George HOOKINS (Tree G)

George HOOKINS was born on 27 October 1853 at the Union Workhouse in Croydon

Union Workhouse Croydon

His mother was Caroline HOOKINS who was a single girl in her early 20s and who 2 years previously had been employed as a Laundress. No father is recorded on George's birth certificate.

By 1861 Caroline was living with her widowed mother in Palestine Grove in Mitcham. Here George is recorded as the son of the Head of the Household which is Caroline's mother but his birth certificate confirms that his mother is Caroline herself although his age is only 5 years different from Caroline's brother, Frederick, an uncle therefore of George.

In 1863 George's mother married John COLLINS but, after the births of a son and a daughter, John unfortunately died. So, by the time of the 1871 Census, George, described as a Labourer, was living as COLLINS with his widowed mother and his step-brother and step-sister at Church Buildings in Mitcham.

In February 1874 George (as HOOKINS) married Caroline TRASH at Merton Parish Church. Her father was quoted as being George TRASH which was the name of the man who was to marry George's mother Caroline. So Caroline TRASH became HOOKINS and the former Caroline HOOKINS became a TRASH. It also turns out that George TRASH also had a son George so between them George and Caroline are causing a lot of confusion here!!

Later in 1874 George and Caroline HOOKINS celebrated the arrival of the first of their eventual 11 children who was a daughter called Florence. She was followed in 1877 by Alice and in 1880 by (you've guessed it!) George who was given Edward as a second name. So by the 1881 Census the family of 5 were living at the home of George's mother and her husband George TRASH at Bath Road in Mitcham.

More children followed in 1882 (William Frederick), 1885 (Albert Henry), 1887 (Ernest James) and in 1891 (Rose) so by the Census of 1891 the family of 8 were living with George TRASH who is now a widower as Caroline had died the year before. Also with the family is the step-brother of George HOOKINS called John COLLINS from Caroline's first marriage. This Census record was very difficult to find as the Census indexers obviously had great difficulty in  transcribing the awful handwriting of the Census enumerator. George's wife was transcribed as Caro or Cars.

Alfred arrived in 1892, Frank in 1894, Louisa Caroline in 1897 and Daisy in 1900. So moving on to 1901 George HOOKINS Junior, Florence and maybe Alice too had married so just 8 children were left in the family home at Bath Road in Mitcham with Caroline being recorded as Clara and the family name HOOKIN. Caroline's father was still with them at the age of 83 and was to outlive George who died in 1903 before his burial at Church Road Cemetery in Merton. George TRASH was to die in 1910.

Bath Road in Mitcham was to be regularly occupied for several generations onwards. I visited a HOOKINS family there myself some years ago.