Margaret Mary Hopkinson (my husband’s great grandmother) is the subject for help to find out her true beginnings.
To give you a ‘picture’ of the family I have shown details below of some of the various members of the family.
Margaret Mary Hopkinson born c.1848 married George Griffiths on the 6th July 1873. Margaret’s father is shown as William Hopkinson (Bootmaker) and George’s father, Walter, is shown as a Farmer.
They were married at Normanton, All Saints, Yorkshire.
My understanding is that Margaret Mary Hopkinson (there are a few females in the family that have the Margaret Mary name), was born in Ireland (as per the 1881 census in the UK). The 1911 census shows that she was born in Tipperary, Ireland. In that census, her unmarried daughter, Mary who Margaret Mary Hopkinson brought with her to the marriage of George Griffiths is living with her as is Tom Griffiths, Margaret Mary’s son with George Griffiths. John Fowle is also there as a boarder. He married Margaret Mary’s daughter, Florence in 1915. Mariah Iles (a widow) is also there. Mariah Iles is Margaret Mary’s mother in law. Mariah married a Richard Iles after the death of her husband, Walter Griffiths who was George Griffiths father. Sorry this is so confusing. I know that all of these people in the 1911 census are my husband’s relatives and I haven’t picked up other people of a similar name.
I do not know the name of the father of Mary, Margaret’s eldest daughter, (who is known as a Griffiths). There are many people on Ances. who show the family of Margaret Mary Hopkinson residing in Trawden, Lancashire. They also show that James Hopkinson and Ellen Hopkinson nee Pickles are the parents. Originally, I thought this too, but changed it when I found the marriage record of George Griffiths and Margaret Hopkinson. Her father was shown as William Hopkinson (Bootmaker). Could this be another couple with the same names as my husband’s great grandparents? I have not been successful in finding any census records for Margaret Mary Hopkinson for the years, 1851-61-71. I did notice that a William and Ann Jones who were witnesses at the marriage of George Griffiths and Margaret Hopkinson lived nearby to them in the 1881 census. Another possibility I suppose is that William Hopkinson may have been Margaret’s grandfather and not her father. I have William Hopkinson on my husband’s tree with a c.1820 birth. I only used that date just to give William an approximate birth date. If he was her grandfather, I’m sure his birth date would be quite a few years earlier.
So, what I really would like to find is proof that Margaret Mary Hopkinson who married George Griffiths in 1873 was born in Ireland and not Lancashire. Also, the names of both Margaret Mary Hopkinson’s parents and any other pertinent details relating to Margaret Mary Hopkinson and her ancestral family. I would like to add that I have referred to Margaret Hopkinson on my tree as Margaret Mary Hopkinson due to the fact that when I mentioned her to my late mother in law, she stated that all the Margaret’s in the family were ‘Margaret Mary’ which was my mother in law’s name as well.
Trying to find anything in Irish documents has not been successful for me.
Thank you to anyone who can get through this ‘brickwall’ by finding the answers to all (well, most) of my questions.
Sandeea