Lt. Col. William Candler, of Callan

William Candler of Callan, Ireland was born 25 September 1608 in Ixworth, Suffolk, England (cite1)(cite4) and perhaps died in 1680 in County Kilkenny (unsourced). He was also known as Lieutenant Colonel William Candle.

Parents: probably the son of William Candler (b.1582) and grandson of Ralph and Ann Candler, all of Ixworth. (cite4)

Married:

1. unknown
2. betw 1632/1634 to Anne Clarke, widow of Captain John Villiers of Wolverhampton

Children of William Candler and unknown wife:

1. Mary Candler b: ABT 1636. married betw 1653/1657 in Callan Castle, County Kilkenny, Ireland to Zachariah Moorman. He was b: 1620/1630 in Isle of Wight, England and died 1702 in Virginia.
2. [--?--] Candler

Children of William Candler and Anne Villiers:

1. Annabella Candler married to Jonathan COPE at Callan in 1654
2. Mary Candler (NOT the Mary who married Zachariah Moorman)
3. Thomas Candler b: 1637
4. John Candler b: 1641

As the ancestor

"The family of Candler is of considerable antiquity in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and the name was formerly written Candeler, and more anciently Kaendler, from which it is presumed to be of Saxon origin.

WILLIAM CANDLER, Esq., the first of the family who settled in Ireland, was lieutenant-colonel in the army, under Cromwell, and had considerable grants of land by patents, dated 18 and 20 June, and 28 Nov., 21 of CHAS. II. in the counties of Kilkenny and Wexford. He m. Anne, relict of Colonel John Villiers, by whom he had THOMAS, his heir; and John, who m. the dau. and heir of John Walsingham, Esq., of Kilbline Castle, and had a son Thomas of Kilbline." (cite2)

Colonel William Candler, of Georgia, soldier in the American Revolution, was the greatgrandson of the first Candler mentioned in England. This was Lieut. Colonel William Candler who served in Cromwells' army in the conquest of Ireland. About the year 1653 he was given the Barony of Callan in appreciation of his military services and settled in Callan Castle. This ancient castle was a strong fortress situated near the town of Kilkenny, Ireland, and was defended by a wall and three castles. The great barony with its old cathedral and its fertile acres is to this day in the possession of his descendants. (cite3)

• Research of Doug Tucker, 1997

William Candler was born in England (place unknown, but probably in Norfolk or posssibly London), probably between 1610 and 1615. He went to Ireland in December 1649 as a Captain in the English Army sent to put down an Irish rebellion. After the end of the rebellion, William Candler retired from the Army (as a Lt. Colonel cited for "heroism in the field") and received confiscated Irish lands at Balliknocan in what was then Kings County (now County Offaly).

William Candler was married twice. His first wife gave him two daughters, but his first wife died before William joined the Army (probably about 1643). During his Irish service, William Candler was a widower. However, in 1662 he married Ann Clarke Villiers, widow of John Villiers, 3rd Viscount Grandison of Limerick.

Ann Villiers Candler was well-connected to the Court of St. James and it was probably her connections that led to William Candler being granted crown lands at Callan in County Kilkenny in 1670. These lands included the ruins of an old mote and bailey castle built by William Marshall in the 13th century. In fact, a mote and bailey castle was more of a rudimentary fort than a castle, consisting of a single fortified tower on a hill (the mote), surrounded by a fenced in common yard (the bailey). Originally built of wood, the walls and tower at Callan had been rebuilt with rough stone. It was a defensive fortification and was never used as a residence -- before or after the Candlers. In 1670 when the Candlers arrived in Callan, the Marshall Castle was a total ruin and the bailey had been used as a grave yard for those who died during Cromwell's seige of the town in 1650.

William Candler built a manor house on his Callan property and named his property "Callan Castle". It is pleasant to imagine that William Candler lived in an pictuesque Irish castle, but that just isn't the case.

Descendants

Without trying to separate fact and fiction, here is the American Candler Legend more or less as I find it. Daniel Candler (c1695-1765), our immigrant forebear, was the grandson of an English soldier, William Candler, who moved to Ireland in the 1650's. Like many Englishmen who fought in Oliver Cromwell's Army, Lieutenant Colonel Wm. Candler received confiscated land in lieu of payment. Lt. Colonel Candler settled at Callan in County Kilkenny (in southeastern Ireland). According to legend, William was married before Cromwell's revolution, but his wife died during the strife of the Civil War.

William had two daughters by this first wife (name unknown), one of them named Mary.

Mary Candler married Captain Zachariah Moorman (also a soldier in Crowell's Army). Zack and Mary joined the newly blossoming Quaker movement. Presently, the Moormans (or at least some of their children) moved to America. Their Moorman/Clark/Johnson descendants may be found in early Virginia Quaker records in Henrico and New Kent Counties.

Back in Ireland

...So William's first wife died during the English Civil War. He commenced a military career and eventually, Captain Candler went to Ireland with Lord Oliver Cromwell's forces. Upon retirement, Major Candler attained the military rank of Lt. Colonel & the social rank of Esquire. He took up residence on confiscated Irish land, and eventually came to live at Callan Castle in County Kilkenny. His second marriage was to Anne Villiers (perhaps the wife of a deceased fellow officer of William's in the Irish campaign).

William and Anne had children -- Thomas and John (perhaps others). Thomas inherited the Callan lands and the title of Esquire. He married Elizabeth Burrell who died (presumably without issue). Thomas then married Jane Tuite (pr. "Toot" -- equally, if not more, high-born English than he) with whom he had six known children: Daniel, Henry, Jane, William, Ann, and Thomas. Thomas disowned Daniel when he married Hannah. They lived in Dublin for a time, perhaps living near Daniel's aunt and uncle Moorman, perhaps becoming Quakers. Eventually, they left Ireland for America.

COMMENTARY

There is no mention of a son, Daniel Candler, in the 1719 will of Thomas Candler of Callan, County Kilkenny, but then Daniel was supposed to have been disowned.

In the late 1800's, Allen Daniel Candler, a descendant of Colonel William Candler of Georgia, wrote a booklet entitled, The Candler Family Form 1650 to 1890. That book was published privately and I have not had the privilege to see a copy. In 1896, Foote & Davis Co. of Atlanta, Georgia published Colonel William Candler of Georgia, His Ancestry and Progeny, by "His Great-Grandson, Allen D. Candler." In the author's words, this was "a revised addition of that [first] book under another and more appropriate title." The author claims also to have used an old manuscript history of the Georgia Candlers written by Ignatius L. Few, L.L.D, and a grandson of Col. Wm. Candler of Georgia. I do not know if a copy of this work is in existence today.

A reading of the 1896 book sheds light on just what facts and which parts of the Candler Legend Allen D. Candler knew at that time. For example:

1] He did not know the names of William's father and mother

2] He believed that William was married to Elizabeth Anthony in North Carolina

3] He did not know that William had brothers and sisters (speculating only that he may have had a brother and that this brother may have been the progenitor of the Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina branches of the family).

Allen D. Candler says of North Carolina:

"In this province, William Candler's father settled, his son William and probably another son, was born there, and soon after the birth of his son, he died there, being still a young man. Here we find William Candler, in 1760; here he married, as is shown by the records, and here his three oldest children were born.

If he had a brother, and family tradition says he had, he was probably the progenitor of all the Candlers in North Carolina and Virginia. They trace their lineage back to Zachariah Candler, who appeared in western North Carolina about the beginning of the present century, and belonged to the first generation after the War of the Revolution. They do not know whether they are descended from the English or the Irish stock, but the fact that their earliest ancestor, of whom they have any account, lived soon after the war, in that state fom which William Candler came a few years before the war, strengthens the supposition that the father of Zacheriah Candler and his brother John, who died in Tennessee in the early part of the present century, was the brother of William Candler of Georgia. "

According to Allen D. Candler:

1 The Candlers came to North Carolina and stayed

2 They had two sons William and the father of Zacheriah of North Carolina, and John of Tennessee (who we know to be Zedikiah)

3 The father (we know he was Daniel) died young in North Carolina

4 William married Elizabeth Anthony in North Carolina ("...as is shown by the records, and here his three oldest children were born."

5 William and Elizabeth moved to Georgia between 1765 and 1769

Some facts as we know them today

1 Daniel, Hannah, John, Elizabeth, William, Elloner, and Zedikiah were living at South River Settlement, Virginia by 1753, probably a bit before.

2 John Candler married c1750, Elizabeth Gibson whose father James had lived at South River since the late 1740's. John Candler's first child, William was born at S.R. in 1751.

3 John, William, and Elloner joined the Quakers in 1755 at South River.

4 Daniel joined the Quakers in 1756 at South River.

5 Elizabeth joined the Quakers in 1758. She had already married John Caffrey, a neighbor at S.R.

6 William married Elizabeth Anthony in May-June 1761. William was the clerk of the Quaker Meeting and he was disowned for being married by a priest. He must have been in residence. NOTE: Elizabeth's father, Joseph Anthony, shared property lines with Daniel, William, and John Candler.

7 Elloner Candler married in August of 1763 to Byrum Ballard at South River MeetingHouse.

8 1765, Daniel Candler made his will and died at South River. William Candler was executor. In this will, Daniel states that if Zedikiah moved out of his mother's (Hannah's) house before he turned twenty, he was to lose his share of the inheritance -- Zed was not 20 in 1765! Furthermore, Daniel left everything to Hannah till her death after which the estate would be divided equally.

9 1766, William asks the Quakers to settle his business. In 1767, he is on Pittsylvania County tax rolls (with slave "Chester"). In 1769, he sold Chester in Georgia.

This is how William lived prior to Life in Georgia. There is no doubt that the Candlers ventured into North Carolina early on and possibly often. William and Elloner received certificates (permission slips) to visit Cane Creek and New Garden Monthly Meetings. Elloner's husband, Byrum Ballard, though born in Virginia had been living in Carolina and was a member of a meeting there until he transferred his membership to South River (the very day he married Elloner). On the other hand, I don't see evidence of a permanent move to Carolina until Zackariah moved there in the late 1700's (probably the 1790's).

William and John were surveyors and appraisers (and reputed to be well educated - by VA wilderness standards at least). They no doubt traveled widely. In 1760,William contracted to deliver supplies to the soldiers at Dunkard's Bottom on the New River (present-day Radford, VA). This was "way out" west in those days, a mere outpost to protect against and monitor the Indians. There is a general misconception that pioneers were quite isolated and unable to travel without good roads. There is some truth to this, but when one reads of the great distances that these pioneer woodsmen traveled (and frequently), one is surprised. William Patton of Smithfield plantation (present-day Blacksburg, VA) traveled from his Blue Ridge Mountains home to Williamsburg three or four times a year, routinely. When Indians killed Patton in the 1750's, the news was in the London papers within a surprisingly short time.

Links

• Research & Headaches
• Colonel William Candler of Georgia: Daughter of the American REvolution magazine, Volumes 46-47, by Daughters of the American Revolution. p 115
• Research of Doug Tucker, 1997

Citations

1. Colonial Virginia Connections.Text: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~lksstarr. CANDLER research by Douglas Tucker June 1996 & published at http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~lksstarr/reports/clndrchg.txt
2. John Burke, Esq., and John Bernard Burke, Esq. "A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland" Publication: Name: Henry Colburn, Publisher; Location: Great Marlborough Street, London, England; Date: 1847; Note: John Burke, Esq., and John Bernard Burke, Esq., "A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland" (Great Marlborough Street, London, England, Henry Colburn, Publisher, 1847), Also known as Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry. Page: Vol. 1, A to L; page 183
3. DAR magazine, p. 115
4. Possible Calendar Changes Re: Zachariah Moorman and Mary Candler by Douglas Tucker June 1996