When researching family history you find that sometimes you can quickly go back in time tracing a particular family because they have conveniently lived in the same area for generations! Combine with that a careful attention to having all children baptised, a diligent clergy that (legibly) records these activities (especially if they add extra information to the record) and a modern family history society or county that has kept and digitally recorded all these details and you have the perfect formulae for success!! Even better if each generation has a sprinkling of less common names or second names to help the family researcher many generations later.

The Oakdens are a good example of this perfect combination. Elizabeth Oakden is my great great grandmother on my maternal side. She was my granny’s granny. For several generations preceding Elizabeth, the Oakden family lived and died around the town of Kniveton in Derbyshire.

Kniveton is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire. The surname Kniveton was first found in Derbyshire at Kniveton, where the manor of ‘Cheniveton,’ so called in the Domesday Survey, was from a very early period the property of the Kniveton family. The extinct Baronet family descended from Sir Matthew de Knivetone, who flourished in that county temp. Edward I.

The manor of ‘Merchenestune’ [Mercaston] was for many generations the property and seat of a younger branch of the Knivetons, of Bradley, who were seated here as early as the reign of Edward III. William Kniveton was one of the baronets created by James I. on the institution of the order in 1611. ” (1)[i]

The local church, St Michael and All Angels’ Church has Norman origins. It dates from the 13th century. The tower has two 17th-century bells. Many of the Oakdens and their extended family were baptised, married or buried in this church and their records preserved digitally.

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• https://www.houseofnames.com/kniveton-family-crest

Elizabeth Oakden (1825 – 1870)

Elizabeth Oakden is born in 1827 in Kniveton, Derbyshire.She remains in Kniveton until 1851 when she is working as a servant in Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Perhaps it is here that she meets her husband John Potter.

Elizabeth marries John Potter in Atherstone, Warwickshire in 1852. They have six children including my great grandmother Mary Potter (who marries James Clarke and moves to Australia in 1911). John Potter and Elizabeth live and work in the Leicestershire area. Elizabeth dies on Warren Farm in Drakelow, Derbyshire and is buried in nearby Walton on Trent, Derbyshire.

Simon Oakden (1798 – 1877)

Elizabeth Oakden’s Father, Simon Oakden, spent his entire life around Kniveton. He was born in 1798 and was baptised in the Kniveton Church on the 13 October 1799. He married Lydia Barton on the 10 Dec 1826 in Kniveton. Lydia was born in Hognaston, Derbyshire which is only a short distance from Kniveton.

In the UK Census from 1841 to 1871 Simon is listed as an agricultural Labourer and he lives in Kniveton but the early Census don’t list an actual address.

Simon and Lydia have four children – 2 daughters and 2 sons – all baptised in Kniveton. Two of them are buried at Kniveton, Elizabeth is buried in a nearby town. One of them, Thomas, has been difficult to track down and I am not sure where he lived or died. Apart from Thomas they all settled in nearby Derbyshire villages not far from Kniveton.

Simon dies in 1878 in Kniveton. Lydia died three years earlier and they are both buried at Kniveton.

Simon Oakden and Lydia Barton had the following children:

• ELIZABETH4 OAKDEN was born in 1827 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. She died in 1870 in Drakelow, Derbyshire, England (Age: 45; Warren Farm, Drakelow). She married John Potter, son of William Potter and Elizabeth Sharpe, on 06 Sep 1852 in Atherstone, Warwickshire, England. He was born in 1811 in Thringstone, Leicestershire, England. He died on 31 Aug 1887 in Wichnor, Staffordshire, England.
• ANN OAKDEN was born in 1834 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. She died in 1907 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. She married (1) JAMES MOORCROFT, son of Samuel Morecroft and Anne, on 28 Dec 1857 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He was born in 1836 in Boylestone, Derbyshire, England. He died in Apr 1878 in Hulland, Derbyshire Dales District, Derbyshire, England. She married (2) JOSEPH ALLCOCK on 13 Jul 1881 in Derby, Derbyshire, England (St Peter). He was born in 1843 in Hulland, Derbyshire, England. He died in 1925 in Leicestershire, England.
• JOSEPH OAKDEN was born in 1840 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He died on 22 Jun 1917 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He married Martha Hurd, daughter of Robert Hurd and Martha, on 08 Apr 1873 in Derby, Derbyshire, England (All Saints). She was born in 1841 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. She died in 1900 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England (Agnes Meadow; Age: 58)
• THOMAS OAKDEN was born in 1843 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England

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Simon Oakden (1772 – 1852)

Simon Oakden was baptised in Kniveton Church on the 18 October 1772. On June 11 1792 he married Hannah Taylor. She was a local girl.

Together they have 7 children – Simon is the oldest. All of them are baptised in Kniveton.

I’m Not sure what occupation he did. He says he is an agricultural labourer in the 1841 Census but in 1850 census says he is a land proprieter. At that stage he is 78 and living with his son Simon.

Simon dies in 1852 and is buried in Kniveton – as is his wife Hannah.

Simon Oakden and Hannah Taylor had the following children:

• SIMON OAKDEN was born in 1798 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He died on 19 Apr 1878 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England (St Michael & All Angels Churchyard; Possible error of death and burial date). He married Lydia Barton, daughter of Joseph Barton and Lydia, on 05 Jan 1827 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. She was born on 15 Feb 1807 in Hognaston, Derbyshire, England. She died in 1875 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England.
• JOSEPH OAKDEN was born on 04 Sep 1801 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He married Catherine Reaves on 13 Aug 1828 in Hognaston, Derbyshire, England.
• ANN OAKDEN was born on 11 Aug 1804 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. She died on 18 Jul 1879 in Derbyshire, England.
• SARAH OAKDEN was born on 01 Dec 1805 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. She died in Jul 1890 in Bradbourne, Derbyshire, England. She married John Fern on 28 Aug 1827 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He was born in 1808 in Bradbourne, Derbyshire, England. He died on 19 Apr 1884 in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England (St Oswald Churchyard).
• THOMAS OAKDEN was born on 01 Sep 1807 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He died on 22 Oct 1881 in Hulland, Derbyshire Dales District, Derbyshire, England. He married (1) ELISABETH BEIGHTON on 18 Dec 1839 in Derbyshire, England. She was born in 1806 in Brailsford, Derbyshire Dales District, Derbyshire, England. She died on 13 Apr 1836 in Brailsford, Derbyshire Dales District, Derbyshire, England. He married (2) ELIZABETH. She was born in 1814 in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England. She died in Jul 1849 in Hulland, Derbyshire Dales District, Derbyshire, England.
• WILLIAM OAKDEN was born on 23 Jan 1809 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England.
• JANE OAKDEN was born on 03 Nov 1810 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England.

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Charles Oakden (1749 – 1831)

Charles Oakden was born in 1749 in Kniveton, Derbyshire England according to his burial records. But that may be incorrect!  I haven’t been able to find his baptism yet and I have never been able to find out who his parents were.  There are other Oakdens living close by in Northamptonshire but I have not been able to find any connection with them.  I feel they must be connected as they have similar names and are quite close by and the Oakden family name does not seem to be very common.

Charles married Jane Johnson in Kniveton on the 15 Oct 1770 – and I have found that record.

Records are harder to find at this time so I am not sure where he lived and worked but considering his children are living around Kniveton I presume he spent most of his life there.

Charles dies in 1831 and is buried at the Kniveton church. Sadly none of the large Oakden families appear to have headstones that have survived.

Charles Oakden and Jane Johnson had the following children:

i.              SIMON² OAKDEN was born in 1772 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He died in Apr 1852 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He married Hannah Taylor on 11 Jun 1792 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. She was born in 1767 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England (Derbyshire Dales District). She died on 10 May 1840 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England (St Michael & All Angels Churchyard).

ii.            CHARLES OAKDEN was born in 1777 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He died in Oct 1836 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He married Martha Blore, daughter of Simon Blore and Ann, on 13 Oct 1799 in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England. She was born in 1781 in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England. She died in 1829 in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England (47 Age: 47).

iii.            JANE OAKDEN was born in 1777 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. She died in 1850 in Leek, Staffordshire, England (76 Age: 76).

iv.           ANN OAKDEN was born in 1783 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. She married James Shipley, son of Jonathan Shipley and Jane Shipley, on 19 Aug 1804 in Derby, Derbyshire, England (St Werburgh). He was born in 1781 in Derbyshire, England. He died in 1847 (64 Age: 64).

v.            ELIZABETH OAKDEN was born in 1789 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. She died in Jul 1850 in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, United Kingdom.

vi.           JOHN OAKDEN was born on 13 Apr 1794 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. He died in Mar 1797 in Kniveton, Derbyshire, England.

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I hope in time I will find out more about my Kniveton Oakden families. Church records are fairly basic and you can never be really sure if you have connected the right people into the family. DNA has solved (or helped solve) some of these sort of mysteries and perhaps this is what will in the future.

If you have any information to add to this, or if you think I have made an error please let me know!!