The Canterbury and Long Point Carltons Genealogy

click here to jump to the index

CHAPTER 6

WILLIAM (III) CARLETON (OF TILMANSTONE)

AND MARY BRETT

1640 - 1696

PHOTOGRAPH of William's signature

- Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

William was baptised June 14, 1640 at Northbourne. He was married to Mary Brett in Sutton-by-Dover on July 2, 1663 where his name was recorded as "Carleson." This is the single instance of our name being improperly recorded, no doubt a result of the faulty memory of the local rector or churchwarden and probably indicating that William and Mary were not regular parishioners in Sutton. That same year William and Mary arrived in Tilmanstone to begin their new lives, becoming the first of the Carltons to settle in the small farming village that would become our ancestral home and where the family would reside for the next century and a half.

The most memorable event of William's lifetime was without doubt the Restoration, when Oliver Cromwell died and the crown was restored to Charles II. Charles landed at Dover in May of 1660 and proceeded in triumph up the Roman road through Canterbury to London, thus passing very near the area where William was living and providing opportunity for him to view the procession. At St. Andrew's in Tilmanstone the venerable 12th century baptismal font, which Cromwell's men had converted into a horse trough outside the church, was reverently brought back inside and placed near the door. The notation in the register reads "Charles ye 2d. King of England Scottland ffrance & Ireland commd ashore att Douer the 25th May Anno Dom. 1660 to the joy of all true English hearts." The font was still in this location in the 1990s. Four years later this font was used for the baptism of William's son Thomas, the first of the many Carltons who would be baptised in it.

William probably worked on the estates of the Tilmanstone area, Dane Court, North Court or South Court. It is likely that he would have started work at dawn and that his meals would have been provided by his employer, with his wages correspondingly reduced. Breakfast would be at half past six, perhaps only rye bread and beer, dinner about midday and supper at six in the evening. Throughout history it has been claimed that the English ate better than any other common people in Europe and this doubtless applied to William and Mary. They probably had meat or fish every day and eggs and bacon (American ham) were readily available. Fresh foods would become more scare after Christmas because the price of salt and spices for preserving food remained prohibitive. Cheese, which was usually stored in the cottage attic, then became the main standby. Ale remained the principal drink, usually selling for less than a penny a quart. It became popular to sweeten, spice or warm it for variety.

During this time both men and women began to wash more often and towards the end of the period the cleaning of teeth with soap or powder and the care of hair and complexion became of first importance to many. Both sexes began to change their shirts on a regular basis, however, since clothes were passed on from generation to generation, they could not be expected to retain their original freshness, as there were no dry cleaners to remove perspiration stains from thick woollen and velvet materials. Men's hair became very long, to the shoulders in many, and beards and moustaches tended to be less frequent.

War against Spain continued and the 2nd and 3rd Dutch wars were also conducted during this time. Other major events were the Plague of 1665 and the Fire of London in 1666. Both events caused economic hardships but probably did not directly effect William and Mary. Throughout the late 1660s and the entire 1670s bad times prevailed, with a series of poor harvests and accompanying economic depression. These were the years when William and Mary were raising their large family and undoubtedly they struggled on a day-to-day basis to feed and care for them. William was buried December 17, 1696 in Tilmanstone at age 56. William and Mary had ten children, only one of whom died: