George Hodkinson: 1808-1841 – birth to the 1841 census
George Hodkinson: 1808-1841 – birth to the 1841 census ... this page
George Hodkinson: 1841-1847 – the 1841 census to death
This is an extract from a painting of a view of part of Stockport by William Shuttleworth (1785-1829).
George Hodkinson
- Born: Saturday, 10th December 1808
- Married: Sunday, 23rd September 1832 (age 23)
- Four children: two boys and two girls
- Died: Monday, 10th May 1847 (age 38)
Bearing in mind the shared history of members of the Hodkinson family, some of the information on this page has been repeated on other pages about other Hodkinsons.
George Hodkinson's 1808 birth and 1809 baptism in Stockport
George Hodkinson, the second son of George Hodkinson and Hannah Mathers, was born on Saturday, 10th December 1808 in Stockport. He was the last of five children born to his parents, as can be seen below in the extract from the Hodkinson family tree.
George’s baptism was in the Tabernacle Church, Middle Hillgate, Stockport, on Thursday, 23rd March 1809, with the ceremony conducted by Pastor Solomon Ashton. There is more about George’s birth and baptism, and Stockport during his childhood, in various places on the webpage about his father, who was also called George Hodkinson.
This painting of the market place in Stockport, is by William Shuttleworth1 and was painted in 1810, two years after the birth of George Hodkinson. St Mary's Parish Church dominates the scene and is where George's parents were married and where three of his siblings – Jane, Thomas and Sarah – were baptised. It is also where George's youngest sister, Hannah, was buried in 1809, age two.
The marriage of George Hodkinson and Hannah Oldham on Sunday, 23rd September 1832
Although George Hodkinson and Hannah Oldham were born in Stockport, they married at St Mary's Parish Church in Cheadle. Maybe they moved separately to Cheadle before they met each other there, or maybe they moved to Cheadle together (obviously to separate addresses because "living in sin" was a bad idea and a shameful thing to do!) before getting married there.
Their marriage record provides the only information that is available about the ceremony. Besides the bride and groom, three other people are mentioned on the marriage entry.
This is St. Mary's Parish Church in Cheadle2, the place of marriage of George Hodkinson and Hannah Oldham, and the place of baptism of their first child, Mary.
George Hodkinson
George Hodkinson is stated to be “of this Parish”.
Hannah Oldham
Hannah Oldham is also stated to be of the same parish.
Unlike many other marriage records, there is no mention of George and Hannah's marital statuses, and nothing about their occupations. Both bride and groom were illiterate – they each signed the record with a cross. Trying to find when Hannah was born has proved very difficult but a best fit is that she was born no later than 1811, this date being based on census returns, her workhouse record and her death certificate, and on laws (which could be circumvented) relating to ages when individuals could marry. Hannah's dad was called George and he worked as a shoe maker.
George Eaton, curate
George Eaton held a master's degree from Brasenose College, Oxford and took up his post at St Mary's towards the end of July 1832.
The wedding ceremony was held in the presence of George Smith (who was the parish clerk and was born in about 1807) and John Ridings.
Cheadle, 1832- about 1836, the home of the Hodkinsons
The births of Mary and Lucy Hodkinson
George and Hannah Hodkinson's first child, Mary, was baptised on Sunday, 7th June 1835, in the parish church in Cheadle and it is more than likely that she would have been born in the Cheadle area, bearing in mind that her parents married there in 1832. There is no actual record of her birth, but other records indicate she was born in 1833.
The Hodkinson family in Cheadle was comprised of:
- George Hodkinson (born 1808), head of household;
- Hannah Hodkinson (about 1811) wife of George Hodkinson;
- Mary Hodkinson (born about 1833), first child of George Hodkinson and Hannah Hodkinson;
- and perhaps Lucy Hodkinson (born 1836), second child of Hannah Hodkinson and George Hodkinson, who may have been born in Cheadle.
Cheadle, a delightful place, for some
George Hodkinson's family was one of a very small number of Hodkinson families who lived in Cheadle during this time. The parish of Cheadle was then comprised of the townships of Cheadle-Bulkeley (where George Smith, the parish clerk who was present at the wedding of George and Hannah, lived), Cheadle-Moseley, and Handforth with Bosden, giving a population of about 6,500. A very partial breakdown of the occupations of the inhabitants of the parish is provided by Pigot’s National Commercial Directory for 1828-9 3, since some neighbouring areas are also included. The twenty-one named members of the gentry and the clergy, therefore, include a very small number who are from outside the parish.
Stripping out those who did not live in the parish is straightforward with the rest of the names. Thus, those living in the parish who were ‘Professional Persons’, numbered six: namely four surgeons and two lawyers. There were twenty shopkeepers and traders who were also inhabitants of the parish and who included two millers, two saddlers, one painter, one calico printer, one blacksmith and one wheelwright.
Eight public houses are listed, four of which were in the parish: The Crown; The George and Dragon; The Horse and Jockey; and The White Hart. Maybe George Hodkinson frequented some, or all, of these.
Contemporary descriptions of Cheadle itself were positive. Pigot’s National Commercial Directory for 1828-9 commented that "The country, although flat round here, is fertile and pleasing."4 In 1831, Samuel Lewis in his Topographical Dictionary of England is also complimentary, commenting that the village (of Cheadle) "is remarkable for the beauty and salubrity of its situation, and its very neat and cleanly appearance." However, for those at the lower end of the social scale who worked long hours and lived in poverty, Cheadle’s environs probably weren’t that immediately important in their lives, although much preferable to the environment of city slum dwellers.
In 1831, Samuel Lewis commented that "The chief employment of the inhabitants is in the spinning, bleaching, and printing of cotton."5 Doubtless, at the time of the marriage, Hannah and George were employed in the cotton industry. Certainly this was the case in 1841, with the census of that year stating George was a cotton spinner and Hannah a cotton reeler. Although these were jobs they held when they moved to Stockport, there is no reason to doubt they did not have similar work when they lived in Cheadle.
A return to Stockport by George and Hannah Hodkinson, now with family
Having settled in Cheadle, the Hodkinsons may have decided to move back to Stockport for employment reasons – either for jobs in their own right, or for better pay. Perhaps that is also why they moved to Cheadle a few years earlier.
Rowcroft Smithy, Stockport
George and Hannah Hodkinson's first child, Mary, was born in 1833 in Cheadle. Their second child, Lucy, was baptised in 1836 when they were living in Rowcroft Smithy, but she may also have been born in Cheadle.
The Hodkinson family in Rowcroft Smithy was comprised of:
- George Hodkinson (born 1808), head of household;
- Hannah Hodkinson (born about 1811) wife of George Hodkinson;
- Mary Hodkinson (born about 1833), first child of George Hodkinson and Hannah Hodkinson; and
- Lucy Hodkinson (born 1836), second child of George and Hannah Hodkinson.
Rowcroft Smithy, which was then on the southern outskirts of Stockport, no longer exists. The distance between Rowcroft Smithy and Cheadle was about three miles.
This is an extract from William Bryant's map of 1831. Rowcroft Smithy is named as "Rowcross Smithy" whilst a map of 1819 features "Roe Croft Smithy", a short distance to the south-west of the location shown on the map above. Mary Hodkinson was born in Cheadle and sister Lucy might have been born in Rowcroft Smithy, where she was living when she was baptised. The image is looking south from the junction of Wellington Road South and Higher Hillgate. (Photograph: Samuel Hodkinson.)
Bury Street, Hope Hill, Heaton Norris, Stockport and the births of William and James Hodkinson
How long the Hodkinsons were in Rowcroft Smithy is not known. They next appear in Hope Hill, Heaton Norris, Stockport, maybe having moved directly from Rowcroft Smithy. This was in 1838 and the first record of a street name for the Hodkinsons is, sadly, on the death certificate of William Hodkinson who died in 1839, aged just seven months. Following the death, Registrar A.R. Blake, in writing the certificate, gave the location of his death as a misspelt "Berry St." This street, and its continuation, Higher Bury Street, were named after Jeremiah Bury (who died in 1839), one of the owners of nearby Hope Hill Mill; doubtless he would have found the misspelling of his surname irksome but not uncommon. The last of Hannah and George's four children – James – was also born at the same address in 1841.
The Hodkinsons are also listed as living on Bury Street (which would eventually become known as Lower Bury Street) in the 1841 census, but it seems that they actually lived on Higher Bury Street.6
There was variation in type and size in workers’ houses in Stockport, but typically, and reflecting the national picture, they were built in terraces to save on costs, and were often overcrowded. In a number of cases, mill-owners were responsible for the construction of houses for their workforces which appears to have been the case in Hope Hill.7
This is a view of Higher Bury Street in 1961. See the map below for location. (Photograph: acknowledgement to Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council Image Archive.8)
This shows the same view as in the black and white image, about 60 years later. See the map below for location. (Photograph: Samuel Hodkinson.)
The first photograph above of the Victorian houses on Higher Bury Street was taken in 1961. Apart from some easily identifiable 'modern' features, such as aerials, perambulators, and concrete lampposts, this is a street scene that would not be too far removed from the one that the Hodkinsons knew.
This 1851 map (reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland) shows Hope Hill Mill which dominated the streets to its east. The Hodkinsons lived in one of those streets for at least two years, but, whilst the street name is known, the exact location of their home is not. There are no house numbers on the 1841 census and the house marked on the map is a possibility based on a number of factors, including the enumerators' routes in 1841 and 1851 (the latter census has house numbers) and the order in which households were recorded.
The painting is of Hope Hill Mill by William Shuttleworth (1785-1829) and shows a somewhat idyllic setting for the factory which stood opposite Bury Street. (See map above.) It is possible that Hannah Hodkinson and George Hodkinson worked here at some point when they lived on Higher Bury Street, a decade or so after the death of the artist. It is likely that this view was painted south of the mill.9 By the time the Hodkinsons were living in Hope Hill, the mill's surroundings would have been very different from those depicted in the painting. (Image of painting: with acknowledgements to Stockport Heritage Services.10)
The Hodkinson lived in their home on (Higher) Bury Street from at least 1839-1841 and those who lived there for some or all of the time were:
- George Hodkinson (born 1808), head of household;
- Hannah Hodkinson (born about 1811), wife of George Hodkinson;
- William Hodkinson (born 1798), lodger;
- Mary Hodkinson (born about 1833), first child of George Hodkinson and Hannah Hodkinson;
- Lucy Hodkinson (born 1836), second child of George and Hannah Hodkinson;
- William Hodkinson (born 1838), third child of George and Hannah Hodkinson; and
- James Hodkinson (born 1841), fourth child of George and Hannah Hodkinson.
George Hodkinson: 1808-1841 – birth to the 1841 census ... this page
George Hodkinson: 1841-1847 – the 1841 census to death
Notes and sources for this page:
- Art UK, Stockport Market Place, Cheshire. (https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/stockport-market-place-cheshire-89699. Accessed 29 February 2023.)
- Henry Heginbotham, Stockport: Ancient and Modern. (London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company. 1892.) Vol. II. Illustration between p.224 and p.225.
- J.Pigot, National Commercial Directory for 1828-9. (London and Manchester: J. Pigot and Co.) p.14.
- J.Pigot, National Commercial Directory for 1828-9. (London and Manchester: J. Pigot and Co.) p.14.
- Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of England. (London: S. Lewis and Co. 1831.) Volume 1. p.411.
- A key piece of information that can be analysed from the 1841 census is that the Hodkinson family lived in the twenty-seventh house north from the junction of Bury Street and George Street. Assuming that the order of houses was correctly recorded in 1841 and that the street layout was the same in 1851, then the twenty-seventh house on an 1851 OS map places the Hodkinson home firmly in Higher Bury Street, a back-to-back house just south of the passageway between Higher Bury Street and Brunswick Street. The map on this website is a later edition.
- Peter Arrowsmith, Stockport, A History. (Stockport: Stockport Metropolitan Council. 1997.) p.174.
- Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, Stockport Image Archive. (http://www.stockport.gov.uk/services/leisureculture/libraries/libraryonline/stockportimagearchive. Accessed 10 May 2013.) Image 2756.
- Steve Cliffe, Picture Puzzles? Stockport and District Heritage Magazine. (Stockport. 2013.) Vol 7, no. 6. pp. 19-20.
- Stockport Heritage Services, Your Paintings. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/hope-hill-mill-stockport-cheshire-89700. Accessed 10 May 2013.)
This page was originally published on 23rd February 2020 with the latest updates made on 20th February 2025.