John Chadney Research

John Chadney, Hatton, Herts

In the 1851 census, it says that John Chadney was born in Hatton, Hertfordshire but I cannot find a Hatton in Hertfordshire and only Hatton, Middlesex or Hatfield, Hertfordshire but cannot find any trace of Chadneys in those areas.

Looking into the Chadney name, there was one main line of Chadneys from Herefordshire and they all seem to trace back to a John Chaney born in Herefordshire in around 1740 and it appears he may have been the son of a Thomas Chandler and that the surname may have originally been Chandler.  Looking in the International Genealogical index, there are a couple of instances of the name Chadney in Suffolk and London in 1600s but these appear to have come from the name Chadd (and variations).  There are also Chadseys from Yatton, Somerset.  However, all instances of the name Chadney after 1800 in the IGI can be directly traced to the Herefordshire Chadneys.

I have not been able to find a John Chadd (or variations) from Hertfordshire or any Chadds from any place called Hatton in the Hertfordshire or Middlesex area.  Nor is there a match for John Chadsey from Yatton, Somerset.

However, in the 1851 census, I have found that the enumerators repeatedly made the mistake of writing Herts for Herefordshire and that Ledbury, Bosbury and Hampton Bishop were referred to as being in Herts (this often happened in the London census) and that Hampton Bishop was often shortened to Hampton that could sound like Hatton.

John Chadney, Hampton Bishop, Herefordshire

I then looked for other John Chadneys and found that a John Chadney, occupation butcher had married Eliza Burchill in Stepney in 1827.  They had had two children in London and five in Hereford.  Through writing to the Hereford Record Office, I then found that this John Chadney had been born in Hampton Bishop in 1807 and had moved to London with his two brothers, James and William in around 1825. John had returned to Hereford with wife, Eliza and sons John and James in around 1830.  Their last child, Caroline, was born in 1837 in Hereford.

I have found, on The Proceedings of the Old Bailey web site, that John Chadney, keeper of a butcher's shop in Stepney, was a witness at a trial on 30th December 1831.  This is his testimony:

JOHN CHADNEY . I keep a ham and beef shop, at the corner of Cottage-lane. I heard the cry of Stop thief! and saw the prisoner run by - he got six or seven yards from me, and threw down three books, which I took up; he ran out of my sight, but was brought back, and I am sure he is the same person.

http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/html_units/1830s/t18311201-85.html

The incident happened on 1st November, 1831 and the words 'I keep', mean that John still had the shop at the end of 1831 and the beginning of 1832. However, the census records claim that son George was born in Hereford in 1830 and son Robert was born in Hereford in 1832.  I have not been able to find a Christening record for George and Robert was Christened in 1834 with his sister, Eliza. This means we have no definite evidence about the Chadney family's whereabouts from 1829, when James William was Christened in Shoreditch and 1834 when both Robert and his younger sister, Eliza were Christened in Hereford, at which time the family were living in Capuchin Lane. Capuchin Lane was originally called Cabbage Lane as it had been a vegetable market for many years.  According to the Hereford Journal in 1841, the Lane included a Drapers shop, so we can assume John Chadney's residence in Capuchin Lane was also his butcher's shop. See John Chadney Timeline for more information.

In the 1841 census, Eliza and children were in the Herefordshire Workhouse, except the oldest boy, John Thomas, who was living with his Grandparents Thomas and Mary Chadney and Aunt and Uncle, Lucy and Thomas Lane.  However, there was no sign of John Chadney, Eliza’s husband and Herefordshire record office cannot find a burial record for him.  The two sons, James and Robert, returned to London by the time of the 1851 census. Eldest son John Thomas settled in Birmingham and George joined the marines.  All the girls sadly died in the Hereford Workhouse and no trace of Eliza can be found after 1841.

All birth and marriage records for John and Eliza’s children show John with occupation butcher, same as Henry’s father.

Henry’s birth certificate shows he was born in January 1841, the 1841 census is dated 1st April 1841.  I have not been able to find John, Elizabeth or young Henry in the 1841 census.

The question is of course, is John Chadney born Hampton Bishop who married Eliza Burchill the same John Chadney as Henry’s father?  Did John simply desert Eliza and set up home with Elizabeth Drake, calling her his wife but not marrying her or is there some other explanation?

Researching another family for someone else, I found that the Mormons arrived in Ledbury, Herefordshire in 1840. They converted a number of men in the Hereford area at that time and took them to London where they set up their headquarters in Southwark. One of John’s cousins, Ann Chadney, and her husband can be found in the familysearch.org as having moved to Salt Lake City, the home of the Mormon Church.  They were definitely among the converts taken by the Mormons to America to build a new Church in Salt Lake City.  I am not saying John became a Mormon but he did live in Southwark and it could be one explanation why I can’t find a marriage record for him and Elizabeth. Henry didn’t marry until he was 30 and he married in a Parish Church, so there’s no evidence that he was a Mormon but, by the time he married, it looks like neither of his parents were alive.

No burial record for Eliza Chadney can be found. No Baptism records can be found for any of John and Elizabeth’s children in the International Genealogical Index.

Links Between John Chadney of Hatton and John Chadney of Hampton

John Chadney of Hatton died in 1862 and his death certificate stated he was aged 54, meaning he was born around 1808.  The informant was his son Henry, so we can assume the age was correct within a year or two, which means John of Hatton is a match for the John Chadney who was Christened on 4th October, 1807 in Hampton Bishop.

Also, the marriage certificates of the sons of John of Hampton Bishop, John Thomas and James William, that were dated 1853 and 1851 respectively, do not state that their father was deceased whereas son Robert's, who was married in 1865, does state that his father was deceased.  This all accords with the year of John of Hatton's death.  Surely, if John Thomas and James Williams' father had died in Hereford causing hardship for both, including time spent in the workhouse for James William, they would have stated this on their marriage certificates as it would have been a significant event that altered the course of both their lives and the fact that they did not means he must have still been alive.

More evidence that links John Chadney of Hatton with John Chadney of Hampton is the names of the children:

Another curious thing is that none of the names of John and Eliza Burchill’s children are repeated in John and Elizabeth’s children:

Hereford researcher claimed that John of Hereford’s sons, James and Robert Chadney may have been returned to London by Poor Law to where father was living.

John Chadney of Herefordshire’s father Thomas was a shoemaker which was the occupation of Henry Chadney and his son Herbert Edward Chadney.

Both John Chadneys were literate, so it is my aim now to obtain copies of their signatures to prove they were the same man.

Also see: Chadney Research