Researching John Canton
Explore the detail of John Canton using the links below. We hope you find this information useful!
 | Did you know that in the 1881 UK census there were 199 people with the Canton surname? In that year Canton was ranked number 3380 for popularity in the UK. |
Good news! There is already a One Name Study on the Canton surname.
The name John means "God is gracious" and is of Hebrew origin.
Records of John Canton on Ancestry
Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of John Canton in your family tree. A vast range of data is available to search ranging from census records, births, deaths and marriages, military records and immigration records to name but a few. Free trials are normally available and are a good way to fill out a lot of your tree quickly.
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Ancestry.com Global records search results for John Canton. |
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Ancestry.com US records search results for John Canton. |
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Ancestry.ca Canadian records search results for John Canton. |
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Ancestry.com.au Australian records search results for John Canton. |
DNA
Sometimes you can run into a brick wall in your tree and you just don't have enough evidence to make that next step back in time. A DNA test can sometimes help to make a link to a particular family name if you find you share common DNA with people who have the same or similar surnames as each other. If you are lucky then you may get a match within a few generations and discover some Canton ancestors. Additionally, the modern DNA test can give you a breakdown of your ethnic mix - you may be surprised at the results!
Have you reached a brick wall in your Canton Tree?
Birth, Death and Marriage Records for John Canton and the Canton Family Tree
Birth, Death and Marriage records are often the best method of making the links to the Canton Genealogy that will form part of your family tree. Although records vary from country to country, they are normally the most formal record of a person's relations. From the sources below you will be able to find a birth record and, from that, a birth certificate can be ordered which lists the names of the mother and father, taking you back another generation in your tree. A marriage certificate may also list the names of the respective fathers of the bride and groom which may then help you to find them earlier in life on a census record enabling you to fill out more detail in the Canton family tree.
Investigate Parish Records for John Canton at Find My Past.
Explore for the UK registered births, marriages and deaths of John Canton using the FreeBMD database.
Look at Genealogy Bank for John Canton records.
Look at MyHeritage for John Canton information.
Look at the LDS Database for records about John Canton.
Research the Canton surname using fold3 Military Archives and view images of original Canton Military records.
Canton Genealogy Databases
Another way to build your tree quickly is to use the research other people have already done. This can help to confirm or refute your own deductions - however, be wary of taking this data at face value as other researchers may not have been as meticulous as you. Always try to back up deductions with some definitive sources rather than relying too heavily on others.
Study the WikiTree database for user contributed records for John Canton.
Study MyTrees for information on the Canton family and people looking to contact living Canton relations.
Investigate One Great Family for Canton records submitted by people who are already researching the Canton Family Tree.
Find John Canton from Ireland on findmypast.ie
Canton Forums
There are a number of forums which are dedicated to rearching particular surnames. These can be good places to share your findings and also to tap into the knowledge that others may already have. These can sometimes be a good way of finding living relations as these tend not to show up on the other sources of information for privacy reasons.
Research the Canton surname using Genealogy.com forums .
| Did you know that there are currently 3038 people with the Canton surname in the USA? Canton is ranked number 156 for popularity in the USA. |
Miscellaneous Canton Databases
Study the Ellis Island Database for information on John Canton. This database contains over 25 million immigration records detailing passengers arriving in the United States of America.
Some Famous People called John Canton
John Canton
John Canton FRS (31 July 1718 – 22 March 1772) was a British physicist. He was born in Middle Street Stroud, Gloucestershire, the son of a weaver John Canton (b. 1687) and Esther (née Davis). As a schoolboy, he became the first person to determine the latitude of Stroud, whilst making a sundial. The sundial caught the attention of many, including Dr Henry Miles, a Stroud-born Fellow of the Royal Society. Miles encouraged Canton to leave Gloucestershire to become a trainee teacher for Samuel Watkins, the headmaster of a Nonconformist school in Spital Square, London, with whom he ultimately entered into partnership.
In 1750 he read a paper before the Royal Society on a method of making artificial magnets, which procured him election as a fellow of the society. In 1751 he was a recipient of the Copley Medal "On account of his communicating to the Society, and exhibiting before them, his curious method of making Artificial Magnets without the use of Natural ones." He was the first in England to verify Benjamin Franklin's hypothesis of the identity of lightning and electricity, and he made several important electrical discoveries.
In 1762 and 1764 he published experiments in refutation of the decision of the Florentine Academy, at that time generally accepted, that water is incompressible. In 1768 he described the preparation, by calcining oyster-shell with sulphur, of the phosphorescent material known as Canton's phosphorus. His investigations were carried on without any intermission of his work as a schoolmaster. He died in London aged 53 of dropsy.
He was the recipient of letters, that formed the foundation for modern day Bayes' Theorem from Thomas Bayes, which were then published by the Royal Society. John Canton did not receive those letter directly from Bayes, but through an intermediary after the death of Thomas Bayes. It was Richard Price, who established the communication between Thomas Bayes and John Canton.
He is now mainly remembered for his work in electrostatics, particularly the invention of the pith ball electroscope, and his studies in atmospheric electricity.
Source: John Canton, Wikipedia, The Free EncyclopediaOther names that sound a bit like Canton
Family names can get corrupted over time, particularly where literacy was not as good. The following list contains some names that have similar sounds so you may want to also look at one or two of the more likely possibilites.
Cambden Camden Campton Canadian Canadine Candin Candon Canten Cantin Cantone Cantoni Cantonwine Cantyne Centanni Centeno Centinello Chamption Chandanais Chandonai Chandonnet Compton Comton Condon Connaughton Contine Contini Cownden Cumpton
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