Family matters.

This family  – parents George Hutchings (1832-1898) &  Elizabeth Sarah Edwards(1840-?) – was one of the first I investigated when I started family history research about 10 years ago.  In those days it was difficult to access information and I was a novice, so research was slow and painstaking and results not always accurate (a bit of guessing went on I must admit).

I have often felt that I should relook at the work I did then and check it for accuracy – nowadays, so much more information is available online and many people share their family histories.  It was while looking at some of these that I have come across information (accuracy not yet confirmed) which has reinforced these feelings. so, back to George & Elizabeth….

First of all, they were not married.  I have found no record of a marriage , which backs up the information that my mother gave me – ie  – that they did not believe in marriage, but stayed together as a couple  for 40 plus years. The interesting bit comes when I look at the birth registrations of their children – the earlier ones were registered both as Hutchings and Edwards with both names appearing on birth certificates and in the GRO Birth Index.  The later children (including my grandfather Aaron) were registered only as Edwards and the father is not named on the birth certificates. 

This in itself, whilst peculiar, proves nothing.  However, my oldest sister Mary remembers talk of some scandal concerning the parentage of Aaron etc and reckons an Irish eel fisherman was involved somewhere along the line.  Moreover, my mother did once mention to my other sister Irene that there was an Irish connection in the family somewhere – she later denied this and I have found no evidence of it so far, but it makes me wonder.

I have checked this story out with our only cousin from this side ie Jeff Pobgee, who knew nothing about it –  but did coin some lovely advice which makes me giggle whenever I think of it  – ie  -“beware of Irishmen bearing eels”. 

However, given all the factors above, I think this bears further investigation, so I shall do the following-

1. check with Mary and Irene again about  their recollections

2. check with Jeff again to see if he has any family background info which may help

3. investigate each of the children involved to reconfirm details of birth, also their later histories – perhaps this story of the Irishman also exists in some descendants’ families

4. Look in censuses more closely to try to find itinerant Irish fishermen – certainly, the Hoo peninsula was home to many fishing vessels.

1. I have now identified the medals awarded to Grandad, so my job now is to put that information in a compact form – more on that later.

2. I tried again today to order Grandad’s service record online from the National Archives UK site, but had no success. When I tried to put in payment details I was warned (in big red letters) that I was already in the process of ordering the record or in the process of attempting to pay for it. It gave me no hint as to how I could clear the record and start again, so I gave up.  I have now asked Susan if she will do the job for me by going to Kew where the National Archives keep their records and accessing the record there.

Grandad (Robert James Hooker aka Robert William Hooker 1879 – 1956) earned his medals during his service in the Royal Marines.  He gave them to my father, who passed them on to his son Barry, who in turn gave them to our sister Irene.  She has lent them to me so that I may identify them and hopefully find out why, where and when they were issued.  I did start this job some time ago but, in a fit of tidying up, seem to have discarded whatever information I obtained.

So, it’s back to the drawing board – or rather, the computer.

Concurrently with this, I am attempting to find the service record of Grandad.  In theory, this is available to order online at the site of The National Archives UK – in fact, though I have located the record number and know what I want, I have been unable to overcome the concerted efforts of my bank to make my life difficult – in other words, I got caught in one of those programming loops from which the only escape is to turn the whole thing off and run screaming from the room.  However, I shall persevere!!

Basically, I have 2 jobs to do here –

1. find out about the medals

2. get hold of the service record.

When I have done that, I will put them on this blog.  Meanwhile, here (courtesy of David Furber) are some photos of the medals themselves.

ps – I realise that these thumbnail photos do not do justice either to the medals or the photographer – when I have found out more about the medals I will put full-size versions on the tribalpages website.

Clara Guy was my great-grandmother on my father’s side of the family.  She was born about 1862 (according to the 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses) at St. Pancras in London, England.  Her exact date of birth has been difficult to establish as I cannot find her birth registered in the General Record Office’s  Births Register.  I have sent away for 3 possible certificates so far  but none of them was her.

Her parents were Robert Capon Guy, born about1829 in Derbyshire and Mary Simpson, born 1826 in Naples, Italy (noted as being a British subject).

On 17th August, 1879 Clara married Robert Hooker (1858 – 1901) in the Parish Church at Islington, Middlesex. The marriage certificate does not give her age, just notes her as a minor.  Their address is given as 36 Camden Passage, Islington.

Clara & Robert had the following children –

1879 – Robert James (aka Robert William) – my grandfather

1883 – Ernest

1889 – Charles

1890 – Clara

1892 – Mary Ann

1894 – George

1896 – Elizabeth

1900 – Henry.

There may have been other children born who did not survive long enough to be noted in any of the censuses.

Clara’s husband died  in 1901 but she survived for almost another 30 years, and eventually died  on 31st December 1929 at Gravesend Kent.  Her son Charles was the informant on the death certifiicate.

My father’s sister Dorothy remembered Clara when my sister and I visited her (Auntie Doff) in 2006.  Apparently, she was not well-liked by the grandchildren when she came to look after them occasionally while their mother was indisposed (giving birth?).  Both Dorothy and my father, on separate occasions,  described the London relatives as “the scum of the earth” but I’m not sure why, I think it must have been something other than just a different standard of housekeeping.

Censuses –

1871 – Clara living with parents and siblings at 15 Wenham St, St Andrews Finsbury.

1881 – living with husband and 1 year old Robert at 4 Chapel St. St James Clerkenwell.

1891 – living with husband and 4 children at 16 Elliot Gardens, Islington.

1901 – living with husband and 5 children at 16 Elliot Gardens, Islington.

Things to find out –

1. correct birth details – look at other members of family to see if they were registered, perhaps all registered together at a later date?

2.  complete details of her other children

3.Add more detail re husband and parents to complete story for website

4. Read book on London to find evidence re life in these suburbs at that time.

I have decided to resurrect this blog and keep a sort of research diary which I know will make enthralling reading for my vast audience –  ha ha. It will also, I hope, help me to see at a glance where I am in my research endeavours.  I tend to be working on a number of projects at any given time, so it will help, I think, to outline exactly what I know about each individual and what I still need to find out – and to define exactly where I am in that process.  If this leads to anything vaguely interesting, I will publish it in the stories section of the  family history website  .  Stand by for excitement plus!!