Frank Woollatt HOOKINS (Tree A)

80 Andover Street

Frank Woollatt HOOKINS was born on 31 December 1882, the 3rd of 4 children born to John Lyddon HOOKINS, a Minister with the Methodist Church, and his wife Sallie Sophia (nee WOOLLATT).

His birthplace was 80 Andover Street, Brightside in Sheffield.

2 years later however Frank's mother died, possibly as a result of the birth of her 4th child. A further 2 years down the line his father John re-married, this time to Sarah Charnock LUMB. 

By the time of the 1891 Census the family was somewhat fragmented. Father John was lodging with a dental surgeon in Kingston-Upon-Hull, presumably having moved to a different area with the Methodist Church. Frank's step mother Sarah was lodging in Darlington with Frank's eldest sister and his younger step-brother. Another sister was visiting in Helston, whilst Frank aged 8 and his younger brother aged 6 were in Newcastle upon Tyne living as HOOKING with a General Servant and a Nurse Maid at 20 Oxford Street.

21 Prospect Place

Family normality had been resumed in 1891 and the family were back together at 54 Carr Lane, Kingston upon Hull with the exception of Frank who was at 21 Prospect Place in Ashton-under Lyne working as a Warehouse Apprentice in a Glove Department.

In 1910 Frank married Emily May BULLEN in Ashton and the following year they were together at Brooklyn, Wood Moor Lane, Davenport in Stockport living with one servant. Frank is designated as a Commercial Traveller. In 1913 their first child Joan Adelaide was born in Stockport, followed in 1919 by a son Frank Bryan who was born in Helen Bay, Newtownards in Northern Ireland with father Frank still being a Commercial Traveller.

In the 1939 Register Frank and Emily are living at The Croft, Wrigleys Lane in Formby with daughter Joan.

Frank was unfortunately bedridden for the last 10 years of his life. He died on 24 March 1958 when he was living at Oakmead, Horsham Road, Beare Green, Dorking still recorded as being a Commercial Traveller.

Frank had only one employer for the whole of his life which was S & J Watts of Manchester, a very large and prosperous Haberdasher & Linen Wholesaler.

Watts Warehouse Manchester

Watts Warehouse

At its peak, Manchester's cotton industry controlled 65% of the world's trade, amounting to nearly a billion tonnes per year.  Although cotton manufacture only accounted for 18% of the work force (most manufacturing went on in the surrounding Lancashire towns) Manchester grew to become the commercial centre of the trade.  The dominant building was the warehouse for the display of finished goods.  Merchants competed with each other in the opulence of the buildings, employing some of the most famous architects in the country.  The Italian Palazzo style became dominant and the best example is the vast warehouse of S & J Watts, completed in 1856 (Travis & Magnall). The general outline resembles the Fondaco dei Turchi in Venice and each of its six floors is given a different style, ranging from Egyptian, through Italian and French Renaissance to Elizabethan, culminating with four great roof towers lit by rose windows.  A journalist of Freelance magazine commented in 1867, "I am not naturally of a sceptical or suspicious cast of mind. I have eaten sausages and kidney pudding without asking questions but when I was told that this was only a warehouse I felt that it was necessary to draw the line of credulity somewhere".  By a miracle it survived the Manchester blitz of December 1940, when the company's small force of fire fighters, led by Wilf Beckett, fought with sheets and blankets after the water supply failed.  It once more took direct hits in 1941 but Beckett and his band once again saved the day. He was later honoured at Buckingham Palace.  It was converted to the Britannia Hotel in 1980.

Ernest James HOOKINS (Tree G)

Ernest James HOOKINS was born on 26th August 1887 at 3 Bath Road in Mitcham but the address no longer seems to exist. He was the 6th of 11 children born to George HOOKINS and his wife Caroline (nee TRASH).

In the 1891 Census George was living as HOSKING at Bath Road with his parents + 5 of his siblings + his maternal grandfather and a lodger. In the 1901 Census the family is indexed as HOSKIN and are living at 6 Bath Road where Ernest is with his parents + 7 siblings and his maternal grandfather. However by 1911 Caroline had been widowed, but was still living at No 6 with Ernest and his 5 siblings, and Ernest's occupation was described as Grave Digger.

Two years later Ernest married Mary Ann BULL in Croydon and children were born to them in 1914 (Ernest James) and 1916 (Mary A).

Ernest enlisted in the Army Service Corps (K Company) on 4 January 1917 in Kingston when his address was still recorded as 6 Bath Road. His occupation at that time was a Packer and the Service No. allocated to him was 26088. A record has also been found of an Ernest J HOOKINS who was entitled to a Victory Medal 1919 and whose Regimental No was T/254810.

In 1923 the couple's 3rd child, Charles, was born, but, on 27 April 1929, Ernest's wife Mary Ann died and was buried in Church Road Cemetery in Merton.

St Mary's Walton-on-Thames

Ernest was left with 2 teenage children and the younger one born only 6 years before, but on 18 October 1930 he re-married, this time to Sarah Mary BROOKER at St Mary's Church Walton-on-Thames. At that time Ernest was a Packer in a Varnishing Works.

The couple had a son, Neville James, who was born on 11 October 1931 but sadly Ernest himself died on 18 August just 3 years later.

Ernest James HOOKINS

Emma Rebecca HOOKINS (Tree 2H)

Another Emma HOOKINS - this one born as Emma Rebecca FROST on 29 June 1872 to parents Robert Benjamin and Charlotte FROST.
She appears in her first Census in 1881 when she was living at 11 St Georges Mews in St Pancras with her parents and 3 younger siblings. By 1891 those siblings were now numbered at 4 and the family were at 5 Erskine Mews, St John in Hampstead.
Emma married George Joseph HOOKINS on 3 August 1896 at St Mary the Virgin Church which is believed to be in Hampstead - the marriage certificate copy I have is not easy to decipher. In May of the following year their first child, Ethel Ada Annie was born in Lonesome, Mitcham with Eva Florence Charlotte joining her 3 years later when born at 3 Rupert Terrace, London  Road in Mitcham.
In the 1901 Census Emma is recorded as Emily and living with her husband and 2 children at 5 Smith Terrace, St Peter & St Paul, Mitcham. Living next door was George's widowed mother and 3 of his siblings.

The 1911 Census brought yet another incorrect name transcription as the family name is recorded as HACKINS but Emma and George are at St Mawes Cottages, Fernlea Road in Mitcham with their 2 daughters and also a cou
ple of boarders.
George died on 3 August 1939 at the age of 70 so the 1939 Register shows Emma living as a widow at 42 Fernlea Road in Mitcham along with the widowed Amelia FROST and a lodger.
Emma was 75 years old when she died on 7 February 1948 and five days later she was buried in the Victoria/London Road Cemetery in Mitcham.

Emma HOOKINS (Tree 4A)

Emma was born between 1852 and 1855. The date is unclear at present due to variant spellings of her surname. She was born in St James Westminster and her father was known to be John CANE and her mother Anne.
In the 1861 Census Emma was aged 6 and was living with her parents and 2 siblings at Noel Street in Westminster. Ten years later in the 1871 Census she is at her parents' home at 31 Stanley Street in St Georges Hanover Square where there were also 3 other siblings + 3 visitors and Emma's own 3 month old daughter, also called Emma. In the same month as the Census took place Emma married William HOOKINS at Eccleston Square Chapel in St Georges Hanover Square where Harriet, one of Emma's sisters was a witness.
At the end of the following year Emma's second daughter, Kate Emmeline, was born at 107 Stanley Street, followed by William Edward who was born there in 1875, Louisa Ann in 1877 and Florence Harriet in 1879.
By the time of the 1881 Census only Louisa was missing from the family as she was with her maternal grandparents at 14 Winch Street. The remainder of her family were together at 57 Motley Street in Battersea and Eliza, one of William's sisters, was also there.
Child No. 6, Walter Sidney, was born at 510 Wandsworth Road in Clapham at the end of that year, followed by Albert Frederick in 1884 at 150 Heath Road, Clapham, but by the time of Daisy Beatrice's birth in 1886 the family had moved to Gillingham in Kent at 9 Duncan Terrace. Ellen Mabel (1888) and Sidney Arthur (1889) were also born in Kent in an area of Gillingham called Brompton. Percy George came along at the beginning of 1891, born in the same house as his sister Daisy was born 5 years previously!
By 1891 the family were at 9 Station Road in Gillingham, although Kate was a servant at 631 Wandsworth Road back in Clapham and young Emma was also in Clapham with her married paternal aunt Louise TOURNER and family.
In the 1901 Census the family is indexed as HOSKINS and were living at the London, Chatham & Dover Railway Station in the High Street in Rochester. Three more of the family were no longer with them. Florence had apparently died in 1898, William had married the following year, and the whereabouts of Louisa is unknown although she does appear in the next Census.
Emma's husband, William, was then to die in 1907 shortly before his 61st birthday and in 1911 the widowed Emma was living at 377 High Street in Rochester with her two youngest, Percy and Sidney, Daisy, the returning Louisa and a servant.
Emma herself died at the age of 70 in 1921 having borne 11 children and moved to countless addresses.

Emma HOOKINS (Tree 2L)

Emma belongs to one of the much smaller Trees in the HOOKINS collection which consists of only 17 people but which has so far resisted attempts to be conclusively joined to another larger Tree.
She was born on 20 May 1840, the daughter of Mark and Sarah PESKETT, and was baptised at St Peter & St Paul Church in Croydon (a venue used for a number of HOOKINS baptisms and burials over the years) on 14 Jun 1840.
At the time of the 1851 Census she was living in West Side, Mitcham with her parents and 5 siblings. By 1861 the family was living on the High Street in Mitcham. Emma's father was there together with Emma's married brother, wife and 2 children. Mother Sarah was not, however, present although Emma's father is not described as a Widower and a quick search of deaths does not show that Sarah had died.
Emma married James HOOKINS on 1 October 1865 at Croydon Parish Church although her first child, Emma Mary, had been born in 1863 as PESKETT. Other children followed: William in 1865 and Mary Ann in 1869 and, by 1871, the whole family were living together at 3 Smiths Place, Mitcham by which time Emma Mary was using the HOOKINS name.
The next 10 years produced 3 more children: Elizabeth in 1873, Louisa Jane in 1875 and James Henry in 1880. By 1881 the family, with the exception of eldest daughter Emma Mary, were living at Crews Alley in Mitcham, and mother Emma was registered partially blind. Unfortunately her youngest son James died later that same year at the age of just 1 year.
By 1891 the remainder of the family had moved to 1 The Terrace in Mitcham but, by 1901, only Elizabeth remains at home. Emma's husband James died in 1904 and in the 1911 Census, Emma, now totally blind, is living with Elizabeth at 1 Grove Road. She is also recorded as having had 7 children so it seems that one had been born and then died between Census returns and is not yet in my records of the family.
Emma died on 28 April 1918 at Grove Road and was buried in the same cemetery as her husband at Church Road in Merton.

Ellen Jane HOOKINS (Tree M)

Ellen Jane is one of those people whom I have had difficulty in keeping a track of. She is elusive in some Census records, has interchanged the usage of her Christian names, and has called herself HOOKINS at one point when she clearly wasn't!
She was born in the September quarter of 1867 at St James, Tregony near Truro and christened in the village church of St Cuby with Tregony. Her father was Reginald Hewis SNELL and her mother Elizabeth. She appears in the 1871 Census where the family name has been recorded as SUELL and surprisingly during her 4 years of life she is shown to be already 6 years old! She is living with her parents and 4 siblings - 1 older and 3 younger - at 46 Fore Street, Tregony. I am however unable to locate the family so far in the 1881 Census.
In the June quarter of 1885 Ellen married Joseph KNOWLES in the St Austell Registration District and by the time of the 1891 Census she is living as Jane with her husband, who was a Tanner, and 2 children - Philip 5 and William H 3. Their address was at Bosillion Road, Grampound. Here she is recorded as being 23 years of age which now coincides with her birth year.
By the time of the next Census 10 years later, Ellen, now called Jane, is recorded as being just 9 years older at 32, has taken the HOOKINS name although not yet married to 43 year old James HOOKINS, and they are living at 1 Willow Plot in Plymouth along with Lucy, aged 6, William, aged 5, James, aged 1 and Helmit, aged 14, who is the William H recorded in the previous Census when she was still with Joseph. Further investigation reveals that Lucy has both the HOOKINS and KNOWLES name against her birth registration, William had been born in Stonehouse in in 1896 (and is sometimes known by his 2nd name Reginald! - Ellen had also signed the birth registration as J HOOKINGS when she registered him as Reginald William!), James Timothy had been born in 1900 at 1 Willow Plot, and Helmit was born as William Elmot KNOWLES in 1888. All of them however are recorded as HOOKINS for the Census. Ellen Jane's other son Philip was with his grandfather at this stage. It also transpires that James and Ellen had another child James who was born in 1898 and died the same year.
The following year on 5th July 1902 she legally became HOOKINS at Devonport Register Office. She was married in the name of KNOWLES although her father's name was erroneously entered as Reginald KNOWLES instead of SNELL!
On 24th October 1903 their first legitimate child, James, was born at 2 Willow Plot, so they must have moved next door as other children, Harry (Henry) and Violet Mabel were subsequently born there in 1905 and 1907 respectively although Violet was sadly due to die the year after her birth in 1908.
In 1911 the Census lists Ellen Jane as Janey and she is living at 1 Cambridge Street, Plymouth with husband James and Henry, John and Philip but later that year Ellen Jane died. This left widower James with Henry (5), Reginald (16), James (11), John (8) and Philip (25). Helmit had already married by 1911 and was again using the KNOWLES surname.
James married again early in 1914 to Elizabeth Ann DWYER whose 42 year old husband had died in 1908. He had been a Plumber in the Royal Navy and, at the time of the 1901 Census they had 4 children aged between 4 and 14. James had been a Private in the Royal Marines and it was quite possible that the 2 families knew each other quite well.
So Ellen/Jane/Janey SNELL/SUELL/KNOWLES/HOOKINGS/HOOKINS was quite a challenge although some issues still remain unresolved as yet.

Eliza HOOKINS (Tree A)

Eliza HOOKINS was my paternal great, great grandmother and was born as Elizabeth SANDY in 1829 to parents William and Mary SANDY. She was baptised in St John the Baptist Church in Pawlett, Somerset.

In the 1841 Census she was living with her parents, one older, and three younger siblings in Pawlett where her father was a Thatcher. Ten years later in 1851 the family was still in Pawlett and Eliza was there with her parents and three younger siblings, two of whom had been born since the previous Census.

In the September quarter of 1854 she married Samuel HOOKINS who also presumably lived in Pawlett as the wedding Banns were read there. It turns out that a child had been born earlier that same year who took Eliza's surname of SANDY. His name was James and he was baptised the following year in the same church as his parents' marriage although his surname is recorded as HOOKINGS.

My great grandfather, William, was born in 1857 followed by Mary Ann in 1858 and Walter in 1859, all in Pawlett, and in the 1861 Census the complete family were together in the same village.

By the 1871 Census Anna Maria (1862), Elizabeth (1863), Fanny (1864), Jesse (1867) and Frederick Edward (1868) had all been born. However tragedy had hit the family before the Census took place as Eliza's husband Samuel died on 13 February 1870 at a time when Eliza was already pregnant with their 10th child. The cause of death for Samuel was from a lung inflammation possibly as a result of his work as a brickyard labourer with the brick dust often affecting the unprotected workforce.
Eliza's 10th child was appropriately named Samuel after her husband and was born later that same year, so in the Census Eliza was living in Pawlett as a widow with 9 of her children, her eldest having left home for work as an indoor servant at a local farm.

In that same Census a Frederick SHUTE was living as a boarder with Eliza CROSSMAN apparently next door to Eliza as it was the previous entry on the Census form. The entry before that was South Farm where Eliza's son James was working so he was in close proximity to the family.

1874 was another black year for Eliza as 3 of her children died - Elizabeth at 11, Frederick at 5, and her husband's namesake and youngest child Samuel at 4. It seems quite likely that next door neighbour Frederick SHUTE was of particular help to Eliza and her family after her husband's death and the loss of her children, because in 1877 they married.

By the time of the 1881 Census Frederick and Eliza were therefore living together with just one of Eliza's surviving children - her youngest Jesse. Walter had moved to a brickworks in South Wales, William had married and sister Fanny was living with him and his wife and Mother-in-Law. Mary appears to have married too.

Puriton Road Cottages, Pawlett

Before the 1891 Census came along, two more children, Fanny and her first-born James had died, leaving Eliza with just 5 of her 10 children living. Frederick SHUTE was then living at Puriton Road, Pawlett next door to William and his family. Eliza's details appear below those of husband Frederick as his wife but unfortunately the Census Enumerator omitted to include her name on the form!! - so of course she will not appear on any Census index!  Their neighbour on the other side was a 46 year old Jesse SANDY and his wife, possibly a younger sibling of Eliza, and the occupants of this row of houses therefore seem to have been related. These houses are still occupied and the HOOKINS family is remembered in one of them in the form of a brick which came form the local brickworks being incorporated in improvements carried out there, as well as a time capsule being buried including the HOOKINS Family Tree.

In 1901 Frederick and Eliza's address is shown as 2 Barton Cottages in Pawlett. The following year Frederick died and was buried in Pawlett Churchyard. At the end of 1903 Eliza also passed away.

Edwin Alfred HOOKINS (Tree D)

Edwin Alfred HOOKINS was the son of John and Charlotte HOOKINS and his mother's biography was listed on the blog in October last year. Edwin was born on 27 February 1863 at 123 Grove Street in Camden Town and was the youngest of the 5 children.
Eight years later in the 1871 Census where he and his family are indexed as HORKINS (!!), he was living at Caroline Place in Pancras with his parents and 2 siblings. One other sibling is thought to have died before Edwin was born.
By 1881 he was at 20 Caroline Street in St Pancras with his parents + his married sister Charlotte and her daughter. His occupation at his stage was a Van Guard.

Bayham Street, Camden Town

In 1885, indexed as HOSKINS, he married Jessie JEFFERY in Pancras and at the beginning of the following year their first child, Jessie Charlotte was born at Bayham Street in Camden Town.

50 Camden Street, Camden Town

Their second child, Edwin John, was born at 36 Preston Street, Kentish Town, followed by Jeffery Charles in 1889 at 50 Camden Street, Camden Town which is situated only one street away from where Jessie Charlotte was born. Edwin Alfred still had the same job as Carman. Unfortunately young Jessie Charlotte, at 4 years of age, was to die the following year.




By 1891 Edwin Alfred was living at 25 Caroline Street, Camden Town with his wife and Edwin and Jeffery and in October of that year John Henry was born at that address, followed by William Carl in September 1895 at 37 Caroline Street, Ellen Elizabeth in 1898 in Camden Town and Harry Frederick in Tottenham in 1900.

31 Elizabeth Road, Tottenham

In the 1901 Census there was an error by the Census Enumerator who, instead of entering the HOOKINS surname on the Census form for the Head of the Household, inserted ditto marks. Consequently the whole of this family was indexed under the name of the next door neighbour listed above them who was MUNN - not the first name you think of when you're trying to find a HOOKINS family!! But indeed Edwin and Jessie were there at 31 Elizabeth Road in Tottenham with all of their 6 surviving children and Edwin was listed as a Bus Horse Keeper.

26 Elizabeth Road, Tottenham

By 1911 all the family had moved down the road to number 26 - they did move around a lot this family! - although John, who would have been 19 by this stage, was not with the family and his whereabouts at that time to date are unknown.
However the family seems to have stayed put after that as Edwin Alfred died there on 28 February 1925. Jessie was to following him in 1932 when she died at the Middlesex Hospital in Tottenham on 31 January.

Edith Anna HOOKINS (Tree 3Q)

Shelton Place, Heavitree, Exeter

Edith Anna HOOKINS was born 18 December 1853 at Shelton Place, Heavitree, Exeter. She was the eldest of five children born to Henry Lethbridge HOOKINS and his wife Mary Ann Brand HOOKINS (formerly COCKERAM).

3 Lower Summerlands, Exeter

By the time of the 1861 Census two other siblings, both brothers, had arrived and the family were living at 3 Lower Summerlands in Exeter.

12 Mont le Grand, Heavitree, Exeter

By 1871 the 17 year old Edith had been without her mother for 2 years as she had died at the age of 40 at 12 Mont le Grand, Heavitree, Exeter where the family were still living and which now in addition included a 10 year old brother and 6 year old sister. They were probably the reason why also at the house was Margaret COCKERAM, the sister of Edith's mother, as the other two brothers were no longer at home.



By 1881 just Edith remained at home with her youngest sister, their father and their aunt. Home was now Belvoir House in Alphington, Exeter and Edith is described as a 25 year old Governess possibly supporting her father who was a Classical Tutor.
By 1891 the family had decamped to London and were living at Loretto House in Hornsey Lane in Islington but had also now been joined by Edith's maternal grandmother Sarah COCKERAM and four teenage students and two servants were also present at the property. Both 30 year old Edith and her 24 year old sister have "School" as their occupation so they were probably involved in some capacity with the running of the establishment as a young governess was also employed to look after the students and she also had the same occupational title. Interestingly the four students had quite widespread birthplaces in Monmouthshire, Yorkshire and two from Devon. Edith's father is recorded as being a Classical and Mathematics Tutor.
In 1899 Edith's father died at Loretto House and it was Edith's responsibility to register his death although she omitted to record his second Christian name.

Christ's Hospital School, West Horsham

I have not yet discovered where Edith was in 1901 but by 1911 she had become a School Matron at Christ's Hospital School in West Horsham which had originally been a school in London (until 1902) and which was the name of the school where one of her brothers had been a pupil when he was absent from the family home in the 1871 Census. Currently the school is rated as excellent by the Independent Schools Inspectorate and gives an impressive impression on its website.

67 Loughborough Park, Brixton

Edith died on 6 February 1932 of bronchial pneumonia at 67 Loughborough Park, Brixton at the age of 80 although her name was recorded as Edith Ann. She s recorded as a Spinster and former School Matron.