A Study of the Caperton Genealogy

This is a page from the book "The History of the City of Exeter".  John Caperton is admitted as a prebender in the year 1477 in Carswell, Devon, England. A  prebendary  is a senior member of clergy, normally supported by the revenues from an estate or parish. The holder of the post is connected to an  Anglican  or  Roman Catholic   cathedral  or  collegiate church . The position is a type of  canon  who has a role in the administration of a cathedral. A  prebend  is the form of  benefice  held by a prebendary: historically, the  stipend  attached to it was usually drawn from specific sources in the income of a cathedral's estates. When attending cathedral services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the  choir  stalls, known as  prebendal stalls . Abbots Carswell or Kerswell ABBOTS CARSWELL or KERSWELL, in the hundred of Haytor, and in the deanery of I...

Capleton is not a name change from Caperton.  There were Capleton families in Wells, England at the same time as Richard, Thomas and John were living in Wells.  Capletons carried on after 1835 in Wells, Capertons moved on somewhere;  to maybe Scotland,  America and other parts of England.

There is a lot I don't know about Thomas Caperton and how he fits. This I do know from records at St. Cuthberts in Wells, England.  Thomas Caperton married Elinor Welch in 1703, Aug. 7.  It says Thomas Caperton and Elinor were of the Parish of Croscombe.  I can find Elinor's family at the Croscombe church.  Elinor born 1671 April and the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Welch.  She had  brother James born June 9, 1678.  He married Sarah Mopson in 1702 at Croscombe.  Elinor dies in 1705 and Thomas Caperton marries Ann Tinkwell on Oct. 25, 1712.   There is another death of a wife of Thomas that I can't explain yet. July 16, 1697 Elianor wife of Thomas Caperton is buried at Wells. Richard Caperton married Mary Deverill March 2, 1712 John Caperton was born June 26, 1717, son of Richard Caperton and Mary Devorill. Richard Caperton was born March 8, 1714, son of Richard and Mary Ann Caperton was born June 3, 1713, daughter of Ric...

Today..July 18, 2018…it is hot in Anderson where I live so I entertain myself with genealogy.  I found a Court Proceedings of the Old Bailey…London’s Central Criminal Court, 1674 to 1913,  for James Caperton as the victim of a crime on May 16, 1812.  So naturally I looked it up and couldn’t attach it here so I printed it and will try to do it another way.  The essence of the crime was Ann Rogers age 15 and Jane Jones age 17 broke into James' business.  At least it sounds like a business, a bar, and took food, cooking utensils, and the till, the money drawer.  They also killed someones chicken.  They were hungry! They were convicted of the crime and given the sentence of death!  for a chicken!  Death….unbelievable!  Then some witnesses asked for mercy because of good character, no they were not pregnant.  They received mercy and got life in prison instead.  still unbelievable!  This was on July 1, 1812   In Octobe...

The Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland All Ireland, Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland Membership Registers, 1733-1923 results for Caperton Results 1–4 of 4 John Caperton 19 May 1768 John Caperton 10 Sep 1764 Droghedas Light Dragoons 388 John Caperton 19 May 1768 John Caperton 10 Sep 1764  Warrant for Drogheda's Light Dragoons A regiment of Light Dragoons was raised in Ireland in 1759 by the Marquis of Drogheda, and numbered 19th.  It was changed to 18th in 1763 at the end of the Seven Years War.  Two warrants were granted to this Regiment,  December 2, 1762, 388 to the first squadron and 389 to the second.  The first registered 41 members up to 1791. and was canceled in 1813.  This was the regiment of John Caperton.  The source of this is Irish Masonic History and the Jewels of Irish Freemasonry. This regiment, 388, was enlisted to fight the Whiteboys who were a secret Irish agrarian organization in 18th century Ireland which used viole...

As I am looking at the family of John,  there are 3 children born in Virginia from 1760 to 1770.  I have also read that there were many ships running back and forth to Ireland from the Americas and that hopping a ship was no problem for those that had business there.  So was John traveling back and forth with products importing and exporting? It might make more sense than bringing your family back and forth.  Just when you think you know something....there are more questions than answers.

This is a description of the location of an impounding reservoir for the Belfast Water District in Ireland.  It is from the Parliamentry Notices in the Freemans Journal Nov. 15, 1873 that are describing the legal locations of all the places. I think that this proves that there were Capertons in Ireland by 1639 because the other newspaper articles regarding this same description give the existence of Caperton Townland as being since 1639.  In this description it calls it the Caperton farm house belonging or reputed to belong to Marriott R. Dalway and in the occupation of Macauley Stewart in the year 1873.

These are the pages referring to John Caperton from 1760 to 1768 in Ireland. Source Information The Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland Ancestry.com. Ireland, Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland Membership Registers, 1733-1923 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Freemasons of Ireland Membership Registers. The Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland. About Ireland, Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland Membership Registers, 1733-1923 Freemasonry is a fraternal order that traces its roots back to the operative masons of the late Middle Ages. Non-operative or speculative Freemasonry was an established part of Irish society from the 17th Century at least. Founded by 1725, the Grand Lodge of Ireland is the second-oldest Masonic Grand Lodge in the world. The Grand Lodge governs Masonic activity in Ireland and in various provinces around the world. This collection includes membership registers for Masonic ...

I found the answer to that question!  John sold all his property in Virgina in 1760 and disappears from  available records in Virginia until 1774.  He is found in May 1760 back in Dublin, Ireland in the Freemasons register.  He is listed in 4 places.  He is last listed on the register in 1768.  I found the source on Ancestry.com.  The Caperton name is found near Carrickfergus on a map of impounding reservoirs.  It was called a Townland. John had joined the Dragoons upon returning to Ireland because Carrickfergus was being threatened by The French and he needed to volunteer to protect his land.  I read some history of the Ulsters and it totally fits with what John did.  I think that once that conflict was settled, the War in the Americas was starting with England and he went back to volunteer in that effort in Virginia. I will be putting together my references and try to figure out how to link them here.https://books.google.com/books?id=5...

I forgot about this little blog where I can put tidbits of what I have learned.  It took me awhile to relearn how to post but now I have got it again!  I will start where I am thinking right now.  After consulting with the book, " The Tower of London Prisoner Book" by Brian E. Harrison,  I found no prisoners there in the time frame of 1400's of the the names of Caperton, Wallace, Douglas, Erskine.  So now I am looking at the Sterling Castle, the house of Stewart, in Scotland, where prisoners were also kept because it was in the area where all these people lived.  I have had no luck so far in finding lists or places where they might have been recorded. You ask, why Sterling Castle....(Stirling Castle) ....I read the book" the Forest Laird"  about William Wallace and that is where they were placing prisoners during the Scottish Rebellion and in this book, the names of these people kept cropping up.....all except Caperton.

After looking at the tree I put together using the census data and birth, death and marriage records available on Ancesty.com for the UK,  I was hoping I could make some kind of connections with an Englishman that is interested in his family history and get him to do DNA testing to see if he USA Capertons match.  I am waiting patiently....please contact me before I die and go to Heaven......lol.

You have been invited to  William Bethel Caperton  on  Ancestry.com . You can view and print this family tree as well as historical records, photos, and stories associated with people in the tree. You can also participate by: Commenting on people, images, and stories Adding photos and stories Adding, editing, and deleting names The family tree already has 112 people, 4 photos, 0 stories and 113 historical records. Go to  William Bethel Caperton     PRIVACY STATEMENT Ancestry.com  does not sell, rent or otherwise distribute the personal information you provide us to third party advertisers. You received this email according to your alert preferences. To change your preferences log in to  My Ancestry  and go to the 'my alerts' section. Please know that  Ancestry.com  does not share your personal information with anyone. Questions? Comments? Please don't reply to this email as we cannot respond to messages sent t...

  Let's see, did I talk about the Clappertons yet?   I will do that first.  There are many Clappertons in Scotland.  They are not very interested in genealogy and no one wants to talk to me so far.  I spent last week researching the Clapperton surname.  I found several family trees online but those that made the trees do not know anything that would help me.  They were kind enough to respond, but could not give me any added info. If I could just get a Clapperton to do a DNA test I could get on with my work, either excluding them or not by the results of the testing.  Like I could eliminate the Cunninghams because there were absolutely no matches, not even close.  Getting sleepy.

So now that I have examined several Scottish DNA pages of thousands of people, I have found no matches for my Caperton yet.  Out of the thousands, there were only about 15 that even started with the first number of our DNA count. 14 24 14 10 11-14 12 13 11 12 13 29    These are the first 11 markers.  To find a match, it has to match here.  Then if you find this match, you go on to more markers.  If you match there or have just a couple that are close, then go on to more markers.  If you match, you are related.  Most of the numbers of the people in the projects began with 13. Ours, as you can see, begins with 14.   In my project, we have 4 men that tested and they all match perfectly.  They are all from different fathers in the line descending from John Caperton who came to America from Scotland in 1725.  We tested up to 67 markers. www.familytreedna.com/public/Caperton.default.aspx?section=yresults A fe...

Today I will try to figure out how to insert images here so you can see the pages that refer to as proof of existence. Caprington Castle This is from the ClanCunningham page.

The first Caperton is found in the 1400's in Scotland. I found him here. www.british-history.as.uk/    There are 3 references for the name Caperton in the document...  Rymer's Foedera with Syllabus: January-June 1432, Volume 10 page 499 to 514.   Capsulating the story.....In 1432, the lord of Caperton was involved with the men who participated in the effort to free the Scots from England.  He, along with other men, was imprisoned in Sterling Castle as a hostage.  I at first thought they were imprisoned in Tower of London, but after consulting the book,"Tower of London Prisoner Book", the following names were not there.  The only other active prison was at Sterling Castle. Adam was a hostage for Willielmo de Douglas, also spelled Willielmus de Douglas.  Other names prominent in the document are Walys or Waleys (Wallace), Stewart, Hay, Sterling, all big names in the Scottish Rebellion.   On the Caperton side of being hostages, the ...

I have been studying the Caperton family for many years now.  With the sources on the internet, my knowledge has greatly increased.  However, it left a lot of unanswered questions.  Bernard Caperton of West Virginia has written THE book about the Caperton ancestors but since he has passed away, there have been new discoveries to add to his knowledge.  My purpose in this blog is to chronicle the new discoveries and see how they enhance what Bernard knew and hoped to uncover before he was gone.  I hope that Capertons of this generation will find an interest in preserving their family names for the future.  Our people are very interesting! This is where you can find all the current info on Capertons and also order The Caperton Book.