cornwall Online Parish Clerk web site does not include the marriage register for this period. The FamilySearch "England Marriages 1538-1973" index does not include the marriage nor any Crantock marriages for this period.
Solomon BUTSON and Betsey MITCHELL married 20 May 1822 at Crantock. Since the image is not available, and the only index gives no further information than in the prior sentence, we do not know if it identifies Solomon as a sojourner or "of this parish" or of a specific parish.
Baptism 10 Jul 1796: Gwennap
The image of his 10 Jul 1796 baptism at Gwennap is on FamilySearch at
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11882-144767-55
where "Solomon Son of Solomon and Jane BUTSON" is the second entry from the bottom on the left-hand page.
The baptism is at Gwennap not Cubert.
Weighing the Evidence
As the only document showing his birthplace as Cubert and not Gwennap, the accuracy of the 1871 Census birth place of Cubert is dubious.
In general, the further away in time a record is from the event - especially when it conflicts with all prior records - the less credible it is. This is most true in the case of records related to an elderly person's death, since the information about the person's birth in the record came from someone who was not even born until long after the person's birth and thus had no first-hand knowledge of the event. If Mary TEAGUE was the census enumerator's source, then this record is very much akin to this same situation. Of course, the source of the information in the record is not shown, so that we cannot know who provided it.
Ultimately, the fact that the 1871 census conflicts with all other records made closer to the event and that it is 76 years after the event when Solomon was a pauper and may have had limited capacity and health gives it very low credibility in the balance with all of the other records. The 1871 information is an anachronistic error.
In fact, there is no record of Solomon or Elizabeth at Cubert until 1841, after they married. He was from Gwennap, and she was from Crantock, where they married. So neither one of them came from Cubert.
Conclusion: Gwennap not Cubert
The only record showing Solomon born at Cubert is a very late record that conflicts with all prior records: two earlier censuses and his baptism. In fact, there is no evidence of him or his wife being at Cubert until 1825 (the birth of their daughter Jane who died at age 6 in 1831 so that her name was given again to the next daughter born after her death), after their marriage which was not at Cubert. So the earliest evidence of Solomon at Cubert is 1825, when he was about 29 or 30 years old. And the evidence of his baptism and the 1851 and 1861 census all points to Gwennap as his birth place.
There simply is no way that the unique 1871 record showing him born at Cubert can be considered somehow more credible than all prior records combined that show him baptized at Gwennap in 1796 with no record of him being at Cubert until 1825.
So the only conclusion supported by the evidence is that he was born in Gwennap and not Cubert.