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George Henry Williams & Mary Edith Adams
The Hancock
Family of Deptford, Kent
The earliest member of our branch of the Hancock family currently I have
found is James Hancock. He was born Jacques Hancock (French for James)
circa 1787 on the island of Jersey. His parents were James Hancock and
Elizabeth Davau. Elizabeth originated from Lorraine, France, not far
from where Joan of Arc came from. I believe that James Hancock was a
member of the British Army, either from the 94th, 47th or 70th Foot
Regiment.
At some point Jacques moved to the mainland and started calling himself
James (probably due to the Napoleonic War as a French name wouldn’t go
down too well). In 1815 he married Sarah Parkins in Chiswick, Middlesex.
James was a mariner and lighterman on the Thames. Sarah was a cook. They
had 9
children in total. In 1824 they moved to Deptford, which was then in the
county of Kent.
Their youngest daughter Jane married a man called Robert Clouson and
they had a number of children. One of the children, Jane Maria, was
brutally murdered, in a manner similar to that of Jack the Ripper. It
was headline news worldwide in 1871. (see Murder page)
James and Sarah also had a son called Thomas, born in 1827 in Deptford.
He too was a mariner. He married Sarah Ruff in 1857 in Rotherhithe.
Thomas and Sarah had 8 children.
Sarah Hancock, their daughter, born 1857, was a Nurse Maid. She married
John Lees, a painter from Lancashire*.
Their son Thomas Hancock also married a Sarah had a son called Thomas
James, born in 1861. He, like his father and grandfather was a mariner.
In 1881 he married Ann Andrews, a local girl from across the river. Ann
was a dressmaker, whose family came from the east end of London.
By 1891, all 13 of the Hancock and Andrews families were all living in
the same house, 23 Czar Street, Deptford.
Thomas and Ann had 13 children.
One of them was Christopher Henry Hancock, born 1895 in Deptford. In
1914, Christopher married Eleanor Lees in Poplar**. They had 2 children.
Shortly after they were married war broke out. Christopher was initially
assigned to a cavalry unit but was then transferred to the 22nd
Battalion, the London Regiment (The Queens Own). He was killed in action
on November 7th 1918, 4 days before the armistice.
Thomas Gilbert Hancock was born in March 1917, in Poplar. He was
originally a carpenter by trade, but joined the Royal Marines, where he
stayed until 1959.
In September 1939 he married Gwendoline May Williams of Plymouth, Devon.
They had 4 children. Glenda, Thomas, William and John.
John is my father.
The Lees Family of Wigan, Lancashire
John Lees was a Cotton Power Loom Weaver born in 1795 in Lancashire. He
was married to Elizabeth Cooper, a Cotton Winder also from Lancashire.
They had 4 children.
John and Elizabeth had a son called James, born in 1828. He, like his
father was a Cotton Power Loom Weaver.
In 1855 he married Frances Lonsdale, also from Lancashire. She was a
Cotton Weaver. They had 7 children.
One of the boys, John Lees, a painter, moved to London. In 1875 he
married Sarah Hancock*. He is found in the 1881 census as a convict
inmate in Carisbrooke Prison on the Isle of Wight. Crime unknown at
present.
John and Sarah had 5 children, one of whom was Eleanor Lees. At some
point in the late 1890’s John passed away and Sarah passed away a year
later. The children were sent to various places, with Eleanor and her
older sister Lillian being sent to the Kirkdale Industrial School near
Liverpool. It was not a nice place to be. It was very similar to a
workhouse, with the aim of teaching children the hard way. It was a
girls only school and the girls were taught housekeeping, sewing and a
trade of some sort. Eleanor was taught dressmaking.
In 1914, Eleanor, who had moved to London, married Christopher Henry
Hancock in Poplar**.
Eleanor's' mother was originally a Hancock which made Eleanor and Christopher, her husband, first cousins.
The Williams Family of Stoke Damerel, Devon
William Williams was born in 1788 in Plymstock, Devon. He was a boot and
shoe maker. In 1818 he married Hannah Maer, from Stoke Damerel. They had
two children, Edwin and William Jr.
William Jr. was born in 1819 in Stoke Damerel. He was an Engine Driver.
In 1839 he married Catherine Coombs from Eggbuckland, Devon. They had 5
children.
Their oldest son, John Williams, was born in 1847. He joined the Royal
Navy and became a coastguard. In 1869 he married Caroline Lidstone, from
an old Devon family. They moved to Ballycastle, County Mayo, Ireland,
where John was stationed. Whilst stationed at various places around
Ireland, they had 6 children. Upon retirement in 1902 they moved back to
Devonport (Stoke Damerel).
One of their children, George Henry Williams, also joined the Royal
Navy. He was born in 1877 and enlisted in 1895. He trained as a
signalman and was stationed at HMS Vivid at the exact same time as Lewis
Adams† (see below). George worked his way up to Chief of Signals on
various ships. He retired in 1919 and went to work for Trinity House on
the Plymouth Breakwater and Eddystone Lighthouses.
In 1896 George married Mary Edith Adams, a mangler from Pembrokeshire,
Wales. They had 9 children, including Gwendoline May Williams who went
on to marry Thomas Gilbert Hancock (my grandad).
The Adams Family of Pembrokeshire, Wales
Richard Adams was a rope maker for the Royal Navy. He was born in 1791
in Milford Haven, Wales. Around 1812 he married Hannah who was born in
St. Brides, Pembrokeshire in 1790. They had 6 children.
James Adams was born to them in 1819. He decided to follow in his
fathers footsteps and joined the Royal Navy. He trained to become a
Shipwright. In 1855 he married Martha John, from St. Ishmaels,
Pembrokeshire. They had 4 children.
James and Martha’s oldest child, Lewis Adams, was born in 1856. He too
decided to join the Royal Navy and train as a Shipwright.
In 1879 Lewis married Sarah Jane James, a mangler from Milford Haven.
They had 5 children, including Mary Edith born in 1880 in Milford Haven.
†In 1895 he was stationed on board HMS Vivid with George Henry Williams,
a Yeoman Signaller. George would marry Lewis’ daughter Mary Edith.
Whilst on board HMS Astraea, in port at Malta, Lewis suffered a major
coronary and died. His final resting place is Kalkarra Naval cemetery, Malta.
George and Mary Edith married 9 months after he passed away. |
