Thomas Castledine was Ari’s 7x great-grandfather and I don’t know much about him yet. On 30 January 1787 he married Alice Warren at Dale Abbey in Derbyshire.
“A more peaceful and pleasant spot than Dale Abbey is hard to find in the whole of Derbyshire. Yet it is less than three miles from the suburbs of Derby to the west, and even closer to a vast area of housing and industrialisation on the eastern side.
The story of Dale Abbey, or Depedale as it was originally known, begins when a Derby baker had a dream — the Virgin Mary appeared and told him to go to Depedale, to live a life of solitude and prayer. At that time it was a wild and marshy place and the hermit carved out a home and chapel in a sandstone cliff.
Here he continued to worship in solitude until one day the smoke from his fire was seen by a Knight, Ralph Fitz Geremund the owner of the land. Intending to drive the intruder away, he rode over, but on hearing the hermit’s story he was filled with compassion, allowing him to remain and bestowing on him the tithe money from Borrowash Mill. This enabled the hermit to build a small chapel and home on the site of the present church.
After the hermit’s death, word spread of the religious significance of the place and following several attempts, Dale Abbey was founded in about 1200 by an order known as the White Canons because of the colour of their habits. The abbey remained until 1538, when it was dissolved and the greater part demolished by the command of Henry VIII.” (http://www.derbyshire-peakdistrict.co.uk/daleabbey.htm)
From the date of the marriage we can estimate that Thomas was born in about 1765. Thomas and Alice had at least six children: John, Thomas, Alice (Ari’s 6x great-grandmother), William (who died as a baby), Mary and Sarah (who died aged nine).
The children were baptised in Wilne, which is on the border with Leicestershire, and they were living in Draycott in 1813 when Sarah died.
No deaths or burials have been confirmed for Thomas yet, and he probably died before the 1841 census. I have not found a will or any definite newspaper records for him. There is a possible baptism in 1752 to a William and Martha. Also, a Thomas Castledine from Draycott signed up on 17 Jan 1807 to the 1st Foot Guards (this was the time of the Napoleonic Wars). Again, it will be a case of following up his children and any siblings to discover more about him.
Ari, this is how you are related to Thomas:
Update: Thomas was born in 1752 and died on 3 April 1827.