Matthew Caffyn's will 1714

Matthew Caffyn wrote his will (transcript below) on the 26th April 1714 and was buried in Itchingfield on the 10th June.

Matthew and Elizabeth Caffyn had a large family, given their Baptist beliefs the children were not baptised so we cannot be sure when they were born or in what order.  Those not mentioned in his will include:
Son Joseph who had died in 1689 and is also buried in Itchingfield churchyard (he may be the father of another Joseph but Matthew does not mention him in his will).
Daniel (whose wife Kath was mentioned in the will) died shortly before Matthew wrote his will and was buried in Horsham on the 20th April.  Katherine Gaston was his second wife as he'd been previously married to Anna Caverley. 
Son Benjamin had moved to Chichester and predeceased his father.  From Matthew's will we know Benjamin had a son and two daughters who did benefit from Matthews will. 
Stephen was not mentioned in his fathers will and as his own will was dated 1699 was probably long dead.  His will does not mention and wife and/or children so it is unlikely he had either.

Four of Matthew's children received bequests from his will:
Son Jacob was left 2s 6d.  
Thomas was left 20 shillings and his daughter Rachel got another 20 shillings.
His only daughter Sarah, wife of Ralph Constable, was left £5 
His son Matthew, most likely to have been his eldest son, was the main beneficiary, being left all goods, chattels and personal estate once all the expenses and legacies were paid out.  He was also named executor of the will.

Other beneficiaries were:
Daughter in law Katherine - the widow of Daniel who was left £50 although £30 was deducted (to repay the money Daniel had borrowed) and the remaining £20 was to be used to bring up Daniel and Katherines five children.
Son in law Thomas Borer was also left £11 to be used to pay off his debts.  I have not as yet identified Thomas or his relationship to Matthew, Matthew only had one daughter so Thomas is not a son in law in the modern use of the relationship.
Elizabeth Rice, his kinswoman, is left 20 shillings.  She also, has not been identified with any confidence although I am quite sure she is not a sister or another daughter.

Dorothy Caffyn, Matthews sister in law, is also mentioned.  It appears that Matthew was already paying her an annual sum from a legacy (presumably from his brother William, her husband) and he makes it clear that his beneficiaries are to continue to make the £9 a year payment to Dorothy.

Wills are very useful when researching families, even more so with nonconformist families where other records are missing.  Matthew's will and those of his children help to build up better picture of the family.  

In the name of God Amen I Matthew Caffyn Sen[ior] of Broadbridge

in the parish of Sillington[1] in the county of Sussex beeing aged and weak in body but

through the goodness of God of a sound mind &  good understanding Doe

 therefore write and declare this my last Will and Testament in manner &

forme following revokeing all former Wills by me at any time made I

 give & bequeath as follows Impris unto my son Jacob Caffyn the sum of Two

Shillings & Six pence to be paid him by my executors hereafternamed Item

I give & bequeath unto my son Thomas Caffyn the sum of Twenty Shillings

to be paid him within Twelve months next after my decease Item I give &

bequeath unto my Daughter Kath: Caffyn Widow late wife of my son

Daniel Caffyn dead the sum of ffifty pounds & my will & meaning further is that

there shall be Thirty pounds deducted out of the said ffifty pounds which said

Thirty pounds I lent to my Son Daniel Caffyn in his lifetime & the remainder

 of the said ffifty pounds to be paid out after the best manner for and towards

the bringing up of the ffive Children of my dead Son aforesaid Item I give &

bequeath unto my Son in law Thomas Borer the sum of Eleven pounds

towards the paying of his debts  It[em] I give & bequeath unto my Kinswoman 

Elizabeth Rice Twenty Shillings It[em] I give & bequeath unto my Daughter

Sarah the wife of Ralph Constable of Warnham the sum of ffive pounds

to be paid to herself or her heires or assignes within Twelve months next

after my decease  It[em] I give & bequeath unto Rachell Caffyn the Daughter of

my Son Thomas Caffyn the sum of Twenty shillings to be paid her within

the space of 12 months next after my decease It[em] I give and bequeath unto

my Three Grandchildren the Son & Daughters of my Son Benj: Caffyn deceast[2] 

of Chichester the sum of Six pounds & which said Six pounds shall lodge &

remain in the hands of my Executor & to be layd out towards the bringing

up of my said Three Grandchildren as my Executor aforesaid shall think fitt

& my Will & meaning further is that whereas I am engaged to pay Dor:[3]

Caffyn widow formerly the wife of my brother William Caffyn deceast [2]

the sum of Nine pounds p[er] anum during her naturall life that whatsoever mony 

appears to be due to her the said Dor: Caffyn of the yearly payment at my

decease shall be taken out of the Legacies by me given to p[er]sons] aforesaid

& out of the money or benefit that my Executor may have by virtue of this my

Will & that each p[er]son shall pay to the said Dor: Caffyn during her na[tur]all life

according & in proporcion to what I have given them It[em] all the rest of my 

goods ch[at]ells & p[er]sonall Estate whatsoever my funerall charges Debts Legacies

first paid & discharged I give & bequeath to my son Matt: Caffyn of Horsham

whom I doe appoint to be the sole Executor of this my last Will and Testament And 

lastly I doe hereby appoint my loving friends Edward Stanley, John Herriott and Rich^d  

Dendy of Horsham to be Overseers of this my last Will & Testament where unto

I have sett my hand & seal this Twenty Sixth  Day of April in the year of our

Lord God 1714:- Matthew Caffyn
[Transcribed by Allison Caffyn]

---

[1] Sullington

[2] deceased

[3] Abbreviation for Dorothy

Ancestry have added a number of non conformist and non parochial registers to their collection (with access to the original images).  This includes the Horsham Baptist chapel records such as the entry below recording the life of Matthew Caffyn.

One of my 'claims to fame' is that when I started my research I visited the Matthew Caffyn's chapel in Horsham and was able to use the original register books.  Of course now they are safely locked away at the National Archives and we only get to see the digital or microfilm image.  Much more sensible but it does give you an idea of how long I have been researching the Caffyn family!

Odd however that Ancestry have indexed the entry under Caffin not Caffyn.

In the news....Caffyns Field

http://www.littlehamptongazette.co.uk/news/local/littlehampton-tree-planting-drive-springs-into-action-1-4906571

As part of the Big Tree Plant initiative (which aims to see one million trees planted nationally) sixty trees have been planted in Caffyns Field in Littlehampton.

10th March

Some Caffyns connected to the 10th March:

Walter Caffin 1844-1907

Walter was christened on the 10^th March 1844 at St Peter the Great in Chichester.  He was the youngest child of Benjamin Charles Caffin and his wife Mary Ann Gilbert (nee Swan).  Benjamin was a successful tailor living in East Street but he died in 1855 when Walter was nearly 11 years old leaving Mary to earn a living renting out part of their property whilst Walter began working as a clerk for a brewer.  Later Walter moved to Lewisham with his mother where he was soon working for a bank, working his way up to manager for the London County and Westminster Bank.  Walter never married, his mother died in 1876 and he continued to live on his own although he employed Emily Richards as a servent and cook - she remained with him until he died in 1907.

Thomas Caffyn 1859-1923

Thomas was christened in Send and Ripley in Surrey on the 10^th March 1859, the fourth child of Thomas Caffyn and Sarah (nee Mitchell).  He remained with his parents until his mid 20s, working as an errand boy when he was younger and a gardener when he was a little older.  Thomas moved to London and was lodging in Croydon where he was working as a general labourer, he remained in Croydon but never married and by 1911 was resident in the workhouse.  He died in 1923 at the age of 60 years.

Peter Caffyn c1824-1842

Peter Caffyn died of TB at Guys Hospital on the 10^th March 1842 at the age of 18 years.  A year earlier he was living with John Caffyn in Southwark, possibly his brother but little else is known about him.

Lawrence Caffyn 1883-1976

Lawrence Albert Caffyn was born in 1883 in Eastbourne, youngest son of William Morris Caffyn and Harriet (nee Williams).  He followed his father into the ironmongery business but soon became a draper.  He married Emily Florence Duke in 1911 in Eastbourne and they had two children; Donald Duke born in 1915 and Edwina Joy in 1928.  Lawrence lived to 1976 and was buried on the 10^th March in Eastbourne.

Crawford Caffin 1844-1891

Crawford Caffin

Of all the Caffyns I have found, Crawford Caffin is my least favourite because in 1889 he changed his name by deed poll from Crawford Caffin to Crawford Crawford-Caffin.

Crawford is the son of James Crawford Caffin and Frances nee Atfield who married in 1843 in Widley, Hampshire.  Crawford was their eldest child born in 1844 and baptised in Portsea on the 18th August; he had six younger sisters.

The Crawford name comes from Crawford Caffin's paternal grandmother - Bethia Crawford.  Bethia married William Caffyn in Plumstead on the 18th December 1801.  They had six children including James Crawford Caffin who was their fourth child, he was baptised in Woolwich in 1812.   William worked at the Royal Laboratory where weapons and ammunition were designed and produced, he did well for himself and was considered a gentleman by the time he died in 1869 (he was worth the equivalent of £6-£13 million).

William and Bethia's son James joined the Royal Navy in 1824, making the rank of commander in 1842 just before his marriage to Frances Atfield.  He eventually became the director of stores in the war department until retirement in 1868 when he was made a civil KCB and in 1877 was made Admiral.  Frances died in 1871 and James in 1883.

The Times - 25th April 1889

Crawford Caffin also joined the Royal Navy, by 1879 he had reached the rank of commander, he was involved in the Zulu campaign and served in Alexandria during the Egyptian war.  He married Josephine Mary Rose in 1883 at St Judes in Southsea but they had no children.  As mentioned Crawford changed his name in 1889 but he died in Nice on the 9th March 1891 aged just 46 years.  His wife remarried in 1896 to Lauritz Holst, an artist from Denmark.

Sheepdogs, grocers and the zulu war

Findmypast in partnership with the British Library is digitizing historic newspapers.  Over the next 10 years they plan to scan 40 million pages covering 1710 to 1950 including many local newspapers from England, Wales and Scotland.

A browse of some Sussex newspapers found the following entries:

On the 24th May 1879 the Hastings and St Leonards Observer reported the death of Peter William Caffyn in South Africa.  Peter was a son of James Caffyn; until I found this notice I had had no idea what had happened to Peter.  He was born in Robertsbridge in 1853 and followed his father into trade, in 1871 he was working as a drapery assistant in Gravesend.    Between then and his death in 1879 he joined the Frontier Light Horse and had gone out as part of the Zulu campaign.

On the 23rd May 1837 the Brighton Patriot included a notice requesting anyone with a claim on the estate of Benjamin Caffyn, a grocer of Preston Street, to make themselves known.  Benjamin had died on the 31st March aged 37 years.

Alfred Caffyn of Ticehurst was fined 5 shillings and 6d for keeping a sheep dog without a licence.  It was reported in the Hastings and St Leonards Observer on the 10th April 1909 that Alfred was entitled to an exemption to paying for a licence but had forgotten to apply.  This is another son of James Caffyn; he was farming at Cottenden Farm in Ticehurst.

Remembrance Sunday

Harold Hunt Caffyn 1882-1915

Harold was born in Australia in 1882, the eldest surviving son of Stephen and Kathleen (nee Hunt).  The family returned to England in 1892 and Harold went to school at Rugby followed by Sandhurst.  He served in the South African campaign and by the time the First World War began he was a captain in the North Staffordshire Regiment.   He died on the 22nd March 1915 in Belgium.  He is remembered on the memorial at Ploegsteert.

His younger brother Chalenor died in 1917 and his cousin Joseph died in 1918.

Ernest Horace Caffyn 1896-1916

Ernest was born in 1896 in Newmarket, his father was Walter Caffyn, a stableman who married Lottie Moss in 1893.  He was one of five children but three of them had died in infancy leaving just Ernest and his brother Frederick.  Ernest joined the York and Lancaster Regiment aged 18 years and was part of the Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey.  He was one of the last to be evacuated on the 20th December 1915 and then saw action in Egypt before he arrived in France  Later in 1916 he was wounded during fighting and was not seen again, he was reported as missing on the 29th September and was believed killed.  He is remembered at the Regina Trench Cemetary in Grandcourt in the Somme.

George James Caffyn  1889-1916

George was the youngest son of Thomas William and Mary Ann (nee Whicker), he was born in 1889 in Marylebone in London.  He did national service in 1906 and then worked selling newspapers.  He married Gertrude Lewis in 1910 in Plymouth and their daughter Gertrude was born soon afterwards.  George joined the Royal Navy as a Petty Officer Stoker on the HMS Orion, he died of pneumonia on the 29th January 1916 in Edinburgh.  His body was returned to Plymouth and he is buried in Ford Park Cemetery.

Arthur Archibald Caffyn 1894-1917

Arthur was born in 1894, he was baptised in Stepney on the 2nd December 1894.  His father was Alfred Caffyn, an upholsterer and his mother was Martha nee Canon, he was the youngest son in a family of seven children.  He joined a London regiment but transferred to the 14th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles. It was whilst he was in France that he was injured, dying of his wounds on the 29th August 1917.   He is buried in the Wimereux Communal Cemetery in Pas de Calais.

Chalenor McCrae Humphrey Mannington Caffyn  1891-1917

Chalenor was born in Australia in 1891 whilst his parents Stephen and Kathleen (nee Hunt) were living there, the family returned to England when he was a year old.  On the 22nd August 1914 he applied for a commission in the Special Reserve of Officers and was part of the Officer Training Corps when he was at college and became a sergeant.  He was accepted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th East Surrey Regiment on the 5th September 1914.  Chalenor was killed in action on the 28th March 1917 and is buried at the Avesnes-le-Comte Communal Cemetery in Pas de Calais, France.  

His older brother Harold had died in 1915 and his cousin Joseph in 1918.

William Gregory Caffyn 1878-1917

William  joined the 11th Battalion of the Australian Infantry as a private and died in November 1917 in Belgium and is buried at the Potijze Chateau Cemetery in Belgium.

Edward Hedley Caffyn  1899-1918

Edward was born in 1899 in Hereford, the second child of George Caffyn and his wife Deborah nee Tydeman.  Edward joined the Grenadier Guards but died of wounds on the 3rd April 1918. 

Joseph Mannington Caffyn  1880-1918

Joseph was the first of eight children born to Joseph and Sarah nee Ballard, he was born in 1880 in Northiam, Sussex.  He worked as a shopkeeper and married Florence Minchin in 1910.  They had two children Harold and John born in 1912 and 1916 respectively.    Joseph joined up in 1916 at the age of 35 years as a corporal in the Royal Garrison Artillery.  He died on the 15th July 1918 at the Military Hospital in Great Yarmouth from pneumonia.  He is buried at Caversham Cemetery near Reading.

His cousins Harold and Chalenor both died in the First World War.

Murray Cameron Caffyn  1913-1943

Murray was born in Maryborough, Victoria in Australia in 1913 just before the start of the First World War.  He became a Flying Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force and came to England during the Second World War.  He died aged 29 years on the 27th October 1943 and is buried in the Berlin War Cemetery.