William Hulin (General)

by jhopkins , Wednesday, July 31, 2024, 04:25 (48 days ago) @ SueD

Hi Sue, from across the ditch.

I thought I recognised the name Hulin. My Hopkins family lived at some stage in Hudnalls. My great great great grandparents Phillip Hopkin and Sarah Hopkin (yes, that was also her maiden name!) married in 1793. On the Parish Record of the marriage on this site, one of the witnesses was one William Hulin.

There is no telling which generation William was of course. Our family changed the name Hopkin to Hopkins during the lifetime of Phillip and Sarah's children.

Our mob migrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1860 (5 of the 10 children of that generation came here, and the other 5 lacked a sense of adventure!). Three of my uncles served in WW1 and during their time in England tried to make contact with Hopkins family in the Forest but did not find anyone (at that stage their grandfather William Hopkins -the first Hopkins migrant - was still alive).

Good luck with your search. We visited the Forest in 2003, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We found the house my great grandmother's family was living in at the time of one of the 19th Century censuses (in Coleford). However, when we visited the Forest, I had too little knowledge (eg I had not heard of Hudnalls at that stage so we didn't visit it, and I thought St Briavels was only a village, whereas it is also a parish). I also did not know where any burials were located. Do try and find out all you can before visiting!

Best wishes, John Hopkins