[r-t] Dixon & Dawson

[Richard Smith]

Ted Steele wrote:

> I sent a link to an item that stated Dawson was a 
> schoolmaster in the village. This should be fairly easy to 
> check for anyone with access to genealogy search services 
> and would resolve this issue.

A Charles Dawson was on the electoral roll in Fulbourn in 
1780.  At this time suffrage in shire constituencies was 
restricted to men with freeholdings in the county worth an 
annual rent of 40/-.  At this time, copyhold was the 
dominant form of land tenure, and an annual rent of 40/- was 
a significant amount, so few qualified.  A schoolmaster 
might very well qualify, and this could well be him.  He is 
probably the man who was buried at Fulbourn, aged 79, in 
1811.  That would make him about 57 when the Cambridge 
Youths rang the extent at St Edward's, which is plausible 
enough.  It also means he was dead well before 1829 when 
Dixon's Bob Minor was supposedly composed.

RAS