James Caston (1783-1863)
A dulcimer was bought at Gaze’s sale in Diss in 2007 by John Howson, in a very poor condition. Whilst being restored, we were very excited to find the words “J. Caston, Forncett, Norfolk” inside the stand. This was also pencilled on the back, and was revealed when the backing paper was stripped off.
The maker has now been identified as James Caston, carpenter who lived all his life in the village of Forncett End, a couple of miles west of the main Norwich-Ipswich road, in south Norfolk.
In 1810 James Caston married Sarah King and 1811 his first son Charles was born, who later followed in the family business. Charles moved away to Tacolneston for a while, but came back to the family business in Forncett when his father retired in the 1850s. Charles’ son James also became a carpenter, and worked in the family business for a short period around 1861, but soon after, he established his own concern in Spooner Row, with his wife running a general store alongside his carpenter and wheelwright’s shop. James senior died on 2nd June 1863 in Forncett.
The article about James Caston on the original website attracted the attention of Mike Merrick, a local historian, who was kind enough to send me the 1839 Tithe map and apportionment, enabling us to place James Caston’s home precisely. Mike wrote, “I think we can be pretty certain that [the dulcimer] was made in a cottage on West Road. I think it is quite likely that James Caston played the dulcimer and if he did then he would almost certainly have walked just up the road, a few hundred yards, to the Trowel and Hammer pub to play there.” However, the Primitive Methodist Chapel was just as close to Caston’s home, so it may have been that he preferred to play hymns on his dulcimer!
James Caston’s dulcimer
It seems most likely that the dulcimer was made by James Caston senior, who lived all his life in Forncett, although it is possible that it was his grandson -also James (1840-1922) – who made the dulcimer, but he only appears to have worked in Forncett for about half-a-dozen years and had moved by the mid 1860s. So this instrument is one of the earlier ones we can date: to between 1820 and 1865.
More photos and information about James Caston’s dulcimer
All material on this website is copyright. Anyone wishing to quote or use this original research should credit it to Katie Howson and cite this website as the source. Please see our Terms and Conditions page for more information, and do contact me if you wish to use any of the contents in any way. Thank you.