New (old) evidence on Hugh Cowperthwaite origins
I am a descendant of John Cowperthwaite and Sarah Adams through their daughter Elizabeth who married Abraham Shotwell. Like many, I have been frustrated for a long time in trying to find an actual English reference for Hugh Cowperthwaite.
The Quaker records transcribed by Hinshaw give us details about Hugh and his wife Elizabeth. The transcription states explicitly that he was from Kentmore, Westmoreland, England. However, at least one researcher had noted that there is no Kentmore in Westmor(e)land.
Today, I did a little digging on the Internet and discovered that it is Kentmere in Westmorland. There is a Kentmere Manor in the Kendal district that was the seat of the Gilpin family. Kentmere Parish was originally a chapel within Kendal Parish, but as others have noted, there is a critical gap in the Kendal records such that no link can be established to Hugh.
However, by finding that it was Kentmere and searching on that, I discovered that there is an online version of a book called The History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland by Joseph Nicolson Esq, and Richard Burn, LL.D printed for W. Strahan, and T. Cadell in the Strand, London 1777. The history of Kentmere starts on page 134.
The history includes various tax lists. The Hearth Tax Roll, Lay Subsidy Roll 195, n 73 from 1669 lists several Cowperthwtes (and other spellings) including Hugh Cowperthat. So, I finally have an English record that places Hugh in Kentmere in Westmoreland. He was born in 1648, and so would have been an adult in 1669. He is not listed on the 1674 list also printed in this history, and that fits well with what is known about his migration to NY.
What I also discovered was that there was a huge family of Cowperthwaites in this area. In 1669, in addition to Hugh, there were two Williams, a Henry, and a Thomas listed. The 1674 list does not include a Hugh, but does list 5 Williams, Thomas, 2 Georges, Isab[ella?], Stephen, Math[ew?], and Henry.
There are some parish records available, so you could reconstruct some family relationships before and after this period. We may never know how Hugh fits into this group exactly, but at least it confirms the statements about his origins in the American Quaker records.
More Replies:
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Re: New (old) evidence on Hugh Cowperthwaite origins
Charrie Worden 7/26/10
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Re: New (old) evidence on Hugh Cowperthwaite origins
Robert Cowperthwaite 10/11/09
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Re: New (old) evidence on Hugh Cowperthwaite origins
Elaine Higham 8/28/08