Hankins of Herefordshire

[dalek39]

Thanks Jeeb...sorry to have confused you...unfortunately I too am confused...best to give you what I have...John Hankins born 1822..Bartestree..Herefordshire...John had brothers.. William....Richard ..and Edward...all born in Herefordshire.... Their parents were Richard Hankins..born 1772..Weston Beggard.. and Ann Hall..born 1780..married to Richard in 1809 Dormington...
Richards parents were William Hankins and Mary Daffy...married in 1755 Colwall.... I got the dates of Peggy and Anne off Family search..the mormons, and I have been told they are not always accurate with their dating...sorry if I have missled you on that.... Re William and Marys burial ..I have photos of their graves at Weston Beggard with their names and dates on them...given to me by a kind friend who took the photos while there...
I may be mixed up with all the Williams and Marys, cant get my head round it...
There is a sight with the Biddulph family and all their deeds and general information...quite a big family I see..and on there are records of William Hankins etc..so I can obtain these if I send off with moneys.....
I also have a copy of the will of both Richard Hankins and William Hankins of the Pidgeon House, and we have contacted the present owner to get further information, which he has sent to my cousin in England, who will forward it to me... when I receive these I will cintact you with what info is there...
There was a daughter of William, and I presume Mary...Elizabeth..who died 1791..age 17? this question mark is because the grave writing was illegible
The will of William Hankins states he left his neice Sarah Hall..the sum of one hundred pounds...and to his nephew..Richard Pitt..the same...and left most of his estate to his brother Richard...
I hope this clarifies this for you...and I do appreciate what you have done for me, and sorry for the confusion...

[jeeb]

Hi dalek39,
Ok, I have visited Weston Beggard & Colwall churches and I can now see (as I suspected) where your confusion is coming from. I have also met briefly the owner of the Pigeon House, unfortunately he was just going out so was not able to speak for long.

There are 4 different memorial stones to the Hankins family. Three of these are in the form of large tombs and the wording suggests they were a family of some standing.

The first 3 stones are clustered together near the entrance to the church. The first stone is easily read on the one side but the other side which could be described as a broken off slab is badly worn but what I have managed to decipher is very useful and clears up the confusion.
The badly worn side reads -
Underneath/ are deposited the remains of/ (William) Hankins/ who died ** ***** *****/ 1797 aged 77
Also Mary his wife/ who died April 17th 1798 aged 63
On the same stone is written-
Underneath are deposited the remains of William Hankins Esq late of the Pigeon House in this parish who departed this life on 5th Oct 1833 in the 65th year of his age.

Stone 2 has a clear inscription which reads-
Underneath lie the remains of Elizabeth Hankins. Beloved daughter of William & Mary Hankins who departed this life 14 July 1791 aged 17 years

There is also another badly worn inscription on this stone which I have managed to decipher, it reads-
In memory of Mary Hankins daughter of William and Mary Hankins. She died in her infancy. (no date is given)

Stone 3 In memory of Richard Hankins of Bartestry Court in this County. He died 11th October 1841 aged 68 years.
Anna Maria wife of Richard Hankins died 31 May 1824 aged 44

Stone 4 is situated away from the other 3 and reads-
In loving memory of Mary Catharine .The beloved wife of Richard Hankins of Newtown Yarkhill who died March 17th 1885 aged 58 years
also of the above Richard Hankins who died December 25th 1890 aged 71 years
also of their son John Edward Hankins interred at Birmingham aged 31years

The Chuch Warden of Colwall kindly let me look at an index of all births, marriages & deaths that took place in Colwall since records began. It was compiled by a vicar in 1926. Though there were several Daffey/Daffy entries there was no Mary baptised in or around 1735. There was only 2 Hankins (male) marriages there and you know of them both William 1755 & Caleb 1784. The only Hankins baptised in Colwall are Peggy 1756 & Anne 1757.

What can be deduced from all this is that William Hankins was born earlier than you suspected and not baptised in Colwall. His death year on the tombstone was badly worn but was either 1787 or 1797 and his age was definitely 77 which gives him a birth year around 1710/20. I suspect he came from Ledbury. The names Edward, William, John, Richard & Thomas Hankins of children baptised in early 18th century Ledbury. You need to find a Will for William Hankins dated either 1787 or 1797.

Jeremy

[dalek39]

Jeremy...what can I say...thank you so much you are a gem...you have gone out of your way for me...I appreciate this so much...The Will I have of William is dated 1834..so will try and get one with the dates you have given me... I think I can bring this all to a close now, as to go back further would be too hard, and being here makes it impossible....Once again...thank you so much...
(big smile) Dale K

[dalek39]

Dear Jeremy...just one thing..I have two William Hankins, both married a Daffy...one Mary..one Sarah... Sarah married William in 1756...Mary married William in 1755..Colwell... could they be related or the same person... this is confusing I know, sorry to put this on you..can you fathom it out ...

[jeeb]

Hi Dale,
It was a pleasure to help you out with this family. I know how frustrating it can be when you live so far away and need to rely upon people to look at gravestones etc. Weston Beggard is about 30 miles from where I live and Colwall about 15 so it was a pleasant drive on a nice sunny sunday to help you out.
Firstly I would not be so ready to draw a line under this family just yet, there must be more to discover? The tomb gravestones certainly suggest that this was a family of some repute and there will certainly be documentation about them, it just needs searching out! I would say that it will turn out that this branch of the family probably came from Ledbury. We need to know whether William was actually buried in 1789 or 1799 because we know his age at death was 77, this in turn will tell us his birth year. A Will or the parish register of Weston Beggard will confirm his date of death/burial.

With regards to a William Hankins marrying Mary & Sarah Daffy. You have not said where you found the marriage to Sarah Daffy in 1756 and where it took place. Anyway we know that William married Mary Daffy in Colwall in 1755 and all the evidence points to this being the couple in Weston Beggard and in that case Mary did not die until 1798 so the William who married a Sarah in 1756 must be a different person. I need to know where you got this information from as it could be taken from inaccurate data, a lot of which is about, especially on the IGI.

The William who died in 1833 was the son of William & Mary. He does not appear to have ever married thus he left everything to his nephew & niece, children of his sisters and to his brother Richard born 1772.

Jeremy

[jeeb]

Hi Dale,
I think I have sussed it out! It looks like Mary & Sarah Daffy were cousins.

Mary Daffy daughter of Aaron & Margaret Daffy baptised Ledbury 12 Jan 1735
Sarah Daffy daughter 0f Moses & Sarah baptised Munsley 31 Jan 1731

Mary Daffy is highly likely to be the one who married William Hankins in Colwall. Her death age gives a 1735 birth year. Note the first born child named Peggy is a derivation of the name Margaret (her mother) It is also likely that the two William Hankins who married Mary & Sarah Daffy are cousins.
There is a John Daffy in Colwall baptising several children in 1730s including a Moses & Aaron. This is where the Colwall connection comes in. I hope you can follow that!

Jeremy

[jeeb]

Hi Dale,
Aaron Daffey was baptised in April 1707 at Colwall, he was the son of Moses & Margaret Daffey. Moses & Margaret Daffey also baptised John 1692, Anne 1694 & Hannah 1698 at Colwall. I can't find them having a Moses but it is likely they did, probably in the 9 year gap between Hannah & Aaron. However Aaron becomes the father of your Mary Daffy baptised in Ledbury in 1735.
Moses (the probable son of Moses & Margaret Daffey and brother of Aaron)& his wife Sarah Daffey baptise a daughter Sarah in Munsley in 1731, she is the one who later marries a William Hankins in 1756 at Munsley. This William Hankins is mentioned in the Will of Richard Hankins late of London in 1785 who states William has a son William. This Richard Hankins was a man of great wealth and left property in several places around the country including Ledbury & Munsley. He was buried in Hereford Catherdal.

Jeremy

[dalek39]

Jeeb...you are not an ordinary "gem" you are a diamond...I cant believe you have done all this for me...words of thanks don't seem enough...anyway...I will take this all in, and wont close this post now...its like a good book... I thought this family were important in the area.. I have got some dates from New Family Search...which requires a password.. This I got from going to the mormons centre some time ago...I realise the mormons are not that accutate with dates...but it was all I had at the time....I will have to look up the other sourse of information and get back to you, cant remember it off my head right now, but I think it was some index...If I remember right I think Sarah Daffy was married in Calwall also...will check...my head is spinning right now..take care...I cant wipe the grin off my face...thanks....

[dalek39]

Those sites you wanted Jeremy...The one I got the info for the marriages I just typed in William Hankins and Mary Daffy of Herefordshire on the Google web site, and went to the one..This file is extremely large...up comes a list of marriages ....
and..Englands past for everyone...... Hereford Family History Society..... I also saw another version of the name Hankins was Hawkins...is this right?

[dalek39]

Did find a will for a Margaret Hankins of Ledbury..1694 - 1756...may be jumping the gun a tad,, but I saw other names there of interest.. Once again just typed in the name Margaret Hankins..on google...maybe a weid way of researching, but I do find things that way..but..not always right, eh?