1776 - 2000 Bloxham in Oxfordshire, and Coventry, Warwickshire

I only know the last 200 years or so of the history of my CAKEBREAD ancestors. The earliest ones I know about were Plush Weavers in the village of Bloxham, near Banbury, in north Oxfordshire around the end of the 18th Century where there were a number of Cakebread families. Records of CAKEBREADs in that north Oxfordshire village commence around the early 1600s but baptism records become almost non-existant until about 1780 although marriages and deaths still continued. It appears that the CAKEBREADs became leading members of the non-conformist movement and attended religious services in private houses. Although they did baptise at a young age, usually at birth, the records did not survive. By using marriage and burial records the approximate progression of the group of families can be seen but they cannnot be accurately defined. Other early Oxfordshire CAKEBREAD were at Witney in the late 16th and early 17th Centuries and a few in Oxford itself. I suspect they had moved there from further south in Hertfordshire where available records of CAKEBREADs go back many more years than in Oxfordshire areas. Plush weaving By the middle of the 18th century Banbury had become noted for weaving plush, a kind of cloth used for upholstery, hats, and liveries. In Victorian times, the material was used as a furnishing fabric, especially after it had been embossed with a special machine. In the early 19th century plush weaving was a thriving industry in Banbury and surrounding villages, Shutford being the most famous. In 1807 1,000 handloom weavers and associate workers were employed in the Banbury area, many of them very poorly paid. The industry had its fair share of bad times and after 1850 the industry declined rapid. There seem to be several generations of Plush Weavers in my Cakebread ancestry in Bloxham, later to be continued in Coventry. One of the group of Bloxham families mentioned earlier became involved in the stone trade either in Bloxham or in nearby villages in neighbouring Northamptonshire. Stone Masonry firms of the name exist to this day, specialising in grave headstones and the name appears on many gravestones around the southern Midlands. Further on is an extensive list of names with links to where they occur. Other names connected are: Nicholls (Coventry), Hunt, Smith, Walker, Brotherton, Wiggins, Perry, and Richards (all Oxfordshire). About 1839 2 brothers, both struggling (and probably out of work) Plush Weavers, were both in the Banbury Workhouse with young families to raise. So William and Robert Cakebread, and younger single brother George, decided to move the 30 miles to Coventry where there was a flourishing weaving trade. On arrival in Coventry William and Robert at first lived in the over-crowded, smelly central area of the city.

Street where William lived in1841

Later Robert moved 3 miles out to Foleshill to the north of Coventry but William moved to a better (slightly) locality within the central areas. They both settled and several of their descendant families still live in the area. Both families continued to earn their living in the linen trade. William and Robert continued as Plush Weavers right through the terrible hard times which the Coventry weavers went through. With the odd exception the rest of their families also worked doing menial jobs in the new weaving factories created after mechanisation of the weaving processes.

The 3rd brother, George, married and then moved on to West Bromwich north of Birmingham, where he died in 1885. ( I would particularly like to hear from any persons descended from the late 19th Century Cakebread families anywhere in the West Bromwich, Wolverhampton or north Birmingham areas.)

USA CAKEBREADs At about the time of the weaving depression one son of Robert, also named Robert, left his family in 1857 and emigrated to USA with his young wife Martha. After many years of hard work in the California mines they flourished and established the present CAKEBREAD community there. If any descendants of the USA Robert find this web site they may read a bit more about the part of Coventry where Robert grew up by choosing the link to Bell Green in the left column. They may be interested in the photograph of flooded Hall Green Road. In the very centre of that photograph the dark cluster of distant buildings mark the probable position of the Cakebread dwelling in old Hall Green.There they will also find a link to an old 1887 map on which the small cluster of houses which must have included the family home can be seen. Look for "Hall Green" and enlarge the map. Unfortunately now hardly any, if indeed any, of those houses now remain and the area has changed a lot, being very built up with houses. The roads and the little river are still the same but that is about all.

My thanks go to the late Vi Shallow, who was the "one-name study" specialist of the CAKEBREAD name until shortly before her death. Vi sadly passed away in June 2006 and no doubt is now getting down to more direct questions of her ancestors to sort out that "brick wall" ! The help Vi gave me via email over a long period was invaluable.


(You can Click on any Chart link for the same surname)

Surname	Chr. Name	Born	Where Found	Parents / Notes
Cakebread	Alice	1855	Robert's notes	Robert / Ann
Cakebread	Annie	1889	Chart	Caleb / Eliza
Cakebread	Annie Louise E.	1896		Caleb (1872) / Frances
Cakebread	Caleb	1842	Family Tree	William / Martha
Cakebread	Caleb	1872	Chart	Caleb / Eliza
Cakebread	Caleb John	1902		Caleb (1872) / Frances
Cakebread	Caroline	1834	Robert's notes	Robert / Ann
Cakebread	Charles	1871	USA Chart	Robert / Martha
Cakebread	Charley	1883	Chart	Caleb / Eliza
Cakebread	Dennis William	1938	Family Tree	George Abraham / Elsie
Cakebread	Edward Charles	1904	Chart	George / Ellen
Cakebread (Nicholls)	Eliza	1848	Family Tree	Wife of Caleb
Cakebread	Elizabeth	1786	Family Tree	Roberts Wife
Cakebread	Elizabeth	1832	Robert's notes	Robert / Ann
Cakebread	Elizabeth	1841	Chart	William / Martha
Cakebread	Elizabeth	1865	USA Chart	Robert / Martha
Cakebread	Ellen	1912		Caleb (1872) / Frances
Cakebread	Ellen Elizabeth	1880	Family Tree	Georges wife
Cakebread	Ellen Florence	1901	Chart	George / Ellen
Cakebread (Harrison)	Elsie	1904	Family Tree	Georges wife
Cakebread	Elsie May	1895	Chart	Henry William / Mary
Cakebread	George	1815	Chart	Robert / Elizabeth
Cakebread	George	1881	Family Tree	Caleb / Eliza
Cakebread	George Abraham	1902	Family Tree	George / Ellen
Cakebread	Gladys Mary	1900	Chart	Henry (1868) / Sarah
Cakebread	Hannah	1846	Robert's notes	Robert / Ann
Cakebread	Hannah	1869	Chart	John (1842) / Sarah
Cakebread	Hannah Elizabeth	1851	Chart	William / Martha
Cakebread	Harriett	1828	Chart	William / Martha
Cakebread	Harriett	1853	Robert's notes	Robert / Ann
Cakebread	Henry	1868		Joshua / Harriett
Cakebread	Henry William	1870	Chart	John (1842) / Sarah
Cakebread	Isabella	1843	Robert's notes	Robert / Ann
Cakebread	James	1868	USA Chart	Robert / Martha
Cakebread	James	1875	Chart	Caleb / Eliza
Cakebread	James	1897		James 1875 / Mary ?
Cakebread	John	1805	Chart	Robert / Elizabeth
Cakebread	John	1837	Chart	William / Martha
Cakebread	John	1842	Robert's notes	Robert / Ann
Cakebread	John	1848	Chart	William / Martha
Cakebread	John H.	1863	USA Chart	Robert / Martha
Cakebread	Joshua	1845	Chart	William / Martha
Cakebread	Lilian Maud	1892	Chart	Henry William / Mary
Cakebread	Martha	1808	Family Tree	Wife of William
Cakebread	Martha	1878	USA Chart	Robert / Martha
Cakebread	Mary Ann	1861	USA Chart	Robert / Martha
Cakebread	Matilda	1850	Robert's notes	Robert / Ann
Cakebread	Robert	1776	Family Tree	William's Father
Cakebread	Robert	1808	Chart	Robert / Elizabeth
Cakebread	Robert	1838	Robert's notes	Robert / Ann
Cakebread	Robert	1875	USA Chart	Robert / Martha
Cakebread	Ronald George	1931	Chart	George Abraham / Elsie
Cakebread	Sarah	1886	Chart	Caleb / Eliza
Cakebread	Sarah Anne	1848	Robert's notes	Robert / Ann
Cakebread	Sarah Jane	1872	Chart	John (1842) / Sarah
Cakebread	Sidney Charles	1907		Charles / Emma
Cakebread	Thomas	1880	Chart	Caleb / Eliza
Cakebread	Thomas William	1904		Henry 1868 / Sarah
Cakebread	Walter Philip	1909		Charles / Emma
Cakebread	William	1810	Family Tree	Robert / Elizabeth
Cakebread	William	1833	Chart	William / Martha
Cakebread	William	1866	USA Chart	Robert / Martha
Cakebread	William	1871	Chart	Caleb / Eliza
Cakebread	William Henry	1905		Charles / Emma

This page is only part of a full page.
If you came here via a Search Engine and do not see the Menu

Click here and follow the "My Family" links..

Corfu Allesley Berlin Theo Villaspring Yiannis