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Hi John, Thank you for your e-mail inquiry. I am interested to know in what area you came across my address as I have a number of entries on the Internet. I must point out to you that I have NO ancestral connections with the DENT FAMILY NAME. The only connection with the name Dent is that it is the name of the village in which my early ancestors lived. I have spent a great deal of time in this village and believe it to be one of the most beautiful and quaint village I have every seen. I have no idea where you live in the U.S.A., but in case you do not know Dent, I will give you a few details. Dent- Is to be found in the northwest corner of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was in existence well before 1000AD Known as Dentet in c1200 Ass (Assize Rolls), and in 1241 FF (Feet of Fines), and in 1247 Ch. Dent, (Dale of) 1278 Kendale] Probably a name of Dent Crag, a hill of 2250 feet. Dent maybe derived from a British words corresponding to Oir (Old) dinn, dind = 'a hill', ON (Old Norse) tindr ='point, crag.'
EXCERPTS FROM MY BOOK "MY FAMILY HISTORY 1600 TO 1997" PLACES OF INTEREST
THE BEGINNINGS I have at this time, traced my Capstick ancestors back eleven generations and others ancestors also back twelve. My research thus far, show that in the early 1600s they lived in and around the small village of Dent. Most of them worked as yeoman (farmers), husbandmen (tenant farmers), farm labourers, or blacksmiths. They also lived in nearby Sedbergh and Kendal. If Dent was the 'seat' of the Capsticks, then St Andrews Church, Dent must have been the original recording office for information on the Capsticks. Most of the information I have obtained, originated from this churches registers which are now stored at the Kendal Archives. In 1985, [1997 entry:- and on four other occasions] by the good grace of my wife Joan, I spent six full days in these archives recording every detail I could find on the Capsticks. In that time, I found some 160 Capsticks buried there between 1745 and 1845, 241 were baptised there between 1745 and 1845 and 37 Capstick males were married there between 1753 and 1853. These figure should be compared with the population of the Dent area which at that time would have been approximately 800. [1997 entry:- I now have, to the best of my knowledge, the record of every Capstick listed in the Dent Church Records] The Dent Church Records at The Kendal Archives date back 1612, but unfortunately I could not read some of them, as they were badly faded and some appear to be in Latin. These original registers, some of which had been written on pig skin, were all made available to me and any entry I required, the staff at the Archives were only too happy to photostat them for me, something which I greatly appreciated. In those six days, I hand recorded every entry I could read from the Dent Church Registers and this allowed me to do further research upon my arrival home. However, I later found that the International Genealogical Index (IGI), go back to 1600, so I also obtained approximately 80 pages of this index. [1997 entry:- Unfortunately the records from mid 1655 to 1660 are lost] With all these Capsticks buried in the Church Yard at Dent, Joan and I visited it in 1980, 1985, 1991, 1993 and 1995 and made a search. Unfortunately, very few of the graves are marked but some that do appear include:- Richard W. Capstick 1857-1899 (42 years) and his wife Elizabeth Capstick 1859-1923 (64 years) and daughter Clara Capstick 1898-1984 (86 years) William Capstick 1876-1905 (29 years) of the Sun Hotel, Dent. Sarah May Capstick 1885-1961 (76 years) Elizabeth Alice Capstick 1890-1978 (88 years) Margaret Capstick 1890-1954 (64 years) her husband William Capstick 1883-1956 (73 years) their son Richard Capstick 1916-1926 (10 years) At this point of time, I have not been able to trace any of them to my direct line.
I will get back to the origins of the name. Various source I have research, have various theories. I understand from the Penguin Dictionary of Surnames, that Capstick is one of the occupational names which originally described the work of the bearer. It also states the name to have been Anglo Saxon and to have originated from Derbyshire. In P.H. Reaneys Dictionary of British Surnames, it shows that the name has changed greatly over the years from Coupstak, Coupestack, Copestake, Copestick, and in the Yorkshire area about 1500, to Capstook, Capstake, Capstack and Capstick. (I myself have also found Capstacke) It states that Coupstak is made up from two words, 'Couper' which is Old French and means 'to cut' and 'Staca' which is Old English and means 'a post or stake'. So literally it means to 'cut stakes' or 'wood cutter'. The book goes on to say, as a number of other do, that there is an entry in the Freeman of York Register dated 1295 listing one Geoffrey Coupstack. Also in the Yorkshire Subsidy Rolls of 1301, one Henry Coupestack appears and in the Freemen of York Register of 1474 there appears a John Copestack. In Bardsleys Our English Surnames, there appears another meaning as follows, 'Cope' is Saxon for 'rock or earth' and 'Cop' meaning 'head' {as in Coping-Stone}. Yet another translation of the name appear in Harrison & Bulling Surnames of U.K., which shows Copestake to be Old English and 'Cope' to mean 'a dweller at a cope' and 'Cop or Cope' as meaning 'a hill or hill head' which in total means 'a dweller at a hill top'. It goes on to say that the name Capstick is probably derived from a 'trade sign' showing a cap on a stick? I have always been told by my Parents and Grandparents that the name meant 'Wood cutter' so I have always gone along with that theory. In more modern times, the name appears in various volumes. At the York Library in the book 'History of Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland', Vol I of 1836 at page 264 under the heading 'Dykes of Dovenby' {a place on the west coast of Westmorland} it records, "Leonard Dykes Esq. who espoused (married) in about 1728, Susanna, daughter of The Rev. Thomas Capstick of Newburn (near Newcastle) in Northumberland, by Hester, his wife being Grand daughter of Sir John Lowther" and on page 159 under 'Cooper of Toddington', "John Cooper Esq. of Bosden married in 1701, Sarah, daughter and heiress of Walter Copestrick of Langley Park, Derbyshire:- issued were John, Elizabeth and Hannah" Also in the York Library in the book 'A Genealogical Guide (1903) at page 88, it shows "Capstick- (see) Thistlethwaite Family (tree) i 30et seq 186." In the same library, recorded in 'Alumni Cantabrigienses' Part II 1752-1906, there appears "John Walton Capstick, born 31/8/1858, died 27/4/1937, lecturer at Dundee, Camberidge, Manchester and other Universities. During World War I (1914-1919) he served as an ambulance driver in the French Army. He was an Inspector of Shells, guns and mines for the Royal Navy, Superintendent of The Admiralty Physical Laboratory. O.B.E. (Order of the British Empire). An Accomplished Musician of the French Horn." I believe that many changes of the name have not been done deliberately. Rather they have been caused by the bearers pronunciation of it. It must be remembered, that few if any of the pre 1750 Capsticks, would have been able to spell their name so that the scribes of the day could only write it as he heard it. It must be further remembered that the English accents not only varied from County to County but even from village to village. I found this to be most true, even in the small village of Millington, which is less that 25 miles from my birth place. Visiting the local pub in about 1952, I was unable to understand anything the old locals said and their conversations had to be translated to me by my great friend Geoff(rey) Richard Banks who lived only 3 miles from the village. So one can imagine were the Clergy of the day was from another town or County, it must have been most difficult for him to decipher the name when it was spoken in a strong Yorkshire accent. I formed this opinion from the many church record I have perused, where one could see that a certain hand writing always spelling the name one way and as soon as another hand appear, the name would be spelt differently. I have also seen where the original writer returned, the name has gone back to its former spelling. One classic example of this, appears in my research into Edward Capstick (1750-1835). Here I find he was born a Capstack, his marriage banns showed Capstick, he married as Capstack and his children were baptised as Capstick, Capstack and Capstic. I have at all times, attempted to record the spelling of both christen and surnames as they appear in the various church records, even when they have obviously been spelt incorrectly. In the late 1500s, the Capsticks family 'seat', and my direct ancestors fit into this category, was around the West Yorkshire village of Dent which was almost on the border of Westmorland. The Boundary Alterations of the 1970s have now placed it in the newly formed County of Cumbria. A fact I may add, that has not help in the search of various records. END OFBOOK EXCERPTS
The Joan who appears in the above, is my wife of 40 years. I was born in Hull, England in 1933 and came to Australia in 1954. I am a plumber by trade and a retired police office by position. I have two children, a boy and girl, both are married and each have two children. In 1985 whilst in a shop in Dent, I heard a North American gentleman state his name was Dent and that he was buy souvenirs from Dent no doubt for that reason. I am sorry that it would seem that you are on a 'wild goose chase' but if you have been delving into your ancestral back ground as long as I have, it will not have been the first time and no doubt not the last. Are you in fact a Dent or an ancestor of a Dent? I had a Craig Dent contact me some time ago with similar quires. Do you know of him. He gave me very little detail about himself and I do not even know with certainty which country he lives in??? His e-mail address is:- craig_dent@hotmail.com Phone No:- 0412 215712 You may like to contact him. When I have finished this correspondence and a couple of other matters, I will try and visit your site. There are 897 Dents listed in Australian Telephone Books and 187 in Victorian State Telephone Books. The nearest two to my residence are:- G.A. Dent of Gorton Drive, Lake Charm, Victoria. 3581. and D.G.H. & M.V Dent of Kangaroo Lake, Mystic Park, Victoria. 3581 If you have any particular initials that you want addresses on, please let me know During my periods staying in Dent, I have not come across anyone with the Dent surname but that is not to say that there are not any there. If you are in a position to receive GIF or JPG files, I send you a couple of photographs of the village if you so desire. If there is in fact anything else that you think I maybe able to assist you in, please do not hesitate to contact me. I shall be away on holidays from the end of August until the end of September.
Regards, Pictures |