12. CULMER-SAMSON

Baker Tree

JOHN CULMER and MARGARET SAMSON (12)

 

JOHN SAMPSON. The most plausible baptism we have found for George Culmer, who brough up his family in the Kentish town of Stourmouth in the 17^th century is the following

Baptisms. St Peter in Thanet.
1615 Aug 13  George Culmer sonne of John Culmer.

Thanet is the NE corner of Kent, divided from the rest by the Wansum channel. St Peter’s was a large parish. The coastal part is known as Broadstairs. The parish church stood on an eminence some way from the coast.

The parish registers go back to 1582. John was probably born around 1570, too early for his baptism to be included.

We pick up his story with his first marriage. It seems likely that he married twice.

The first wedding was in St Lawrence in Thanet. This is now known as Ramsgate.

Marriage. St Lawrence in Thanet.
1594 Oct 3  John Culmer & Alice Norwood
Both were of St Lawrence.

This is followed by a single baptism.

Baptism. St Peter in Thanet.
1597/8 Feb 26  Alexander

There are then two burials.

Burials. St Peter in Thanet.
1598 Nov 27  Alexander Culmer
This does not tell us that Alexander was John Culmer’s son, but there is a later baptism for a son Alexander, so this is probably the case.
1599 Dec 18  Alice wife of John Culmer.

Soon afterwards, there is another wedding, this time, at St Peter’s.

Marriage. St Peter in Thanet.
1600 Jul 7  John Culmer & Margaret Samson

The dates are consistent with this being the- same John Culmer.

For the rest of their story, we find them in St Peter’s.

MARGARET SAMSON. The wedding took place at St Peter’s in Thanet, so we might suspect that this was Margaret’s home parish. As with John, her baptism would be too early to show up in the existing register. But the 1641 Protestation Return shows no Samsons in St Peter’s. This leads us to believe that she came from another parish, and had probably moved to St Peter’s to work.

The greatest concentration of early Samson is in St Lawrence in Thanet, with a number also in St John in Thanet (Margate).

Both John and Margaret were Elizabethans. They were probably in their teens in 1558 when the Spanish Armada set out to invade England. They would probably have gone to the coast at Broadstairs to see the terrifying sight of this huge fleet of foreign ships. England was saved when a storm drove the Armada northwards around Britain, where most of them were wrecked before they could return to Spain.

The couple had seven children baptised at the parish church of St Peter’s.

Baptisms. St Peter in Thanet.
1604 Apr 1  Anna
1606 Mar 27  Mildred
1609 Aug 27  Martha
1611 Feb 9  Alexander
1615 Aug 13  George
1617 Mar 17  Mary
1623 Dec 26  Joseph

John appears to have died soon after Joseph’s birth.

Burial. St Peter in Thanet.
1626 Oct 4  John Culmer

He was probably in his 50s. He did not live long enough to see the Civil War.

 

Margaret appears to have lived much longer. If we have identified her burial correctly, then she saw, not only the Civil War, but the return of the Stuart monarchy.

Burial. St Peter in Thanet.
1667 Jan 27  Margaret Culmer an antient Widd.
She would probably have been over 90.