As Bruce discovered, certain of the Hiddens' online probate abstracts
indicate the presence at Hungerford, Berkshire, between 1524 and 1625, of two
Thomas Carpenters and of Alice, the younger Thomas's widow; another seems to
indicate the presence at Great Bedwin, Wiltshire, in 1613, of a William
Carpenter. In that Hungerford is only about 4 miles NNE of Shalbourne, and
Great Bedwin is immediately W of Shalbourne, there is good reason to
investigate the POSSIBILITY of a connection between one or more of these
persons and William Carpenter of Shalbourne/Wherwell/Rehoboth.
I regret to report, however, that searches of the original registers of
Hungerford and Great Bedwin parishes (on FHL films) have not been fruitful.
In searching Hungerford baptismal records from 1565 to 1630, marriage records
from 1565 to 1610, and burial records from 1615 to 1626, I found no entries
in which a Carpenter is the subject.
One might conclude that perhaps this is because they were religious
dissenters. Between 1603 and 1606/7, however--virtually the entire period
during which Hungerford baptismal records name witnesses--Thomas and Alice
Carpenter are each named several times (never together) as witnesses, and a
Julyan Carpenter is named once in that capacity.
My search of Great Bedwin baptisms (1570-1581 and 1600-1610) and marriages
(1558-1618) produced nothing--the Carpenter name fails to appear.
The principle of examining the records of parishes in the vicinity of
Shalbourne, however, was sound from the moment Rehoboth William was located
there, and it remains so. Any others who may be thinking of joining the hunt
shouldn't be put off by the fact the some of the records of neighboring
parishes begin too late to be of value. As in the case of Shalbourne, the
Bishop's Transcripts sometimes begin earlier than the parish records. Be
sure, therefore, to check FHL Catalog entries thoroughly before assuming
there are no records for a particular parish beginning about 1570 (Rehoboth
William's father was born ca. 1576) or 1600 (Rehoboth William was born ca.
1605).
Gene Z.