While studying the West Country Carpenters in Oxfordshire and Berkshire who
originate in the city of Oxford about 1350, an unexpected turn of events
occurred. The Henry Carpenter of Locking in Berkshire turned out not to be
the son of Thomas Carpenter the mayor of Reading. Oxford wills show the
mayor's son to have lived in North Aston. This points to the Henry, William
and Thomas as sons of the mayor's brother John Carpenter of Caversham.
Research has shown that Locking Henry Carpenter's son Andrew of Oxford was
the progenitor of a line of 'gentleman' Carpenters of Oxford who were
educated and entered the professions in the city. Others continued as
brewers in the city for a century and a half. The brewers dominated the city
government all through the 1600s. Other relatives of these brewers lived
scattered about Berkshire and Oxfordshire and produced barley for the
malting process. No doubt a goodly amount of barley was processed right in
Oxford. More was no doubt sent to London from Abingdon。Abingdon was an
additional center for carpenters in the West Country. They also were in the
brewing and barley business.
The William Carpenter who lived in Wroxton, Oxfordshire and had a William in
1604 was no doubt connected to all this. Broxton was a barley producing area
and many of the residents had kilns for drying the barley. William also had
married into a family (Robinson) that used 'brewer' as an alias. Young men
of the town who showed promise at studies
were given scholarships to Oxford. Most of the land in Wroxton was
controlled by Holy Trinity College in Oxford. A William Carpenter was on the
rolls for 1623.
Another possibility is Samuel Newman who was from Banbury and attended Holy
Trinity, according to some.
Enjoy a good beer. It may be in your genes.