The Origin of William and Thomas Butson of Braunton, North Devon

Research note by Wesley Johnston, begun 18 Feb 2013, last updated 26 Nov 2014, 11 Sep 2023 (see update at end)

https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/12001386/person/13413600739/media/408ef3d0-8904-4ac4-9fa9-7021c7ab41b0

Overview

Two Butson men first appear at Braunton in marriages in 1768 and 1783. Their origin is unknown.

William Butson married at Braunton 9 Apr 1768 and died at Braunton in 1802, leaving his wife and 6 children, some of whom were probably still at home. He was apparently born about 1743, which is the calculated year of his wife's birth based on her age at death in 1816. But where did he come from? Who were his parents?

Thomas Butson married at Braunton 20 Apr 1783 at Braunton, and his surviving son William's descendants spread from there. He was probably born about 1760. But where was he born? And who were his parents?

This research note records that I have gathered to try to answer these questions. I owe a great debt to Jenny Jenkins, who has done decades of research on this family and graciously hosted my family for a visit to Braunton in 1981.

I will begin with William and then consider Thomas.

William - Probably NOT from Cornwall

I have done extensive research on the Butsons of Cornwall. While it is certainly not yet complete, I think it is very unlikely that William Butson had come from Cornwall to Braunton.

I have ruled out all the known William Butsons of Cornwall who I have found. The closest - both in date and place - were the two William Butsons who were sons of John and Jane (Billing) Butson. The first of these William Butsons was baptized at St Columb Minor 21 Apr 1750 -- a bit young to be the Braunton William Butson but one who could not be ruled out on this date alone. However, this William was buried at St Columb Minor 3 Oct 1766, so that he was definitely not the Braunton William. Nor was his brother William Butson who was baptized at St Columb Minor 31 Jan 1768. He married 1796 in Gwennap and lived out his life in Chacewater, fathering the Kenwyn area Butsons.

William - Possibilities from Devon

The Devon parish registers are far less accessible than are those of Cornwall. So I can only speculate from what research that I have done in Devonshire. While the earliest Butsons were at Blackborough and Kentisbeare and in southern Devon, there was a Butson family at Oakford and later Bampton. Another William Butson, born about 1790-1795 married 24 Apr 1817 at Oakford. He may have been the brother of the Sarah Butson who married 19 Feb 1824 at Stoodleigh after giving birth at Oakford to a base child, Henry Butson, who was baptized at Oakford 20 Apr 1823.

I know of this family because several of this Oakford William Butson's son James' children emigrated to North Dakota in the United States about 1879 or 1880.

Clearly the Oakford William Butson is not the Braunton William Butson and would not be a sibling either, since they have the same given name. However, they could have been cousins. [25 Nov 2014 update: I have identified the Oakford William Butson as the one baptized 1792 at Dulverton, Somerset, son of Thomas Butson, who was baptized 1756 at Brompton-St. Regis, Somerset and lived at Skilgate, Somerset, at the time of his 1783 marriage in Dulverton. There are many other Butsons in the late 1700's in this area of western Somerset, which I have not yet researched.]

Braunton is 30 miles from Oakford, with good roads between them. So it is possible that the origin of the Braunton William Butson was Oakford. It is the closest place to Braunton at which I have thus far found Butsons.

Thomas - NOT William's Son

Many trees on Ancestry have Thomas as the 1869-baptized son of William Butson and Agness Couch. There are two very obvious reasons why this is wrong.

This Thomas Butson died in 1772, at age 4. His subsequent brother Thomas also died as an infant.
Even if he had lived, he would have been only 14 in 1783, when he was supposedly married and fathered a child that same year.

What Do We Know About Thomas?

Thomas Butson married Elizabeth Grimshar at Braunton 20 Apr 1783. They had two children at Braunton, William Butson baptized 16 Nov 1783 (who later married Prudence Hartnoll and had 7 known children) and John Butson baptized 28 Jun 1787 who was buried 25 Mar 1790. I have not found burial records for Thomas or Elizabeth, both of whom would have been born about 1764 or earlier.

Thomas and Elizabeth were apparently paupers. The 1787 baptism of their son John does not show the 3d Christening Tax paid in his case and records his parents as "maintained by the Parish". Similarly, John's 1790 burial is recorded as "buried by the Parish".

Thomas - Devon Candidate Baptisms

I have found three candidate baptisms in Devon and calculated the distances from Braunton using Google Maps directions.

1746 Dec 28 at Willand (44.4 miles) to Uriah and Grace
1759 Sep 21 at Crediton (37.9 miles) to Josias and Mary
1763 Jul 17 at Devonport (66.1 miles) to Thomas and Sarah

Thomas - Somerset and Cornwall Candidate Baptisms

The only candidate in Somerset that I have found was the Thomas Butson baptized 25 Apr 1756 at Brompton-Regis (38.7 miles). But I believe that this is the Thomas Butson who married 7 Apr 1786 at Dulverton, Somerset, and died there in 1818.

The only candidate in Cornwall was baptized 6 Jul 1760 at St Columb Minor (79.5 miles), son of John Butson and Jane Billing (my 6th great grandparents). His brother Thomas was baptized in 1758 but buried in 1759, so that he is not a candidate. The distance in this case may be less of a factor, since St Columb Minor and Braunton are both accessible by boat, so that a voyage could have been possible. The St Columb Minor Thomas is a "loose end", in that I have not traced him past his baptism.

Bottom Line - No Definitive Origin for William or Thomas

So there are possibilites but no certainties for the origin of William and Thomas. And there is the question of whether or not they were related, which also reamains unanswered, although Thomas' being maintained by the parish while William was there seems to indicate that if there was a relationship then it was not close.

There is one other possibility. There are many dozens of Braunton records going back to the 1500's for surnames such as Bastin, Batsin, etc. Might William and Thomas be from those families? I see no candidate baptisms among those families for either William or Thomas. So it seems that they are not from those families.

Update 11 Sep 2023

I have exhaustively searched the Braunton church registers back to 1732. There is no BUTSON entry prior to the 1768 marriage of William Butson and Agness Couch. There are many BUTSIN entries, but they appear to be completely unrelated to the BUTSON family.

The bottom line remains the same: no definitive origin. John Butson of Plymouth notes that the 1743 extensive fire at Crediton led about 2,000 people to move elsewhere from Crediton. But only two William Butsons at Crediton fit the right birth years, and one of those is accounted for elsewhere than Braunton.