The Canterbury and Long Point Carltons Genealogy

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CHAPTER 5

WILLIAM (II) CARLETON (OF ASH)

AND ANN (AGNES) POLLARD

1610 - AFTER 1662

PHOTOGRAPH of William's signature from Ann Carlton Hatcher's 1628 marriage license

Although we have no record of William's baptism, we know he was born in 1610 by his own statement when he received his marriage license in 1631. He is notable because he was the first literate Carlton. When he was young England was experiencing a great increase in the number of grammar schools and there is little doubt that he attended one of these schools near his home, most likely the St. George's Parish school in Canterbury or the Ash Parish school in Ash, (if they existed) when he was growing up.

In 1630, when William was twenty, his father, his mother, his brother Stephen and his uncle Richard died of the plague. His father's will specified:

Between the time his father wrote the will and the time it was probated, a period of only a few days, William's brother Stephen also died, thus making William the only survivor to carry the family name. The 1½ years between 1630 and January of 1632 was the only time in the history of the direct line of the family that a single male was carrying the family name [actually only a 9 month period between the death of Stephen (I) (of Ashe) and the start of Ann's pregnancy with Steephen (II) (of Deal) in April of 1631]. There is every reason to believe that if William was living at home at the time (and he probably was) he was one of the rare persons who was actually immune to the plague. He may have been the only family member living in the house to survive (his sister was married and probably not living at home at the time).

Since the total value of his father's estate was about £25, William was not left with much to begin his life on his own. In addition, 1629 and 1630 were extremely bad years with much starvation and disease in the cities. It was a bad time to be left alone and it appears that William made a marriage for economic reasons, which was quite common at that time.

William and Ann were granted a marriage license on September 14, 1631 to marry at St. George's Canterbury. Ann is recorded as "Agnes Pollard, widow of Lawrence Pollard late of Woodnesborough" and William is recorded as "yeoman . . . 21 years of age or thereabouts." William signed the marriage record himself in a well practiced hand. Three years earlier both he and his father Stephen had witnessed the marriage license for his sister Ann and Thomas Hatcher. This 1628 document includes both Stephen's mark and William's signature. In addition he signed another marriage license 2 years later, thus proving him to be the first literate Carlton. Lawrence Pollard had died only a few months previously, and it appears that Ann was following the custom of the time, which was to find a partner to "husband" the land as soon as possible. Woodnesborough is located near Ash, about 3 miles north of Tilmanstone. Most likely William was following in the footsteps of his father in marrying a widow, who probably had at least a small estate from her former husband to offer her new partner. At the time of the marriage Ann was about 5 months pregnant with their first son, Steephen. Although it is possible that the child was Pollard's, there can be no doubt that the pregnancy hastened the marriage. At this time the medieval practice of the wife being pregnant as proof of childbearing ability was still tolerated. However, a woman who bore a child out of wedlock ran serious risk to her standing in the community that could result in severe hardship, It was much wiser to marry prior to the birth, as William and Ann did.

It has been said of these times that the English were lazy from top to bottom. Stories abound about shopkeepers putting up their shutters and receiving complaints about their absence from villagers while they enjoyed themselves in the local alehouse. Labourers would play games in the shade or in the alehouse and would prefer to loiter and do nothing when offered employment. However, in many cases it appears that these accounts were written by the early Puritans, who seemed to always find fault with anyone who did not contemplate his or her position with god from morning to night, so their validity in modern terms is questionable. At any rate, no accounts have ever been heard or found of lazy Carltons and based on our heritage as evidence in those currently living, it is hard to believe such accounts would have applied to William and Ann's family. Throughout this time Kent maintained its' reputation as the most highly cultivated county and was famous for hops, fruit and corn (grain).

Ordinary people, such as our family, were expected to work all day long except on Sundays or the frequent public holidays. Everyone would have their own plot of land to till, a cow to milk and/or hens to feed. Ann would have been responsible for the children, the collection and preparation of food and for keeping the cottage tidy and clean. On Sundays after service hours games were permitted under the Stuarts. Lawful games, such as the old English standby, archery, and unlawful games, like the new football, were popular. Many times the entire village would take part in football, which was a rough, and by modern standards brutal and unorganized game, in which bones would often be broken.

William and Ann lived in the time of the early Stuarts (James I and Charles I), the last kings before the civil war removed the total authority of the crown forever. England was at war throughout William and Ann's time, fighting against both Spain and France under the kings. It is unlikely that these wars had any effect other than economic on their lives. During these years the family lived in the parishes around Tilmanstone, between Canterbury and Dover, until some time after 1653. Their son Steephen was baptised in 1632 in Nonington Parish (which is located immediately west of Tilmanstone.) After their daughter Elizabeth died in 1639, they apparently moved to Northbourne Parish (immediately east of Tilmanstone) where our ancestor William was baptised in 1640. This was a very bad year with poor harvests and the family probably moved to one of the Deal parishes, located on the English Channel directly east of Tilmanstone soon after his birth.

This was the period when all England was beginning to realize that the time was ripe for change. King Charles I was in many ways an ideal King; sober, decent, devout in his adherence to the Church of England, and always dignified in his actions. However, he was firm in his belief in the divine rights of the Crown. By 1640 there was not much doubt of the coming conflict and in 1642 the civil war broke between the King's Royalists (Cavaliers) and the Parliamentarians (Roundheads) led by the Puritan Oliver Cromwell. The end of the civil war in 1649 resulted in the execution of King Charles I, thus placing England under control of Cromwell as head of the new Republican government. Throughout these troubled times the Carletons remained in Deal where, between 1644 and 1653, four more children were baptised. Under Cromwell England fought wars against the Dutch and again with Spain, however it is again unlikely that the foreign wars had any effect other than economic upon William and Ann's family.

Although England was a seed bed of Protestantism throughout these years, the Carletons remained with the Church of England. About this time a major change in thinking occurred as most people adopted the idea of predestination, in that they believed they were destined for (or elected to) the Life Everlasting, as taught by John Calvin, but that others, the sinners, could not be saved. It seemed logical that an all-powerful creator, who had planned events, would choose those who were to be saved or damned in advance. Many historians have also assumed that the people were ready converts to Puritan mores, but more recent evidence leads us to believe that very little changed at the local level. We know our family continued to utilize their parish churches for the milestones of life, just as in the past. In fact the church was still used much as it had been in medieval times; after dinner children could often be found playing in the church and the building was still used for community purposes. Although the Puritans stopped Sabbath activities, the villagers were never really in favor of that kind of restriction.

The year 1659 was another bad one and this may have resulted in the notation found for 1662 when William was recorded as "yeoman, guarantor in respect of: Stephen Carlton, natural son of Wm. Carleton, lately come with wife and family from Thanet to live in Deal. £50 indemnity bonds settlement." This is the last record found of William and Ann and their whereabouts after this date remains unknown. Although we can only speculate as to why they moved so often, the most likely reasons, as discussed previously, are the effects of the continuing enclosure of farmland coupled with poor harvests and betterment migration (as William's father Stephen had done). Much of England was in a similar situation at the time, in fact these economic conditions were the primary reason the Parliamentarians were able to gain the support necessary to carry out the civil war. At any rate, William and Ann's son William was soon to settle in Tilmanstone where their ancestors would live for the next 1½ centuries.

William's death and burial are unknown as are Ann's. He lived to be at least 52 years old and probably quite a bit older, because in 1662 his health was good enough that his bond for his son was accepted. Altogether William and Ann had nine children, three of whom died in childhood: