Shep's Place Family Tree

The name of Thomas' wife was Frances Sarah. They had a daughter named Fanny, which makes me wonder whether Fanny's name was also Frances.
Thomas was living in Withyham, Sussex, in 1841. Withyham is a village which is west and south of Royal Tunbridge Wells. It is also south and west of Ashurst, where he and his family settled to operate Ashurst Mill.

The name of Thomas' wife was Frances Sarah, although she went by Fanny. They had a daughter named Fanny, which makes me wonder whether Fanny's name was also Frances. Francis Dodson, a nephew aged 12, was also in the household. Ann Longley aged 17 was their servant.

By 1851 the Caffyns were in Ashurst, still just a small village, not too far from Withyham and Tunbridge Wells. Thomas was a miller there, and Frances at 43 years had four children at home: Thomas 12, Samuel 11, Charles eight and Fanny seven. Also in the household were Frances 22 and Samuel Dodson 18, nephews, both of whom were working in the mill.

Thomas' sister Charlotte Thornton 51 years and a widow was living with the Caffyns at Ashurst Mill at the time of the 1861 census. Thomas, a Miller Master, was then 65 years and Frances Sarah 53. They had three children at home: William Samuel 20, Charles 17 and Fanny 16. Louisa Avis 19 was their servant.

In their immediate neighbourhood lived the families of William Brown, a bricklayer; James Brown, a builder; Henry Taylor, an inn keeper; Henry Wright Ranger, a farmer; and Joseph Hunt Brooke, a wine merchant.

There were so many Thomas Caffyns in this area that I cannot be sure; however a Thomas Caffyn died in the summer of 1861, which was registered in Tonbridge, Sussex ‎(Vol. 2a, page 258)‎. It is very likely to be this Thomas Caffyn. In the 1871 census his wife Fanny was a widow.