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Henry - a real thorn in my side!

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  • Henry - a real thorn in my side!

    Hi Folks,

    This guy is driving me crackers! My G-G-grandfather, Henry Hitchcock, is a bit of a mystery. I have him on all the censuses, his marriage cert, his death cert, and a brief birth on the IGI (which I know is not infallible!). He is down as having been born circa 1837 in Ockbrook, Derbyshire, his marriage to Matilda Burns was in 1859, and one of his sons - Dawson James Hitchcock - was born in 1859. On Henry's marr cert to Matilda it states his father was James Hitchcock (also of Ockbrook) who died in 1873. I have got every conceivable cert you would wish, but for some reason I cannot find his baptism (although the rest of his siblings are on the IGI).

    I have come across a scratty piece of paper where I jotted down that there are NO baptisms for a Henry Hitchcock in either Ockbrook or St. Alkmunds (Derby) between 1830 to 1845. All other Ockbrook baptisms have been confirmed - the parents being James and Mary Hitchcock. I think somebody must have looked this up for me many moons ago, so I am still greatly bothered as to why there is no baptism for Henry. Would it be possible that James and Mary just didn't bother to baptise him, or worse - are his parents somebody else? I have even trawled through looking for a baptism for a Henry Stevens (which was the maiden name of Mary) to no avail.

    Any ideas as to where I can go from here, please? It's doing my head in......

    Chris

  • #2
    Sorry Chris I cant help as Im in exactly the same position with my gg grandfather John Owens.
    He was the 1st born in 1855 and I have bought every cert that looked anywhere near lol. His 9 brothers and sisters were all registered so why wasnt he? I drove Wigan RO potty but they were great and one registrar said it broke her week up lol..

    Good luck with your search..




    ]

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    • #3
      Thanks Light! - it's nice to know that there is somebody else in the same situation! The thing that bugs me is that (as far as I know) he never set foot outside Ockbrook in his entire life! The worrying nag is that there were literally hundreds of 'Hitchcock's' in that village, and it wouldn't surprise me if there wasn't a good bit of 'interbreeding' going on in them thar days, moidear!

      Chris

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      • #4
        Chris

        I have got a few instances in my family of the eldest child in a family being taken to his mother's birthplace parish for baptism.

        Alternatively, it might be that he was baptised privately at home - maybe because he wasn't expected to live - and this event wasn't written up in the parish register.
        ~ with love from Little Nell~
        Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Little Nell View Post
          Chris

          I have got a few instances in my family of the eldest child in a family being taken to his mother's birthplace parish for baptism.

          Alternatively, it might be that he was baptised privately at home - maybe because he wasn't expected to live - and this event wasn't written up in the parish register.
          Nell - I guess that's quite feasible that he was baptised at home. However, all Henry's siblings were baptised at Ockbrook, as was his parents James and Mary. Henry was the youngest of the nine kids that James and Mary had - maybe they just got fed-up of trooping to the church on a yearly basis for yet another baptism LOL!

          Chris

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          • #6
            So he would be the youngest child of James and Mary if he is their son?

            Always dodgy when there are older sisters around (like Hannah in this case, for instance) who might have been the mother, but the child is brought up to believe (truthfully or otherwise) that X and Y are his parents.

            I have lost count of the number of "last babies" who are not baptised.......probably the parents had lost interest! But in this case it could be because the child was illegitimate, I suppose........I don't know how you would prove it either way, but I bet if James and Mary are not his parents, then they are his grandparents! Do you know if Hannah ever married?

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Merry Monty Montgomery View Post
              So he would be the youngest child of James and Mary if he is their son?

              Always dodgy when there are older sisters around (like Hannah in this case, for instance) who might have been the mother, but the child is brought up to believe (truthfully or otherwise) that X and Y are his parents.

              I have lost count of the number of "last babies" who are not baptised.......probably the parents had lost interest! But in this case it could be because the child was illegitimate, I suppose........I don't know how you would prove it either way, but I bet if James and Mary are not his parents, then they are his grandparents! Do you know if Hannah ever married?

              Merry - I take it you are referring to Hannah, Henry's so-believed sister? If so, thereby lies another conundrum!

              Chris

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              • #8
                O course it's perfectly feasible that Hannah IS Henry's mother, perhaps, as she would have been around 18 years of age at the time of his birth. However, Hannah did go on and have three illegitimate sons of her own - John (b. 1842), Amos (b. 1844) and Silas (b. 1846). All these three were baptised. It still begs the question, irrespective of parentage, why there is no record of Henry's baptism, eh?

                My 85 year old mother is having the vapours at all these shenanegans in bygone days..........:D

                Chris

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                • #9
                  Sorry

                  I misread your thread and thought Henry was eldest. Are there any other candidates to be alternative mother, apart from Hannah? And if Hannah was his mother, maybe she had him baptised in another parish but was less embarrased with her other children - was there a change of vicar?

                  My 83-year-old mother isn't fazed by any shennanegans - she thinks human beings behave much as they always have done and that its an illusion that everyone was respectable years ago.
                  ~ with love from Little Nell~
                  Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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                  • #10
                    Myself, and a few distant Hitchcock relatives are hoping to meet in and around Derby/Ockbrook in three weeks' time for a pow-wow and to exchange information. Ockbrook itself looks to be a fascinating place, especially as it was one of only two Moravian Settlements in England at the time I'm interested in i.e. 1800-1900.

                    I am hoping to perhaps see a few headstones in the church cemetary, if they still exist, but am wondering if it would be at all possible to see any original parish records? I am not expecting to waltz in the church and browse their records, but am anxious to go about contacting the right persons to see if it is at all possible. I would dearly love to explore the interior of the church, and hopefully get some photos, but would obviously like to get permission first. Does anyone know how you go about this please?

                    Chris

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                    • #11
                      Oooh, I didn't realise all those other grandkids were Hannah's! lol

                      Maybe she was embarrassed only by the first one?!! lol

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                      • #12
                        The original PR's will be at the County Record office not at the church (except the most recent ones)

                        If you google and find a website for the church they will often say when the church is open.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Merry Monty Montgomery View Post
                          The original PR's will be at the County Record office not at the church (except the most recent ones)

                          If you google and find a website for the church they will often say when the church is open.
                          Thanks Merry - pretty much what I thought would be the case. Still, I shall try and contact the vicar to see if perhaps he can unlock the key and allow us 'Hitchcock Herd' to have a careful nosey about. Might just be some memorials on the walls, plaques etc.

                          Chris

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                          • #14
                            Nell - Hannah was the only daughter of James Hitchcock and Mary Stevens, but she did have 7 brothers! Tracked the whole of this family down, including all the IGI baptisms for her brothers (which I know is not 100% reliable), with the exception of Henry. I have obviously sourced the fact that Henry wasn't baptised in Ockbrook (I think from the Derby RO) but I have got all the other certs for Henry - marriage, death, spouse's death, and son Dawson James Hitchcock's birth, marr and death etc. I guess I am just being pedantic, but I would hate to go back further and get Henry's parentage wrong. Everything else fits perfectly............:(

                            Chris

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