Robert Hockley and Mary Watts

Photo © Robert Edwards (cc-by-sa/2.0)

The parish church of St. Michael the Archangel, Braintree, Saturday, 6 February, 2010

Photo available for reuse under this Creative Commons licence.

Robert Hockley (b. ~1723) married Mary Watts (b. ~1727) at St. Michael the Archangel, Braintree, Essex on 17 Jul 1754. (There is a possibly relevant baptism of a Mary Watts on 23 Jul 1730 at Braintree, St. Michael the Archangel, the daughter of Thomas and Judith Watts).

This Robert and Mary Hockley brought up several children, all of whom were baptised at St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow:

1. Robert Hockley bap. 20 Apr 1755
2. Mary Hockley bap. 23 Oct 1757
3. Daniel Hockley bap. 21 Jan 1760 
4. Elizabeth Hockley bap. 28 Dec 1763
5. William Hockley bap. 16 Feb 1766

There's one further child attributed to this couple, Mary Hockley bap. 28 Jan 1770, also in Great Dunmow. Mary would have been 43, so it isn't impossible, but I don't believe anyone would name another child Mary in 1770, when Mary, born in 1757, was then still very much alive. The child baptised in 1770 is listed as being the child of Robert and Mary Hockley, but is this really their child? My feeling is that it's far more likely that daughter Mary gave birth to an illegitimate child at 13, with the grandparents baptising the child as their own to bring her up, given the real mother's extremely young age. 

Robert Hockley was buried on 25 Oct 1796, aged 73 (which would suggest a year of birth of 1723). The burial record lists his occupation as Weaver.

Mary Hockley died allegedly aged 88 and was buried on 1 Jan 1815.

• Mary Hockley b. 1757 married William Lammas of the Parish of St. Mary Whitechapel at St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow on 13 Apr 1779. There are no records to substantiate this, either in Dunmow, or London, but I believe the William Lammas apprenticed to Robert Hockley, Tailor and Draper in 1799 could have been their son.
• Elizabeth Hockley b. 1763 married John Moss on 9 Apr 1782. They appear to have had a son William Moss bap. 20 Feb 1788.

John Maycock and Susanna Blazey

Photo © Evelyn Simak (cc-by-sa/2.0)

St Martin at Oak, Norwich, Thursday, 7 October, 2010

Photo available for reuse under this Creative Commons licence.

John Maycock married Susanna Blazey (bap. 11 Jul 1792 in Wymondham), daughter of Samuel Blazey and Susanna Plunkett, at St Martin at Oak, Norwich on 17 Jul 1811. (They were married by Charles Tanqueray, Clerk [in Holy Orders] and one wonders if he was linked to the Charles Tanqueray of gin fame.) Witnesses were Samuel Rainbird and Stephen Codman.

Susanna Blazey came to this marriage with a son, Francis Stephen Blazey, who was born on 26 Dec 1810 and baptised on 30 Dec 1810, also at St Martin at Oak, Norwich. The baptism record makes it absolutely clear that Francis was 'illegitimate born'. He never took this stepfather's name, so I think it fairly safe to assume that Maycock was not Francis' biological father.

So far, I can find no other records for John Maycock, so I have no idea of his age, nor when or where he was born and neither can I find a record of his death. Similarly, I've not found any children born to this couple.

There are banns of a marriage between Thomas Bray and a Susan Maycock, Widow, also at St Martin at Oak, in November 1819, which might relate. However, I can similarly find no other records of Thomas Bray, nor any children of that marriage, nor a death of a Susan or Susanna Bray.

How am I related? Susanna Blazey was a 4th Great-Grandmother.