Consideration
of the facts related to Stepney changed my original understanding of the early
roots of this branch of the family. The confusion started with the will of Stephen Calense, mariner, who died in
1760. He left most of his estate to the children of his brother Thomas Calenso
of
There were
two Thomas Calensos married in the Parish of Madron around the relevant time:
Thomas
Colensoe marrying Phillippa Lewarne 14th October in 1732
Thomas
Colenso marrying Elizabeth Rowe 8th December 1733
The
children identified in Stephen’s will, which was made in 1759, were as follows,
with the known christening dates also indicated:
John
Colenso, 8th September 1733, Penzance
Stephen
Colenso, 23rd March 1735, Madron
Thomas
Colenso, 24th February 1737, Penzance
Hannah
Colenso, before 1738 as she is older than 21 in 1759 when the will is written
Sarah
Colenso, 2nd February 1740, Penzance
Anne
Colenso, 19 June 1743, Penzance
Robert
Colenso, 16th April 1746, Penzance
The
christening date for John, probably the eldest from the order mentioned in the
will, suggests that Phillippa Lewarne is the mother of this family. There is
also a daughter Phillippa who dies young.
The
significant of this will is that Robert Colenso is the innkeeper of the King’s
Head in
Investigating
the naming patterns for sons in the succeeding generations gives clues about
who belongs to whom, especially where Stephen is a prominent name. The apparent
size of the legacy would have resulted in this Stephen being remembered. For
this reason I have called this the “Stephen
Branch” and will describe it later.
The first
mention of a Stephen Calense in the family is the marriage of this Stephen to
Mary Corfield in St Dunstan’s Stepney in 1709. Stephen and Mary have a son John
christened on the 23rd April in 1714, also in Stepney. So it is
possible that Stephen’s father was called John. This is reinforced by brother
Thomas’ first son also be John.
In the
Penzance/Madron/Paul area one or more Johns have the following children:
Robert
Callensow, 25th April 1676, Madron
James
Kalenson, May 1683, Paul
Sackville
Kalensow, 14 Aug 1687, Paul
Thomas
Calensow, 30th November 1690, Madron
Thomas
Calenso, 28th April 1694, Madron
There is
also a John Calinsoe, of Madron, marrying Bridget Harry, also of Madron, in
Paul in 1707. Possibly this is a second marriage for this John. Unfortunately
there are no christening records for Stephen and his sister Mary.
Mary
Calense (Stephen’s sister) married Richard Leakins, also in Stepney on
Edmund Amos
married Ann Fairchild in 1744 and had the following children:
Edmund
Calense Amos, 1745, Stepney
Francis
Calense Amos, 1748, Stepney
Elizabeth
Amos
Mary
Amos, 1750, Stepney
John
Amos, 1751, Stepney
The Calenso
Amos mentioned in Stephen’s will is probably Francis Calense Amos, who started
the shipyard in Gosport that became Camper and Nicholson, described as the
world’s oldest yachting business. It is believed that Francis Amos started this
business in 1782, and passed it on to his grandnephew William Camper when he
died in 1824. This shipyard built many of the challenger yachts for the
America’s Cup.
Where the
original John Calenso came from is not easy to pinpoint. One clue maybe that
the Sackfile Calensoe who marries Ane in Madron on the 13th January
1693 could be his brother, explaining his son with the same name. Unfortunately
the records of this era are very patchy and there are not many options – one is
John, son of William Calensow born 1607 in St Martin in Meneage.