Well, my new contact, Sam, has been most generous and informative and I will gradually add the information she has given to me to the website.  As it turns out, we are related –  her grandfather and mine were brothers. 

We have both come to a dead end (if you’ll pardon the pun) when it comes to Robert Hooker (husband of Elizabeth Cleaver).  We cannot find an entry for his birth or his parents.  In the 1841 census there are numerous Hooker families living in London, with names like William, James and George being very common. The name Robert  crops up often enough in later generations for it to have been a family name,  so there is a trace of him, a signpost if you like, leading back – we just have to look  in the right direction!

I’ll let you know if/when we get there!  Meanwhile, many thanks to Sam for all her help!