The Ancestry of John Rowden Butson
Research note by Wesley Johnston, begun 10 Dec 2015, last updated 26-27 Dec 2023 (update Sarah Butson baptism; add conjectures)
Contents
The Problem
John Rowden Butson has been a brick wall for documenting this branch of the BUTSONs of the Shobrooke-Crediton area of Devon. I have not found his baptism. I have not sought any other than parish register records thus far. So I have not found any documentation of who his parents were.
The fact that his middle name was Rowden (documented on the 1861 census) is strong evidence that the maiden name of his mother or one of his grandmothers was ROWDEN.
What Documentation Do I Have for John Rowden BUTSON?
Using the principle of working from the known to the unknown, here is all of the documentation that I have thus far found for John Rowden Butson.
c 1793 - Birth and Baptism at Shobrooke or St Johns Exeter - Derived Information
Based on his age and birthdate in the censuses (see specifics below) and his age at death (see specifics below), he was born about 1793 either at Shobrooke, Devon (per 1861 and 1871 censuses) or at St Johns Exeter, Devon (per 1851 census). No baptism for him has been found at either place.
1821 Apr 9 - Marriage at Sandford
The earliest actual record that I have found for him is his marriage with Maria BECK at Sandford, Devon.
1822 Apr 7 - Baptism of son John James BUTSON at Cheriton Fitzpaine
He was a Wheelwright. The baptism is indexed on Family Search at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J797-8PB (FHL Film 917,178). The image is online on FindMyPast.
1823 May 25 - Baptism of son William BUTSON at Cheriton Fitzpaine
He was a Cooper. The baptism is indexed on Family Search athttps://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N59T-N44 (FHL Film 917,178). The image is online on FindMyPast.
1824 Sep 20 - Baptism of daughter Maryanne BUTSON at Cheriton Fitzpaine
He was a Cooper. The baptism is indexed on Family Search at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J367-4QR (FHL Film 917,178). The image is online on FindMyPast.
1826 May 28 - Baptism of daughter Sarah BUTSON at Shobrooke
The Cheriton Fitzpaine baptismal register continues through No. 712 on 26 Jan 1840. But there are no Butson baptisms in the register after that of Maryanne in 1824. The later censuses show the children's births at Shobrooke, although since Sarah married in 1849, she is not shown with the family, since she was not shown with them in 1841 either.
She was 15 years old (not rounded) in the 1841 census, so that her birth was about 1826. All censuses show her born at Shobrooke, with two exceptions. One of her two listings in the 1851 census shows her born at Colebrooke, but this was in a large household where she was the Child's Maid, and the information was almost certainly given by someone else in the household and not fully accurate. In the 1861 census, she is shown with a ditto under her husband's birth at Colebrooke. Otherwise, all records show her born at Shobrooke.
An important fact to note is that the next baptism at Shobrooke after her 28 May 1826 baptism was the 6 Jun 1826 baptism of Eliza Anne, daughter of Eliza & John ROWDON (he a yeoman) of Shobrooke. So, the ROWDEN connection seems to have been very much in place.
c 1829 - Birth of son James BUTSON, at Shobrooke
The 1851 census shows him, with his parents, born at Shobrooke.
c 1831 - Birth of son Charles BUTSON, at Shobrooke
The 1851 census and later censuses show him born at Shobrooke. All point to 1831 via his age, but the 1871 census points to 1832 (age 39).
c 1831 - Birth of son Robert BUTSON, at Shobrooke
Robert is a challenge, since I have never found him with his parents in a record. In the 1841 census of Shobrooke, he is a servant in the home of Phillip Hilyer. I have not found him in the 1851 census. The 1861 census census shows him born at Shobrooke. He may have been a twin of Charles, since they were both born about the same time. But there is also a possibility that he was not the son of John and Maria, although I think it most likely that he was their son.
c 1837 - Birth of son Job BUTSON, at Shobrooke
The 1851 census shows him born at Shobrooke. The gap of 6 years between him and the older children suggests that at least one other child may have been born and died in the 1830's, thus not appearing with the family in the 1841 census. John Rowden BUTSON's wife, Maria BECK, would have been about 46 when Job was born, and he was their last known child.
1841 Census of Efford Village, Shobrooke
The 1841 Census of Efford Village, Shobrooke, shows him as a 47 year old Wheelwright. Wife Maria and children William, Sarah, James, Charles and Job lived with him. Children John James, Maryanne and Robert are not with the family in the 1851 census.
1851 Census of Shute Village, Shobrooke
The 1851 Census of Shute Village, Shobrooke, shows him as a 57 year old Carpenter. Wife Maria and children James and Job and grand-daughter Isabella lived with him. (Isabella was the base child of John and Maria's daughter Maryanne BUTSON.)
1861 Census of Slades Cottage (late James), Shobrooke
The 1861 Census shows him as a 68 year old Carpenter. He and wife Maria are the only ones in the household.
1871 Census of East Street, Crediton
The 1871 Census shows him as a 78 year old former Carpenter. He and wife Maria are living with their daughter Sarah (BUTSON) CHUDLEY's family.
1876 Death in the Crediton Registration District
He died in the October-December quarter of 1873 in the Creditron Registration District, probably still living at Crediton with daughter Sarah.
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/results?count=75&query=%2Bsurname%3Abutson~%20%2Bbirth_place%3A%22shobrooke%2C%20devon%22&collection_id=1473014
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/results?count=75&query=%2Bsurname%3Abutson~%20%2Bbirth_place%3A%22exeter%2C%20devon%22%20%2Bfather_givenname%3Ajohn~%20%2Bmother_givenname%3Aagn*&collection_id=1473014
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/results?count=75&query=%2Bsurname%3Abutson~%20%2Bmarriage_place%3ADevon%20%2Bmarriage_year%3A1780-1793~&collection_id=1473015&gender=M
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/results?count=75&query=%2Bsurname%3Abutson~%20%2Bmarriage_place%3A%22shobrooke%2C%20devon%22&collection_id=1473015
Current Conjectures
I think there is strong evidence of a ROWDEN family connection. This leads to several conjectures.
1 - If John Rowden BUTSON's birth was marital, then it would likely be an otherwise unknown son of James BUTSON and Mary ROWDEN who was his father.
2 - Some online trees conjecture that he was the son of James BUTSON and Mary ROWDEN which is a conjecture that I find extremely unlikely. Mary would have been about 52 when John Rowden BUTSON was born, which is very unlikely. The last documented child of James BUTSON and Mary ROWDEN was in 1775 (when Mary was 34) -- about 18 years before the birth of John Rowden BUTSON which is nearly an entire generation. There is too much evidence against this conjecture for me to accept it.
Some online tree include as children of this family a daughter Lucy Sophia BUTSON at born 5 Apr 1787 and baptized, as the daughter of James and Mary BUTSON at Brightlingsea, Essex. Mary (ROWDEN) BUTSON would have been 56. The carpenter James BUTSON and Mary ROWDEN who married 1762 at Shobrooke, had children baptized at Shobrooke 1776-1775 and were buried 1818 at Shobrooke do not have any indication in other records of every living elsewhere than Shobrooke. I suspect that the Essex James and Mary BUTSON were an entirely different couple.
3- If his birth was non-marital, one of the two surviving youngest daughters (Sarah 1772, Mary 1775) of James BUTSON and Mary ROWDEN could have been the mother of John Rowden BUTSON whose baptism went unrecorded, never happened, or happened someplace distant.
4 - There was a John ROWDEN born and baptized 12 Apr 1792 at Shobrooke, son of John and Elizabeth ROWDEN. This is the only baptism found that could be his. But clearly there is no BUTSON connection in the baptismal record. This conjecture requires researching this family and seeing if the 1792 John ROWDEN and John Rowden BUTSON may have been one and the same. This conjecture may not be verifiable from surviving records.
At this point, I think either conjecture 1 or 3 or 4 is possible, with 3 (non-marital son) being slightly more likely. I find conjecture 2 extremely unlikely in light of the contrary evidence. Conjecture 4 may be unverifiable, but it is definitely worth considering since it is the only baptism found that could be his.