CHAUKLEY, Benington and area, late 18th century

May 2001

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Benington

PLEASE NOTE: When this question was asked the amount of information available online was very restricted and the only census available (on a CD) was the 1881 census. The answer given below should be carefully checked using the additional information now readily available online.

David Burford  (BurfordDR @t aol.com) of Silverstone, Northants, has been able to trace his 4xGPs as William CHAULKLEY who married Sarah GINN at Benington on 25 Oct 1777. Their family all appear to have been born there. His problem comes with trying to establish which Sarah GINN he married. There are several possibles and he is in touch with someone conducting a one name study, who has been assisting greatly on the GINNs. The crux is where was William born? Herts seems to be very well covered on the IGI, and it doesn't appear he was born in Benington. There are a number of possibles, as CHAULKLEY and its variants are fairly common in that county.

Have you had a look at the Benington marriage register to see what it says. The IGI is only an index (see The Limitations of Family Search) and you need to check the original - in the same way that you acquire birth, marriages and death certificates for your ancestors after 1837. It is quite possible that the register may indicate which parish William came from? You can do this at HALS or your nearest LDS Family History Centre (see familysearch for the address.)

While there are a number of William Chalkley (various spellings) there are only two on the currently available indexes who born in adjacent parishes (see Benington web page) at about the right date, and it would be appropriate to check them out first.

The IGI on familysearch shows William , son of John & Mary Chalkley was baptised at Watton at Stone on 27th April 1755 and further examination of the index shows he had a brother, John.

The British Vital Records Index, which contains a large number of Hertfordshire parish registers not on the IGI shows William, son of Edward & Rebecca Chalkley baptised at Walkern on 19th June 1753. His siblings were Edward (1754), Thomas (1756), John (1758), Joseph (1759) Elizabeth (1764), Ann (1767) and Edward (1771) - presumably you will find the first Edward in the burial register.

On the information you give it is impossible to chose between them (and there are others only a little further away, for example at Graveley) but it may be possible to provisionally eliminate some possibilities if you know the names of William and Sarah Chaulkley's children - see The Inheritance of Single Christian Names.