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Caunt family at 29 Roebuck Road


Richard Axe

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The photograph shows George & Rebecca Caunt & family at their home: 29 Roebuck Road, Sheffield. A date c1890 is written on the back. George and Rebecca are at the back. It seems likely that the nine younger members will be the nine children living around the date provided. Two of the nine died in 1892 (Frank) and 1894 (Jessie) respectively.

George was a joiner. His wife Rebecca was born Rebecca Hallam Huddlestone. In order of birth the nine children were:

Joseph (1859), Lucy (1860), Albert (1862), Walter (1864), Arthur (1866), Ernest (1868), Frank (1871), Jessie (c1875) and Clara (1878). Joseph and Lucy were married at the likely date so there is a possibility that one of their spouses is in the photo, but the Caunt children seems likely to be the best bet if the date is accurate.

Is the family familiar to anyone?

George & Rebecca Caunt & Family at 29 Roebuck Road, Sheffield c1890.jpg

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I bet if you looked into the origin of their surname you would get some rude spellings cropping up of it. It wasn't uncommon back in the 14th century to give someone a rude word for a surname.

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34 minutes ago, History dude said:

I bet if you looked into the origin of their surname you would get some rude spellings cropping up of it. It wasn't uncommon back in the 14th century to give someone a rude word for a surname.

https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Caunt
 

The surname “Caunt“ appears to have originated from those engaged in singing, so nothing really rude about that, unless they were singing “Four-and-twenty virgins, came down from Inverness....”? 😆

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In January 1886 Walter aged 22 was out of work and advertised asking to be re-engaged as a clerk in a merchant's or manufacturer's office.  Frank died at 29 Roebuck Road aged 20 in July 1892. Jessie died there aged 19 on 24th November 1894.  Rebecca died there on 29th November 1903. George died at the same house in February 1919 aged 83, leaving £548 6s 3d to be distributed by Joseph Caunt, a joiner, and Walter Caunt, a cashier.

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39 minutes ago, RLongden said:

https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Caunt
 

The surname “Caunt“ appears to have originated from those engaged in singing, so nothing really rude about that, unless they were singing “Four-and-twenty virgins, came down from Inverness....”? 😆

Though that might be true in most cases it is certainly also true that spelling was very inconsistent in the past and the "a" could have been dropped at times or added at the drop of a hat. And for a verity of reasons too. It's a bit like the surname Bullock. Some came from the animal and others from the Old English word for testicles, which is now used to say it's rubbish.

Equally the "u" could have been added at some point. Changing it from Cant, which judging by this from Google is where your singing comes from.

The surname Cant is an occupational name for a precentor, the leader of the singing of hymns in a cathedral or monastery. The surname is derived from the Old Norman French word cant, which in turn comes from the Old French word chant, which means singing or song.

Or you can change the C to a K and have a Turkish name for strong or durable.

 

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There's an English word, 'canticle', which means a hymn or chant, typically with a biblical text, forming a regular part of a church service.

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But in the 1379 Poll Tax return was a chap called Robert Clevecunt.

Now we all know how he got that name. But there are no people with the that surname today. So somebody changed it at some point.

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Caunt is a topographical name, according to Hey, although he does not elaborate. Reaney & Wilson mention an early attestation of Caunt in the Feet Fines from Huntingdonshire from 1357. Alternatives are offered by the surname database, which offers an occupation or nickname relating to the act of singing and relates it either the Norman-French “cant” or Latin “cant(or).” As a family name it suggests an early link between the Cant, Chant and Caunt surnames with later variations being Canter, Cantor, Kanter, Caunter and Changer.   Titford links Cant and Chant but not Caunt and reiterates the musical link whilst noting that Chant is mainly a Somerset name and Cant can be found around Essex and in Scotland. Caunt is found chiefly in the East Midlands, according to Hanks and Hodges. They suggest that the Scottish Canty and Cantie could be diminutives of Cant and refer to a Scottish family of that name descended from a Flemish family of cloth merchants, which could, in a roundabout way, return to the Norman French or French origins suggested. Gaunt is probably another variant, carrying as it does another reference to Flanders.

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This is another image of the house at 29 Roebuck Road from around the last two decades of the 19th century. The two people in the picture might be George and Rebecca but that's a guess.

24228157_29RoebuckRoadSheffield1880-1900-possiblyGeorgeRebeccaCaunt.thumb.jpg.82e49ccc68dc64bb68ccac6a44aefe9b.jpg

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There are hundreds of entries for the Caunt surname (both census and birth/marriage/deaths) around Caunton, near Newark.  In fact George Caunt stated that he was born at Elston, Nottinghamshire, about 8 miles from Caunton.

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On 12/07/2020 at 18:08, Edmund said:

In January 1886 Walter aged 22 was out of work and advertised asking to be re-engaged as a clerk in a merchant's or manufacturer's office.  Frank died at 29 Roebuck Road aged 20 in July 1892. Jessie died there aged 19 on 24th November 1894.  Rebecca died there on 29th November 1903. George died at the same house in February 1919 aged 83, leaving £548 6s 3d to be distributed by Joseph Caunt, a joiner, and Walter Caunt, a cashier.

Rebecca Hallam Caunt, 68, R.I.P.

Sheffield Daily Telegraph 26 November 1903
 

Sheffield 4.JPG

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Hello Richard Axe,  yes I know of this family but hadn't seen a photo of them until last night when I saw your post.  I was stunned.

George and Rebecca are my great, great grandparents and my maiden name was Caunt. 

My father was Roy Caunt, his father was Frank Caunt , his father was Albert Caunt born 1862 and son of George and Rebecca. 

Where are these photos from?  Are you related to them too?  Do you have any more photos, or know where I can find any?  I am so excited.

I have a copy of the Caunt family tree done by a cousin, and it goes right back to 1665, when Simonius Cont married his first wife Grace Ragge in Elston, near Newark.

And in answer to all those comments about rude names - yes I was subject to all of them growing up in Sheffield in the 50s and 60s, and it wasn't very funny, just very embarrassing.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

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Thanks to various members for their posts with more information on family members.

Elise, I'm very pleased that your line of descent is from Albert as he is the one member of that family for whom a definite death date appears
(to me) to be lacking. George's son Ernest is an ancestor of mine so, yes, the photographs belong to my family.

I have done some research into the Caunts and their descent from those of Elston, Notts., but this probably isn't the place to post it as it's not about Sheffield. Would very much like to see your family tree.

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What great news.  Do you live in Sheffield?  Are you on Facebook?  If so , you could message me with your email address. You will find me under Elise Timmins and I now live in Rotherham.

I have done the rest of my research on Ancestry.co.uk.  I've found it really useful and have also been in contact with other Caunt descendants.

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Hi, Elise.

I've done a little more digging into the unknown (to me) death of Albert. He appears to have died at Ipswich in 1907. I'd seen the death registration before but discounted it because there didn't seem to be any reason to suppose that he was living there. However, I've found a newspaper article from a local Ipswich newspaper in which his sons Albert jun & Willis are mentioned for catching a pike (Evening Star 20/6/1901).

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