From: Garry Caswell lithowipe(a)diaI.pipex.com
To: mike(a)moonrakers.com
Search For John Caswell, Marlborough
Date: Tuesday, March 24. 1998 5:34 PM
Hi My name Is Carry Caswell and I am currently trying to find some in formation about my
great grandfather John Caswell. and as I know that you have and are previously researching
the Wiltshire Caswells. I would be interested to know if you have found any information
regarding him-background: I am unsure as to the place of birth of John. but he was known
to have been resident in Marlborough during his marrie d years. By profession he was a
master blacksmith and farrier, and It is known that while working as a farrier in the pre
WW1 period he w as kicked by a horse and subsequently died in his ?40's- His son, m y
grandfather Reginald, born in Marlborough entered the Navy and fought in the Battle of
Jutland on the Kings Flagship under Admiral Jellicoe- This ship was called HMS Marlborough
and at the time was the pride of the British fleet and was manned by. what the British
forces call,'chosen men'. It is known that his father. John, had died before he
entered the Navy. Reg, w!
as born in 1897 and as the age entry requirement for the Royal Navy at that time was I e,
we presume that he ent ered the Navy in 1014.This would have given him the time necessary
t o have been promoted to Battleship Flagship crew standards.
Anyway. that would suggest that John was killed prior to1914. and b y suppositon. that he
was born around 1860 inthe Marlborough area. J ohn was married to Ruth Caswell,who lived
in Marlborough until her d eath in the 1950's. I believe that your research has
already found a RuthCaswell who is buried in St- Marys churchyard in Marlborough - I
believe this may be my Great Grandmother. As background to Ruth , she was known to be
living at 34 Laneys? Close during the first wor ld war, and possibly may have lived there
until her death. If you hav e any information about John or can point me in the
rightdirection I would be grateful if you could get in touch,In addition to the above, I
would be Interested to hear if you have ever heard of anything similar to the following
during your research: the following stories have been handed down through the family over
a long period of timeand obviously they may be complete rubbish. but what theheck... I )
during some time In the 017 orals!
a member of our direct line went to sea from Bristol? and became a trader in slaves from
the West Af rican Coast to the Caribbean. As part of the process of slaving man y slaves
were given. or took, English names. and this is the reasonw hy there area large number of
African American, and European men with the Christian name 'Caswell'. I do know
that quite a large number of slaves brought back to England during the ala where called
Caswel l 'whatever'.but can find no suggestion of a member of our family either 1)
being involved In 'trading' or 2) have accumulatedthe kind o f wealth that would
be expected of a slavetrader, 2) An even older legend that has passed down says that a
member of our family took part in what would have been the equivalent of the national
games In th e a 13. He is supposed to have been a common man that was for some reason
forced into taking part in a jousting competition with the English Knights of the time.
Even though he was a common man is suppos!
ed t o have beaten the knights and during the final joust (some form of kn ockout Process
was in place). he is supposed to have beaten the leading knight and broken the
swordl/lance he used in one hand as some form of protest or victory celebration. After
this,as champion. he wa s knighted. granted lands and title andlater followed the King
into Battle. The king mentioned is always Edward II and emphasis is alwa ys on the defeat
of the English Knights suggesting a foreign origin . This would also tally with a general
understanding that we come from a Welsh line derived from North Wales. Edward II was a
Welshman , born in Cearnarfon, North Wales in 1284(Suggesting this legend i s based during
the reign of Edward the II 1307-1327). and there may somewhere be the possibility that
this 'Caswell' was brought in by Edward to show up the English Knights. Certainly
the basic history of this legend fits. It is known that Edward had a deep respect for the
welsh knights. who under Llew!
ellyn had defeated his father who honoured Llewellyn by making Llewellyn prince of Wales.
Further to the above there has also been a suggestion that the family was in some way
linked with Henry VII and came to England during the Wars of the Rose s and fought at
Bosworth Field in 1485. I'm not sure how much of the dark age history of Britain you
know.
but Henry VII was descended from a welsh knight. during LLewellyns time, who was called
Cadwalladr. In welsh thisis pronounced 'katswoll- arter'. There is an obvious
resemblance to our name. and the Presenc e of Cadwalladr was only found during my own
research when I was at college. and I find it unlikely that my Grandfather. who had little
education and never visited Wales, would of known of his existence. I f you have heard any
similar legends Iwould be interested to hear fr om you.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give. Garry Caswell.
Lithowipe(a)dial.pipex.com