Jane Caws ³

   Another name for Jane was Jane Cross.

  General Notes:

On the 1841 census almost every person in England named Caws lived on the Isle of Wight mainly in St Helens or Brading so there is every possibility that with Portsea only across the water that Jane was from there as well. I have also found the following reference (yet to be followed up) to a family of Caws some of whom acted as Portsmouth pilots (from http://www.curiousfox.com/history/hampshire_44.html "Caws Burden Jones families - Hampshire (County, HAM, Hants) My GGG grandfather, Harry Caws, baptised at St Helens IOW 3.10.1779 married Betty Jones (about whom I know nothing). That Caws family owned a farm at Seaview near Ryde, Isle of Wight and were pilots for ships using Portsmouth during the Napoleonics wars. His father and Grandfather were Anthony Caws and John Caws......"

In 1841 a Jane Mitchell born in Hampshire about 1765 was living in Portsea in a court at 35 Cumberland Street.

Nearby at number 48 was John Mitchell, Purser RN, born about 1795 not in Hampshire. With him were his wife Jane, 30, son William and daughter Mary, all born in Portsea. The names suggest a connection but the marriage certificate of John and Jane 1838 showed John's father was named Justin.

On the 1851 census the only candidate for our Jane Mitchell is a widow living in the Alverstoke Poorhouse, a mile or two from Portsea across the inlet to Portsmouth Harbour. She is recorded as being deaf and a pauper and previously a servant. Her age is given as 77 but as her birthplace is not known this may have been a guess. In 1855 there is a Jane Mitchell recorded as dying in Alverstoke.

Four children of William and Jane Mitchell (Mary 1792, Caroline 1797, Elizabeth 1799 and Richard 1802 were baptised in 1804 on the same day at the Orange Street Independent Church. William Mitchell's 1806 will refers to his children as Mary, William, Caroline, Elizabeth and Richard. The order suggests that William was born between 1792 to 1797 and IGI provides us with two Williams, sons to William and Jane, baptised at St Thomas, Portsmouth in this period. The first was christened 29 December 1794 only 8 days after the birth of the other William, who was christened a year later on 30th December 1795. It is likely that one of these Williams was the son William Mitchell and Jane Denbow who were married at St Thomas on 24th March 1794. There was also a Jane Mitchell baptised at St Thomas in 1797, also likely to be a child of this other William and Jane. For now we will assume that William baptised in 1794 is our William - considering the dates it seems unlikely that they below to the same family. Another William, son of William and Jane, was baptised in Gosport in 1806 but it seems unlikely this one is ours.

WILLIAM MITCHELL
Spouse: JANE DENBOW
Marriage: 24 MAR 1794 Saint Thomas, Portsmouth, Hampshire
Messages:Extracted marriage record for locality listed in the record.

JANE MICHELL
Christening: 26 MAR 1797 Saint Thomas, Portsmouth, Hampshire,
Father: WILLIAM MICHELL
Mother: JANE
Messages:Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the record.

WILLIAM MITCHELL
Christening: 09 OCT 1806 Holy Trinity, Gosport, Hampshire
Father: WILLIAM MITCHELL
Mother: JANE
Messages:Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the record.

WILLIAM MITCHELL
Christening: 29 DEC 1794 Saint Thomas, Portsmouth, Hampshire
Father: WILLIAM MITCHELL
Mother: JANE
Messages:Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the record.

WILLIAM MITCHELL
Birth: 17 DEC 1794
Christening:30 DEC 1795 Saint Thomas, Portsmouth, Hampshire
Father: WILLIAM MITCHELL
Mother: JANE
Messages:Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the record.

Some possibilities for the death of Jane Caws:

Deaths Dec 1855
Mitchell Jane Alverstoke 2b *

Deaths Jun 1856
Mitchell Jane Portsea 2b 255

Deaths Jun 1838
MITCHELL Jane Portsea I 7 104

  Chronology:

She resided in 1792 in Portsea, Hampshire. ⁴

Jane married William Mitchell, son of (father of William) Mitchell and Unknown, on 16 Apr 1792 in Saint Marys, Portsea, Hampshire.^{1 2} (William Mitchell was born Cal 1771 ⁵ and died Cal 1806.)