Stephen Cawood (son of Robert Cawood and Isabel Jackson)68, 69, 70 was born November 02, 1606 in East Hardwick, England71, 72, and died February 19, 1652/53 in Pointerfract, England73, 74. He married unk on WFT Est. 1625-164775.

Includes NotesNotes for Stephen Cawood:
Notes for STEPHEN CAWOOD I:
Stephen was a yoeman farmer residing in East Hardwick, in the troublous times of James I, Charles I, and
the Commonwealth. The family of Cawoods was, in those times, quite numerous in the neighborhood of
Ackworth, as shown in the registers of St. Cuthbert’s Church, Ackworth, and Stephen Cawood’s will and
the Pontefract Church registers have alone preserved his memory.
By his will, dated January 9, 1653, he left freehold property in East Hardwick, Ackworth, Pontegract,
Hemsworth and Kinsley, to six trustees, in trust, to sell the land in Hemworth and Kinsley, and out of the
money so raised to build a chapel and a free school in East Hardwick. The revenues from the rest of the
Cawood estate were to be devoted to the maintenance of a schoolmaster, to be preaching minister, and to
the relief of the poor in East Hardwick and Ackworth.
Stephen died on February 19, 1653, forty days after the execution of his will.
The trust dating back to 1653, the year he died, and still active in 1985. The endowment had to do with
the erection of the Church of St. Stephen. There was in 1985 a memorial stone slab (3’x6′) laying flat on
the ground next to the fence at the back end of the old Stephen Cawood prorerty, where the original
Chapel was located. the slab bore this inscription:”Near this Place Reseth the Body of Mr. Stephen
Cawood Who was the Founder Both of this Chapel And Free School and Died the 20th Day of Feb. Anno
Domini 1653.” The last ten words have been obliterated from the stone by what appears to have been farm
machinery such as a rotary mower, but the complete insription is on the brass plaque on the wall, inside
the nearby St. Stephen Church.
From parish records, we know he had children. It is possible the establishment of the Trust by Stephen
may have been one reason his son Stephen emigrated to America to seek his fortune.
The trust provides for salary to the Vicar of St. Stephen, education for those needing monetary assistance,
church repairs, and help for the poor of Ackworth and East Hardwick. The income of the Trust is from
real estate originally owned by Stephen Cawood, cash in savings banks, stocks, and a British War Loan.
The Board od Trustees which administers the Trust, meets twice a year and consist of ten persons.
The old schoolhouse and chapel established in East Hardwick are no longer there. In the 19th Century
they reach the point of being beyond repair. They were razed and today two fine modern buildings have
replaced them: A Stephen Cawood Elementary School, and the Church of St. Stephen. Indeed, the name
of Stephen Cawood lives on in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
In 1985 there were no Cawoods living in the Yorkshire village of Cawood or East Hardwick. But the
telephone directories showed them to be scattered throughout the British Isles. There were 167 listings.
There were several listings of businesses and seemingly large corporations. The largest single group (23)
outside England, live in South Africa. These Cawoods undoubtedly have decended from David and Mary
Cawood, who, with their nine children immigrated to South Africa in 1820.
More About Stephen Cawood:
Date born 2: November 02, 160675
Died 2: February 19, 1652/5375

More About Stephen Cawood and unk:
Marriage: WFT Est. 1625-164775

This is where the Cawood family’s private chapel once stood.  The small stone insert on the left memorializes the marriage between the Cawood and Acclom families.