According to the 1851 Census records, my great great grandfather, Charles James Couzens (my earliest identified Couzens ancestor), then aged 50, was born in Devizes, Wilts, England. I have searched the parish registers of St John The Baptists, Church of England, Devizes, and the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Devizes, but unfortunately could find no entry for the baptism of Charles James Couzens.

The earliest written record of Charles James Couzens which I have found is the 1834 Baptismal Entry for his third child to be found in the St James, Church of England, Avebury, Parish Register:

No. 451. Baptised December 14th, Suzanna, daughter of Charles James and Ann Couzens, (abode) Avebury, (Trade or Calling) Grocer, Ceremony performed by Benj. Weaver, curate.

According to the 1851 Census, their eldest child, also named Charles James, was born in Bloomsbury, Middlesex, around 1825. Charles James senior's wife, Ann (nee Shipway) was born in Avebury (her baptism is recorded in the St James Parish Register for 1803) but whether the couple actually met and/or were married in Avebury, Bloomsbury or elswhere is unknown.

It is also unknown whether the occupation of Grocer and Baker, which were carried on by three successive generations of Couzens throughout the nineteenth century, originated with Charles James or was passed on from his own parents. However, it is worth noting that, from about 1827, there was another Couzens family also living in Avebury and also carrying on the trade of shopkeeper and grocer. I have been unable to establish any direct link between the two families but it is tempting to think that they were related.

Sometime between 1836 and 1841, Charles James Couzens and his family moved to the neighbouring village of Berwick Bassett, only a few miles away from Avebury. Here, and also in neighbouring Winterbourne Bassett, the family continued on the Grocery and Bakery trade, until Charles James' grandson eventually returned to Avebury in about 1904 to carry on a bakery and refreshment rooms business. After several years in Avebury, he migrated to Australia, where he settled in Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, and later Albion Park and Berry.

Apart from the problem of identifying Charles James Couzens senior's parents, other questions which I am still trying to answer are:

What became of Charles James Couzens junior, eldest son of Charles James senior and Ann (nee Shipway). The first and last record I have of him was in the 1841 Census, when he was aged 16 and still living with his parents.

What became of Elizabeth Couzens, youngest daughter of Charles James senior and Ann (nee Shipway). I have been able to find nothing more on Elizabeth Dew after she married Abel Dew in Berwick Bassett in 1866 and had two children by 1868.