Thomas Hopkins burial record

My great great grandfather was Thomas Hopkins b:1804 Hewelsfield. He married Sarah Powell b:1804 Awre, on 18.12.1824 at Alvington, Glos.

I have been able to find his birth record, their marriage record, and a likely burial record for Sarah on this site via the Parish Records, but I cannot find a probable burial record for Thomas.

Some years ago, a kind soul on this site (probably Slowhands!) sent me the 1851 Census record as follows:
2443 1851 CENSUS HO107/2443 FF.0593-0611 ED.4 LYDNEY 3
Piece: 2443 Folio: 0611Schedule: 109
Address: Aylburton

HOPKINS Thomas HD M 50 Ag Lab GLS St. Briavels (c1801)
HOPKINS Sarah WI M 46- GLS Awre (c1805)
HOPKINS Janetta DA U 24 Dress Maker GLS Aylburton (c1827)
HOPKINS Elizabeth DA U 18 GLS Aylburton (c1833)
HOPKINS William SO - 16 GLS Aylburton (c1835) (my great grandfather)
HOPKINS Thomas SO - 13 GLS Aylburton (c1838)
HOPKINS John SO - 11- GLS Aylburton (c1840)
HOPKINS Henry SO - 9- GLS Aylburton (c1842)
HOPKINS Philip SO - 8- GLS Aylburton (c1843)
HOPKINS Sarah DA -6- GLS Aylburton (c1845)
HOPKINS Alfred SO -4- GLS Aylburton (c1847)
BATH Charles VR U 25 Labourer GLS Lydney (c1826)

Whilst the birth date for Thomas is wrong (or Very circa), this is clearly them. Could someone please check later census info, or parish records, to see if they can find either a date by which Thomas must have died (to narrow the search), or a burial record for me?

Many thanks. John

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Could this be your Thomas?

Record_ID: 26754
Entry_Number: 942
Year: 1871
Month: Apr
Day: 20
Surname: HOPKINS
Forenames: Thomas
Residence: Aylburton
Age_at_death: y[ea]rs 70
Officiating_Minister: A.R.Bennett Curate
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P209 IN 1/12
Page_No: 118
Parish_Chapel: Lydney
Soundex: H125

1871 England Census RG10/5296; Folio: 20; Page: 10
Village of Aylburton

Thomas Hopkins - Head - Widr - 71 - Farmer of 12 Acres - Gloster, St Briavels
Alfred Hopkins - Son - unm - 23 - Farmer Son - Gloster, Aylburton
John Hopkins - Son - Mar - 30 - Iron Miner - Gloster, Aylburton
Kezia Hopkins - Daue in law - Mar - 25 - Gloster, Aylburton
George Hopkins - Grandson - 9 - Scholar - Gloster, Aylburton
Mary Hopkins - Grand Daur - 7 - Scholar - Gloster, Aylburton
Sarah Hopkins - Grand Daur - 6 - Scholar - Gloster, Aylburton
Henry Hopkins - Grandson - 3 - Gloster, Aylburton
Emma Hopkins - Grand Daur - 1 - Gloster, Aylburton

Record_ID: 20349
Entry_Number: 340
Year: 1860
Month: Dec
Day: 31
Grooms_Surname: HOPKINS
Grooms_Forenames: John
Grooms_Age: 21
Groom_Condition: Bachelor
Grooms_Occupation: labourer
Grooms_Residence: Aylburton
Grooms_Fathers_Surname: HOPKINS
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames: Thomas
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation: Labourer
Brides_Surname: LUCAS
Brides_Forenames: Keziah
Brides_Age: Under age
Brides_Condition: Spinster
Brides_Occupation: [not stated]
Brides_Residence: Aylburton
Brides_Fathers_Surname: LUCAS
Brides_Fathers_Forenames: Emanuel
Brides_Fathers_Occupation: Farmer
Licence_or_Banns: Banns
Date_of_Banns: [not stated]
Signature_or_Mark: Both sign
Witness_1: Rueben Lucas
Witness_2: Sarah Hopkins
Other_Witnesses:
Officiating_Minister: B Philpot
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P209 IN 1/15
Page_Number: 170
Parish_Chapel: Lydney

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Well, I am blessed. I went through the Parish Records using the search function three times and didn't find that one. Maybe early onset Alzheimers...?

Thomas's baptism record is for 1804, so the age doesn't quite match, but the burial age does match with his age as given in the 1851 Census.

This discrepancy puzzled me, until I remembered that my baptism record is also from when I was three years of age! I was not baptised by my parents, but when I was fostered by an aunt after mother's death, she was appalled to find I had not been watered properly and rushed me off to the local church! Maybe something similar happened to my ancestor.

Thank you Paul - much appreciated. John :-)

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Hi John
Given the reference to Hewlesfield I suspect that you Thomas Hopkins are related to a Martha Hopkin(s) who married my direct ancestor James Hathaway in Hewlesfield in 1774. Her father was a Thomas and her siblings were Elenora,Thomas,Phillippa,James,John Warren,William and Mary all born between 1737 and 1755 all in hewelsfield
Kind regards
Alan Isaac
New Zealand

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Hi Alan

Thanks for your reply. You may well be correct, although I have not yet come across that particular collection of sibling names.

As far as I have been able to work out, there have been Hopkin/Hopkins in and around Hewelsfield for several centuries. There is a resource on this site at http://www.forest-of-dean.net/downloads/index.php?path=Stories_Articles/ called Life_in_Hewelsfield_and_Brockweir_16th_Century.pdf that has Hopkins in that village in the 16th Century. And some of the wills show the Hopkin/Hopkins name in the Forest around the middle of that century.

I cannot prove conclusively where our lot come from exactly, but I have been able to prove that my great great great grandfather Phillip Hopkin was born in Llandogo Monmouth on the other side of the River Wye from the Forest, in 1772. It seems there is a bit of a plague of Hopkins around Llandogo.

My direct lot seems to have lived there, Hewelsfield, Brockweir, Aylburton, and Bream.

Unfortunately there is a particular rash of Thomas Hopkin/Hopkins as well - a very popular name, down to me (my first name is Thomas but I am called by my second name). My great grandfather seems to be one of the few in my direct lineage to have avoided the name!

There are lots of other Thomases to chose from, back into the 18th Century, but I am not yet far enough back to locate the generation you descend from - I have only got back to my great great great grandfather Phillip who was born in 1772. I think I may also know who his parents were - William Hopkins (b. unknown) and Frances Williams (b 1731) of Llandogo, but that is as far as I have got thus far.

Where do you live? I am in North Canterbury (Woodend).

Kind regards, John

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Hi again Alan

I have been able to find the birth records of a number of Martha's siblings (mostly the boys), as well as Martha's marriage to James Hathaway. Was Martha's mother called Anne? The sibling records I have found give Thomas and Anne as the parents.

However, I cannot find a marriage record for them; neither can I find a birth record for Thomas. Do you have a birth record for him, marriage record for them, or a family name for Anne?

There is a David Hopkins in Wales (with whom I am in email contact) who is descended from the couple we believe to be my great great great great grandparents. I would guess they would be contemporaries of your Thomas and Anne - maybe that is where we could find a connection. David may have information that could make the link.

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Hi John
Yes I believe Ann to be the mother and whilst the Forest of Dean website has added to the information that I have on my Hathaway's,I don't have a marriage for Thomas and Ann, nor a birth date for him.

Other Hopkin(s) who have married into to my Hathaway line include:
Alice who married a Samuel Hathaway on 7 August 1758 in Hewelsfield,
Ann who married a Warren Hathaway on either the 12th or the 18th of June 1730 in Hewelsfield,

My Hathaways came to NZ on the Brothers Pride IN 1863. They ,anded in Lyttleton and settled in Oxford in North Canterbury. As far as I can tell they were there from the early 60's to around 1890 before they moved to Wellington which is where I live
Kind regards
Alan

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Thanks again Alan.

I have re-looked at the information you supplied in your first post, and notice that the only birth children left living with Thomas and Sarah in 1871 are John and Alfred. I know that Alfred subsequently emigrated to NZ, (I have confirmed at least three siblings and possibly four came to North Canterbury) and he was a storekeeper at Leithfield which is not far north of where his older brother William settled at Saltwater Creek.

I accidentally found Alfred's grave some years ago when my wife and I were looking for other family graves in the Leithfield Cemetery.

It looks as though John stayed on in the Forest but I need to check that. Your information may solve another puzzle for me. When my cousin started some of this research, she found a Kezia Hopkins and we could not account for her. It seems she was a daughter in law - John's wife. I do not know whether my cousin found her records here in NZ, or whether she was still in the Forest. If the former, that is another sibling who emigrated. The old people must have felt lost when their children left one by one.

Thanks for the other information in your most recent post. I had not come across the Hathaway name until now. It is interesting they arrived just three years after my ggparents, who also landed in Lyttelton, but went north to Saltwater Creek to take up land on the banks of the Ashley River. Our ancestors were not too far apart.

I used to live in Wgtn, and knew a Tony Isaac there - he was a TV director for the NZBC as it was then. It must have been about the late 1970's. I have a feeling his wife's name was Joan? Are they your bones?

Thanks again, John

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Hi John
If you would like to send me your email address I will send you an invitation to view my tree on line at www.ancestry.com
Kind regards
Alan

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