Did Caxton ever print his name CAUSTON or CAWSTON, or is it ever found
so spelt? He tells us, in the preface or prologue to his _Recuyell of
the Historyes of Troye_, "that I was born and learned mine English in
Kent, in the Weald." The only locality in Kent which I can discover at
all approximating in its name to Caxton, is Causton, a manor in the
parish of Hadlow, in the Weald of Kent, _held of the honor of Clare_.
This manor was, in the fourteenth century, possessed by the family of
"De Causton;" how and when it passed from them I have been unable to
ascertain with certainty, possibly not long before the birth of William
Caxton. In 1436, Beatrice Bettenham entails it on the right heirs of her
son, Thomas Towne, by which entail it came into the family of Watton of
Addington Place, who owned it in 1446. The honor of Clare, and the
forest, &c. of South Frith, closely adjoining Causton, descended through
one of the co-heiresses of Gilbert de Clare to Richard Duke of York,
father of the Duchess of Burgundy and Edward IV., whose widow, Cicely,
continued in possession till her death. I name the owners of the manor
of Causton, and the chief lords of whom it was held, as affording,
perhaps, some clue to identification, should any of your correspondents
be inclined to take up the inquiry. I need hardly add that the
difference between the two names of Causton and Caxton is of little
moment should other circumstances favour the chances that Causton in
Hadlow may claim the honour of having given birth to our illustrious
printer, or that he was descended from the owners of that manor.