Tracing The Calkin Ancestry

Firstly it has to be understood that there is no definitive spelling of "Calkin".
Long before the days when everyone could read and write, often when someone was recording a name, they would ask the supplier of the name and simply record how it sounded. In most cases there was no point in asking the individual themselves how their name was spelt as they would have no grasp of the alphabet at all.
Therefore a northern accent may make the Calkin name sound like and be spelt as "Caulkin", the "i" could easily become a "y" or even an "e" and it would be just as easy to mistake a plural group of Calkins to be forever thus spelt.
For my part though I will stick with that which is by far the most prevalent spelling - Calkin.

The earliest mention of Calkin (or derivative thereof) that I have traced so far was in reports of the Battle Of Crecy in 1346.
This was a most significant battle of The Hundred Years War.
The "Hundred Years' War" between France and England (1337-1453) was an episodic struggle lasting well over a hundred years, for much of the time without any conflict.
King Edward the Third was accompanied into battle with a number of knights, one of who was listed as:
                            Sir Hugh Calkyn of Flanders with 4 Esquires.
This can be read in "English Historical Documents" - The Government Of The Realm by David Douglas (and others).
(I read that on a visit to the Society of Geneaologists in London)

The only other sources for material are all the usual places:

• Parish Registers and collections thereof such as The Church of the Latter Day Saints
  
• Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates
  
• Census Records
  
• Trade Directories
  
• Word of mouth ....
  

Unfortunately, my pedigree line research has hit a wall with Nathaniel Calkin of Stafford.
There are mentions of earlier Calkin families, such as in the Monmouth, Waverton and Cheshire areas but I've not yet proved a link between them and what is not very far away, Staffordshire.

Census Records
1841 census was taken on the night of 7th June 1841 and gave the total population as 15,914,000.

Note: In the 1841 Census a policy of rounding down of ages was in place.
As such people aged:

• 15-19 were recorded as 15;
• 20-24 were recorded as 20;
• 25-29 were recorded as 25;
• 30-34 were recorded as 30;
• 35-39 were recorded as 35;