Emma Selina HOOKINS (Tree A)

Emma Selina HOOKINS (nee COBB) came from the Bath firm of COBBS renowned locally for their bread and cakes. She married Frederick John HOOKINS at Hay Hill Baptist Chapel in Bath in 1906 having originally been born in Swindon in 1879. They lived at Bloomfield Terrace in Wellow but at the end of their lives lived at Dilkusha, 1 Eckweek Road, Peasedown St John from where Fred ran his Building Decorating and Undertaking business. Emma outlived Fred by almost 18 years and died at the age of 95.

James HOOKINS (Misc Tree)

Another Hookins has been added to the Miscellaneous database in the absence of conclusive enough proof to place him with a family. I located James on the Parish Records Collection for Burials on the Findmypast website. He was buried at Brompton Ralph in Somerset on 22nd Oct 1870 and was just 8 months old when he died. Brompton Ralph are where my relatives came from and he seems to fit into a family which was in Brompton Ralph at the time. His birth fits in with the births of siblings and the father in that family was also a James. That family however is not yet linked to my Family Tree. The father of the father in this family - little James' grandfather - was a John and John's details so nearly match that of a John in Brompton Ralph who is on my Family Tree. But each John is married to someone with a different christian name and the birth dates in the two families overlap - even though annoyingly some have the same names but different birth dates! - so in the absence of John leading a double life inside his own village with two Hookins wives (unlikely isn't it?) I have nothing to link them yet. Don't you think like me that they must be connected somewhere along the line?

Albert Edward HOOKINS (Tree A)

In 1946 Albert Edward (Bert) HOOKINS started a lubricant firm in Bampton Devon. At that stage apparently a gallon of tractor oil cost just 3 shillings 6 pence. He gradually grew the business supplying many agricultural clients over a wide area until such time as he became the largest distributor of Elf Oil lubricants in the country.
By 1946 he had completed 50 years in the business and was presented with a special 50th anniversary decanter set by the local MP Angela Browning.
Eventually the firm was sold to a major company obviously keen to remove such a formidable competitor as Bert's firm

Frederick Charles HOOKINS (Tree A)

A final series of pictures from the war-time service of Frederick Charles HOOKINS. Fred was in the Faroe Islands for part of the war although all of the pictures do not seem to be from there. If the limited scenery gives anyone any clues it would be helpful and appreciated.

Another HOOKINS and another Family

It isn't just the research done personally that brings results. Over the years I have had contact the a large number of people who bear or who have borne the HOOKINS name in the past or have connections to it. Because of the numbers involved many of these are reduced to the annual Christmas card with our newsletter updating them all on our news. Many reciprocate with their own newsletters or snippets they have discovered about HOOKINS people. One such note came last Christmas and notified me of a marriage which had taken place last year. I had suspected that it had but had received no confirmation until then. So it gave me one more person (the bride) for that Tree and for the database as well as them being a new family unit. That brings the total individuals on the database to 1514 and the number of families to 395. Quite often these snippets of information can start further investigations, suddenly link individuals or families together so if you find any HOOKINS people or events surrounding them I will be glad to hear of them.
Bob

John & Henrietta Jemima HOOKINS (Tree 2D)

John and Henrietta Jemima HOOKINS have been languishing as a married couple in the Miscellaneous database as I haven't been able to confirm the link between John and his father. That has now been rectified thanks to John's entry in the 1851 Census where he is living with Henrietta at Brow Cottage, Devizes as a 50 year old solicitor with 3 servants - 1 man and 2 women and both the latter were born in France. More importantly his birthplace is shown as Yeovil which links him with the son of another John HOOKINS who was christened in Yeovil. John (Junior) was also married in the church which covers the same Parish in which his mother died in 1840 in Southampton. The couple eventually moved to Bath - coincidentally where my immediate family came from although I can't see a connection as I am not currently aware of any children from this marriage. After John had died Henrietta seems to have continued to live comfortably because in 1871 she had a Lady's maid, Parlour Maid, a Cook and a Helper in Housework living at her property at Invermay, Bathampton where she died in 1889.

James & Mabel JEFFERIES (Tree A)

James and Mabel JEFFERIES were the maternal grandparents of Bob HOOKINS. Mabel is pictured above left with two of her daughters, Eunice (on the right) and Hilda Lucy Florence later to be HOOKINS the mother of Bob, Patsy and Joan. On the right James and Mabel are pictured with Hilda probably in 1916. Hilda was born in Weymouth during the first World War but the family home was in Bitton, between Bristol and Bath.