Children's children are the crown of old men . . .

John has become a most crowned man

ILLUSTRATION TO BE DONE showing the main room of John's house in Lower Hards circa 1560. Dinner should be set at the plank and trestle table with all the furniture and cooking utensils listed in the inventory of John's will in 1571 in evidence. All the children and Alyes should also be shown. A quern should be in the background, as well as his gunne.

John is our earliest known ancestor. He is known to us through the birth of his youngest son Stephen at Lower Hardres in 1564 and his will of 1571. The record of Stephen's birth is the earliest known mention of our branch of the Carlton family. The 1571 will and the accompanying inventory document are the earliest known historical documents of the family.  The Lower Hardres parish register records Carltons from 1564 to 1662, all descendants of John. Prior to 1564 John's whereabouts is unknown, thus his marriage and the baptism of 6 of his 7 known children remains a mystery. During this time there was a great movement of families from village to village. In fact families who had held their lands for more than two generations were actually rare in most villages. During the 1540s there occurred the first great inflation in which food prices rose to several times their turn of the century value. John was probably born between 1510 and 1543, more likely around 1515. After 1564 he lived in Little Hardres (pronounced "Hards"), which is now known as Lower Hardres.

Hasted's The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, published in 1797, describes the parish of Lower Hardres as in:

"rather an out of the way situation, lying at the skirts of the fine pleasant country . . . the village, with the church in it, is in the valley at a small distance from the . . . (Roman) way . . . From the valley on the other side, this parish extends up to a dreary wild country of high hills and deep dales, the land in which is very poor, mostly chalky, and covered with sharp flint stones, having frequent woodlands interspersed over it, and carrying a face of rustic poverty throughout it."

Of course, the manor of Charlton lies on the other side of the "dreary wild country."

An interesting story concerning Henry VIII is connected to this region when John was young. In the 1540s Sir Thomas Hardres was lord of Upper Hardres, the manor just south of Lower Hardres. Sir Thomas was a close friend of King Henry VIII, in fact the King often hunted in the woods of the region. In 1544, after Sir Thomas had been instrumental in the successful siege of Boulogne, the King gave him the gates of that city. Later that year the King witnessed the setting of the huge gates in the Hardres manor garden wall adjacent to Upper Hardres church. On this occasion the King gave his personal dagger to Sir Thomas. After the next Sir Hardres fled overseas to avoid his creditors in 1604 the gates remained in place until they were sold for the value of their fittings as scrap in 1798. That John saw the gates is certainly probable and even the possibility that he witnessed the hunting processions of King Henry VIII cannot be ruled out.

Several manors lie within the parish of Lower Hardres. These include the Nether (Lower) Hardres manor, the largest in the parish, which had been possessed by the family of Diggs since the late 1300s, in fact it was called Diggs court. The manor that came to be known as Youngs Farm was also held by the Diggs family until the 1540s, at which time it passed to the Rigden family. The manor of Northcourt was held by the family of Brooke until 1550, then by the Spylman family until 1561, at which time it passed to the Hales family. John Charlton would have held his land by service to these families. Although highly speculative, the possibility that John came to Lower Hardres in the 1540s (when the Rigdens took possession), or more likely in 1550 (with the Brookes' possession), or even in 1561 (with the Spylmans'), cannot be ruled out. What is certain is that the reputation of Kent as the garden of England was long established by the 1540s when the traveling Reverend John Leland described it as "the key of all England," it's commodities as legion, and it's yeomen (of which John numbered) "civil, just, and bountiful."

A persistent state of war existed throughout this time between England and Scotland, with England consistently winning. In 1544 Henry VIII had invaded France, as previously mentioned, however his success ended when his Spanish ally, Charles V, deserted him. This war ended in 1546 and the next year, 1547, Henry VIII died and his 9 year old son became King Edward VI. For the next 6 years the country was governed first by Somerset and later by the Duke of Northumberland. The main issues of these times were the increasingly severe acts requiring regular church attendance and the codification of the forms of worship as the early Church of England coalesced. In 1553 the sickly boy-King died and, after a short period of intrigue by Northumberland (during which Lady Jane Grey became the "9 day Queen") Mary (Henry VIII's daughter by his first wife, Katharine of Aragon) was accepted as Queen.

In 1554 Queen Mary married Philip II of Spain and in 1555 she began her attempts to bring England back into line with the Roman Catholic Church. In 1557 Queen Mary and King Philip II took England and Spain into an ill-fated war with France and Scotland that pitted Catholics against Protestants. The result of this war and the attempts to return to Catholicism was a general hatred by the populace. In 1558 what she at first thought was pregnancy was discovered to be a fatal disease and Queen Mary died.

Common dress for men through the 1560s included hose (breeches) that were melon shaped and reached nearly to the knee with a tight fitting jerkin or jacket usually made of canvas or worsted. Heavy hob-nailed boots were popular, with wide tops if possible.

A major development at this time was the advent of the horse drawn carriage. Previously open carts or ancient style sedan chairs had been used, although most persons simply rode individually on horses. By the mid 1500s gardening began to become popular, first on the estates of the gentry (where the art was raised to world renown heights) and then on every Englishman's land. The late 1500s saw carnations, roses, marigolds, clove pinks (phlox), and various herbs grown in every nook and cranny. Popular plants at the turn of the century included Virginia (common) potato, sweet potato, and turnip, none of which were considered for food.

St. Mary's, the parish church of Lower Hardres, was even in 1797 described by Hasted as:

". . . antient. It is but small and dark, consisting of two isles and two chancels, having a low pointed steeple at the west end, in which hangs only one bell. There are no inscriptions remaining in it; the font is very antient, of Bethersden marble." However, the church has survived the ages beautifully. When it was visited in 1985 and 1987 it was in excellent repair with the nave freshly painted, sparkling clear glass in the long and narrow nave windows, modern heating, and a very active congregation.

Throughout this time from 1547 to 1558 England was economically unstable, with high inflation, disrupted agriculture, and religious confusion among the people. In 1558 Elizabeth (Henry VIII's daughter by his second wife, Anne Boleyn) became Queen. One of the first acts under her reign was the implementation, in 1559, of a uniform Prayer Book designed to strengthen the Church of England while retaining many of the older Roman Catholic forms of worship, thus helping solve much of the religious controversy. From the mid 1500s English music became extremely popular throughout Europe and even churches like St. Mary's would often have musical services of high quality. Psalm singing was also very popular and no doubt the Carltons joined in these services as well as popular singing at the ale houses where the latest rounds, catches, and madrigals were tried out nightly.

Household furnishings of this era were simple and few. One of the most interesting Carlton documents to have survived is the inventory taken of John's household after his death in 1571:

The inventarye of the goodes and cattle of John Carlton of the parishe of little Hardes late deceased the 26th day of September Anno Domini 1571.

Firste his purse his girdle and mony therin 10s

Item all his apparell 20s

Item 3 chestes 6s

Item 2 bedes 30s

Item 1 bedd with other thinges to it 6s 8d

Item 14 peire of shetes 4 table clothes 16 table napkins, 5 pillowes cootes 4£ 6s 8d

Item 4 litle brasse potes 5 kettles 5 lytle stupnetes 2 litle skellets 30s

Item all his pewter 13s 4d

Item 1 table 2 tressels 1 cupboard 2 chayres 1 forme 8s

Item certen cheses 8s

Item 1 painted clothe 12d

Item 1 gunne 3s 4d

Item 2 spites 2 drippinge pannes 1 fryinge panne 1 trevett 5s

Item 2 brandirons a fyre rake a peire of tonges 2s

Item 1 querne 5s

Item certen tubbes 8s

Item a knedinge troughe milke boules with other lumber 3s 4d

Item all maner of poultrye 10s

Item all hogges 40s

Item all maner of corne in the barne 22£

Item 4 keyne 2 weninge calves a twelmonthinge bude 6£

Item a horse a suckinge colte 7£

Item a carte a ploughe with other implementes 40s

Item 20 wethers 4£

Item 10 ewes 26s 8d

Item 20 lambes 26s 8d

sum total 58£ 12s 3d

NOTE: A stupnet is a saucepan, a querne is a small hand mill for grain, corne is wheat, barley or rye, and a wether is a castrated ram

As befits a good farmer, John had nearly 80% of his worth in his livestock and feed. His household furnishings were quite sufficient for his time, consisting of 3 chests, 3 beds, 1 cupboard, 2 trestles to form a table, and 2 chairs.

In 1571 John became the first Carlton to leave a will (see Appendix of Wills). He instructed that "my body to be buryde in the church yarde of lyfforr harde." He appointed "ales my wyffe and wyllyame my sonne" along with John Woode the older to be his executors. To "my oldeste sonne thomas" he gave 7 "sheepe one horse one feorme of wheate one colte." To "thomas my youngest sonne" he gave 7 "sheepe one horse one feorme of wheate one forriste." To "agynos" (Agnes), Ursula/Susanne (her name is difficult to decipher), and Jane, his daughters, he bequeathed 7 "sheepe one horse and s6 of money" each. He also gave to Thomas Peele "my beste cote one shirt one bushele of wheate" and to another friend he gave an undetermined sum of money, along with "one jerkine a paere of hose paere of shoes a cape or hate." Additionally, he gave a bushell of wheat to 2 other friends. This was a large amount of possessions to own during this time.

John was buried July 10, 1571 in the churchyard at Lower Hardres, as he had wished. Alice was buried there February 16, 1574. John and Alice had at least 7 children, of whom 6 were alive in 1571:

Thomas Charlton (the older)

Thomas Charlton (the younger)

Regarding John's sons Thomas the older and Thomas the younger, it was not unusual for parents to give 2 (or more) children the same name during this era. In some cases if a child was very ill and expected to die, a new baby might be given the same name to assure that the name would live on, then if the older child recovered and lived there would be two children bearing the same name. In other instances children were named for the Saint whose day corresponded to their baptism, regardless of the previously named children in the family. And in still other cases, a family might adopt a child of relatives or close friends due to death or other reasons, and over time, the child would become known as a son or daughter. However, the reason is often as simple as parents having a strong desire to pass on one particular name and, well aware of infant mortality, attempting to assure the survival of the name by giving it to several children.

It appears that there may indeed be two Thomas Charltons who lived in Canterbury in the years between 1550 and 1630. We have been unable to determine if either are sons of John Charlton of Lower Hardres, but the evidence would seem to indicate that at least one of these Thomas' is a son of John.

To differentiate between the 2 men, one is known as Thomas of St. George's Canterbury and the other as Thomas of St. Alphege Canterbury, due to most of the records concerning each being in the registers of these two Canterbury parishes. There is no record of the baptism of either Thomas. The first record for each is their marriage. Thomas of St. George's married Margaret Venable in that church January 24, 1582. Thomas of St. Alphege married Agnes Twidgen in that church November 17, 1602.

Our best guess is that Thomas of St. Alphege is the son of Thomas of St. George. For that reason their stories have been recorded with that relationship. Refer to the section THE CANTERBURY CARLTONS for complete information on this branch of the family.

William (I) Carlton (of Little Hards)

William was born between 1535 and 1565, more likely between 1545 and 1558. He is the ancestor of the main line of this history and his story is recorded in the next chapter.

Agnes Charlton

Agnes was probably born between 1540 and 1560. She is known only through her mention in her father's will of 1571.

Ursula/Susanne Charlton

Ursula or Susanne (her name is difficult to decipher on her father's will) was probably born between 1540 and 1560. She is known only through her mention in her father's will of 1571.

Jane Charlton

Jane was probably born between 1540 and 1560. She is known only through her mention in her father's will of 1571.

Stephen Charlton

Stephen was baptised in 1564 in Lower Hardres and was buried there April 28th of the same year.

This page was updated on 3-18-98. If you have queries or comments, email rcarlton@arkansas.net