CAUNTER OF STAVERTON
A George
Caunter was baptised at
Dartington on 22 March 1599/1600, son of Thomas and Wilmot. However, this is quite
late to be the George married at Staverton in 1617. The Staverton parish
registers do not begin until 1614 but it is apparent from probate records that
there were Caunters in the parish prior to that date.
There is
a pedigree of the family covered below in F. Lyde Caunter’s Caunter Family Records[1]
but it contains significant errors. In particular, George’s wife Richward is not mentioned and their children included in
the pedigree are instead assigned as children of Joan. Furthermore, George is
shown as the son of a George Caunter and his wife
Bede who died in 1642 but this is a misidentification of George’s own wife Eade
(Ede or Eed) as his mother. In addition, George and
Richward’s son Richard is conflated a namesake and the same may be true of
their son George. George and Richward’s son Richard and his wife Priscilla had
sons named George (1654) and Richard (1656/57), mentioned in the Widecombe in
the Moor parish registers,[2]
who have probably been confused in the pedigree with members of the preceding
generation.
I welcome comments on this page. My e-mail address is on my home page.
CAUNTER
GEORGE CAUNTER of Staverton, Devon, yeoman, was buried on 18 June 1664 at Staverton.[3] He married first, on 10 November 1617 at Staverton, RICHWARD WITHYCOMBE.[4] She was buried on 16 August 1638 at Staverton.[5] George married second, on 6 November 1638 at Tormoham, EADE LEACH.[6] She was buried on 27 June 1642 at Staverton.[7] George married third, on 12 December 1642 at Stokenham, JOAN TOWKER.[8] She was buried on 11 April 1662 at Staverton.[9]
Children of George and Richward (Withycombe) Caunter:
i RICHARD CAUNTER, bap 27 Sep 1618,
Staverton,[10]
bur 9 Feb 1669/70, Staverton;[11] m(1) PRISCILLA;[12] m(2) 22 Apr 1668, Staverton, THOMASINE BULLY.[13]
ii THOMAS CAUNTER, bap 24 Sep 1620,
Staverton.[14]
iii GEORGE CAUNTER, bap 17 Nov 1622,
Staverton.[15]
iv ELINOR CAUNTER, bap 23 Nov 1625, Buckfastleigh,[16]
bur 22 Jan 1629/30, Staverton.[17]
v JOAN CAUNTER, bap 17 Feb 1627/28,
Staverton,[18]
bur 18 Apr 1663, Staverton;[19] m
30 Oct 1649, Staverton, WILLIAM WHITEWAY[20]
(see here).
vi RICHWARD CAUNTER, bap 1 Aug 1630,
Staverton,[21]
bur 1 Dec 1677, Staverton;[22] m
21 Apr 1668, St Stephen, Exeter, THOMAS BULLY.[23]
vii EDWARD CAUNTER, bap 2 Dec 1632,
Staverton.[24]
viii DOROTHY CAUNTER, bap 8 Mar 1634/35,
Staverton,[25]
bur 11 Nov 1681, Staverton;[26] m
20 Jul 1658, Staverton, HENRY PRESTON.[27]
ix ALEXANDER CAUNTER, bap 16 Aug 1638,
Staverton.[28]
[2] Widecombe in the Moor parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk). The mother is not mentioned in these two entries but she is named as Priscilla in the entry for Elinor in 1652.
[3] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk); F. Lyde Caunter, Caunter Family Records (London, 1930), 71.
[4] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[5] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[6] Tormoham parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[7] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[8] Stokenham parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk). This seems to be a marriage of this George rather than his namesake son due to the timing (a few months after the death of the previous wife) and the lack of any apparent children of George and Joan.
[9] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[10] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[11] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[12] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk). Priscilla, wife of Richard Caunter, was buried on 17 Jul 1667. I have not located their marriage but they had children recorded at Widecombe in the Moor between 1649/50 and 1659 (Widecombe in the Moor parish registers, online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[13] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk). She was buried on 28 May 1674 as “Tomzin Caunter Vid[ua]” (widow).
[14] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[15] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[16] Buckfastleigh parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[17] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[18] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[19] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[20] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk). The children of William and Joan (Caunter) Whiteway included both a George and a Richward, providing onomastic support for this identification. Another Joan Caunter married Zachary Bovey at Staverton on 3 Feb 1656/57 but in the parish register entry she is said to be of Ashburton.
[21] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[22] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[23] England Marriages, 1538–1973 (www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N2V8-4W5).
[24] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[25] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[26] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[27] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk). The abstract of George Caunter’s will in F. Lyde Caunter, Caunter Family Records (London, 1930), 71, gives the impression that the testator’s daughter Dorothy was unmarried at the time. No date for the writing of the will is given so it could have been made several years before George’s death. The marriage entry for Henry Preston and Dorothy Caunter explicitly identifies the bride as a daughter of George Caunter of Staverton.
[28] Staverton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).