Peter Hunnisett

Cain & Elizabeth Duck of Blackland,  Calne

Cain Duck, son of Thomas and Priscilla, was baptised in Calne, Wiltshire, on 23 June 1776.

Elizabeth Manners, daughter of Benjamin and his first wife Anne, was born on 31 May 1790 and baptised in Calne on 13 June 1790.

Both families lived in Blackland, a hamlet to the south of Calne. St Peter’s church in Blackland park, was probably a chapel of ease for Calne parish and it is very likely that all the baptisms and marriages took place at St Peter’s rather than in Calne itself. There are certainly a lot of the Duck and Manners family members buried in the small churchyard.

Cain Duck married Elizabeth Manners in Calne on 23 September 1811. Their children's baptisms, recorded in Calne, were:

In 1837 Elizabeth’s father, Benjamin Manners, died and in his will he left her one of a pair of cottages in Blackland, which 18 months earlier had been in the occupation of William Dew.

In 1841 Cain and Elizabeth were living in Blackland Tithing, Calne, with their 3 youngest children; Nathan, Abraham and Isaac. Cain, Nathan and Abraham were all shown as agricultural labourers. Enoch, Ann and Elijah were living in Stockley, Matthias was a carpenter staying with his uncle Abel, also a carpenter, in Corsham, and Priscilla was a servant in Compton Bassett.

In 1842 Cain was bequeathed the sum of five pounds when his brother Abel Duck died.

Elijah married in 1847, Matthias and Priscilla in 1849.

In 1851 Cain and Elizabeth were at Calstone, and Cain was again shown as an agricultural labourer. Nathan was in Stockley with his brothers; Abraham and Isaac, all labourers. In 1861 Cain and Elizabeth were shown at New Buildings, Blackland and Cain died two years later aged about 87.

CAIN DUCK
Died March 4^th 1863
Aged 84 years
Also ELIZABETH, relict of the above
Died July 6^th 1874 aged 84 years
Also ENOCH, son of
CAIN and ELIZABETH DUCK
Died March 3^rd 1848
Aged 34 years
Who have fled for refuge – Heb. 6c 18v

Nathan and Abraham do not seem to have married but worked together as bakers in Stockley and in 1871 they had their widowed mother, Elizabeth living with them, along with Matthias’ daughter, Louisa. Elizabeth died in 1874, aged 84.

Of Cain and Elizabeth’s children:

• Enoch was a witness to William Carpenter’s will of January 1847 but he appears to have died within a month or so of this as his death was registered in Calne in the same quarter. He is remembered on his parents’ gravestone but his date of death should read March 3^rd 1847. He is not known to have married.

• Ann married a policeman, Alfred Beaven, in 1850 and they are known to have had two children:

  William

  Q2 1851

  Ham, Wilts

  Mary

  Q2 1854

  Ham, Wilts

  Ann died in 1903 aged 88.

• Elijah married Elizabeth Creber in 1847 and farmed near Corsham. They are known to have had the following children baptised:

  James Cain

  16 Apr 1848

  Corsham

  Enoch Creber

  Q2 1849

  Corsham

  Elizabeth Agnes

  29 Sep 1850

  Corsham

  Walter Henry

  8 Jul 1855

  Corsham - died 1855

  Lucy Harris

  17 Aug 1856

  Corsham

  John

  12 Mar 1858

  Corsham - died 1858

  In 1847 Elijah, farmer of Corsham formerly of Stockley, was named as a trustee and witness of the will of William Carpenter of Roughlease Farm, Calne. In 1851 and 1861 Elijah was farming 63 acres at Thingley farm. He then moved to Pitts farm which was recorded in 1871 as 90 acres and 1881 as 100 acres. By 1881 he was a widow, Elizabeth having died in 1879, and his unmarried son, Enoch, and daughter, Lucy, were living with him. By 1891 he was a retired farmer living at Church Farm, Corsham, still with Enoch and Lucy, and he died later that year, aged 75.

• Matthias married Ann Adams in Swindon in 1849.

• Priscilla married James Carpenter in 1849. James was the son of William Carpenter of Roughlease Farm and was a trustee and executor of his will. James was a farmer and they appear to have had 6 children:

  Elizabeth

  Q3 1849

  Stockley

  Isaac/Jane

  bap 22 Sep 1850

  Blackland

  Joseph

  bap 25 Dec 1852

  Stockley

  Ann

  Q1 1855

  Stockley

  William James

  Q2 1861

  Purton

  Louisa Priscilla

  bap 14 Feb 1864

  Purton

  In 1851 they were in Stockley, but at some point they moved to Purton. In 1861 they were farming at Bentham, in 1871 at Alma Farm, Bentham, and in 1881 at Stoke, all in Purton. By 1891 they had retired and were living in Stockley and in 1901 they were staying with Priscilla’s brother, Nathan. Priscilla died in 1904.

• Nathan and Abraham did not marry but spent their lives in Stockley working as bakers and mealmen. Abraham died in 1898, aged 70, and by 1901 their sister Priscilla and her retired farmer husband James Carpenter had moved in with Nathan. Nathan died in1907, aged 82.

  

  In
  loving memory of
  ABRAHAM DUCK
  Died Aug 31^st 1898
  Aged 70 years
  Thy will be done
  Also of THOMAS SLOPER DUCK
  Died July 29^th 1919
  Aged 61 years
  The Lord is my shepherd

• Isaac married Mary Ann Sloper in 1857 and lived in Cherhill where their children were all baptised:

  Thomas Sloper

  22 Feb 1858

  Cherhill

  Fanny Sloper

  9 Jun 1861

  Cherhill

  Albert William

  22 Mar 1863

  Cherhill

  Ernest Simon

  19 Feb 1865

  Cherhill

  Mary Alice Elizabeth

  10 Mar 1867

  Cherhill

  Joseph James

  25 Dec 1871

  Cherhill

  John Lindsay

  25 Dec 1874

  Cherhill

  In 1861 Isaac was recorded as Innkeeper and farmer of 70 acres living at the Bell Inn public house in Cherhill. He appears to have farmed there all his life and died in 1908, aged 77.