17xx to 18xx George Hodkinson
This view is part of a 1793 drawing of Stockport, looking from the north.
George Hodkinson
- Born: unknown
- Married: Monday, 24th September 1798
- Five known children: two boys and three girls
- Death: unknown
Difficult times
The crosses by George Hodkinson’s dates of birth and death on the title above reflect the difficulty in tracing ancestors who lived at the turn of the nineteenth century, and earlier. Churches and chapels kept records of baptisms (and sometimes dates of birth), marriages and deaths. Problems arise because many records are not yet easily available (especially online) and, therefore, are hard to research if time and the expense of travelling to record offices are an issue.
What can make research more difficult is that mistakes were made in recording events. In the case of George and Hannah Hodkinson, who were both baptised on 23rd March 1809 by Pastor Solomon Ashton, their father was initially stated to be John Hodkinson. Fortunately, Solomon Ashton spotted the error and corrected the name to George. Had he not done so, then my family research would have taken a completely wrong turning. It’s to be wondered how many uncorrected major mistakes were made in the hundreds of thousands of records that the various denominations maintained.
Other records have been lost or are now indecipherable. Perhaps the most important issue is that surviving records have very limited information. As an example, marriage records do not give the ages of those married, nor precise addresses of where they were living prior to marriage, nor (with some exceptions) the names of their parents – key required information in tracing ancestors. It can be very frustrating!
Oops – not John, but George! Solomon Ashton, Pastor of the Tabernacle Independent Church, Stockport corrected his mistakes on the baptismal records of George and Hannah Hodkinson. Had he not done so, then I would have been pointlessly attempting to research John Hodkinson.
The birth or baptism dates for George Hodkinson and Hannah Mathers
I’ve attempted to find birth and/or baptism dates for George and Hannah, but that has not been successful, which wasn’t surprising.
The only certainty is that the two married in 1798. Although no ages are recorded for the marriage, it is worth bearing in mind the age context for marriages at the time, nicely summed up in History Extra as follows:
The age of consent was 12 for girls and 14 for boys, but parental consent to marry by licence was needed for minors under the age of 21. Even if they were betrothed at an earlier age, most couples did not marry until their early 20s, when they were more financially secure and apprenticeships had ended. Apprentices tended to be bound for seven years from the age of 14, during which time they were not permitted to “commit Fornication, nor contract Matrimony”.3.
That being so, if the assumption is made that George and Hannah were between 21 and 30 years old when they married, then the two were born between the years 1768 and 1777.
However, churches tended to record only baptismal dates and children often were baptised many years after birth. Working on the assumption that George and Hannah were baptised by the time they were ten years old, then this would mean that the baptisms took place between 1768-1787.
Using these dates, an online search produces baptismal records for over 30 different George Hodkinsons and over 30 different Hannah Mathers, from various parts of the country. Doubtless there are other non-digitalised relevant records. Of course, if George and Hannah married before they were 21 or after the age of 30, and/or were baptised after the age of ten (if they were baptised at all) that would greatly increase the number of individuals who possibly might be their parents.
So far it has not been possible to specifically match any of the online baptismal records to the George and Hannah who married in Stockport in 1798. It looks as though going back in time has reached a dead end – well, for the moment, at least.
The marriage of George Hodkinson and Hannah Mathers on Monday, 24th September 1798
George Hodkinson and Hannah Mathers married at St Mary's Parish Church in Stockport and their marriage record provides the only information that is available about the ceremony.
The Hodkinsons' marriage record
There are five people named on the marriage record.
George Hodkinson
George Hodkinson is stated to be “of this Parish” and his occupation is given as “weaver”.
Hannah Mathers
Hannah Mathers is also stated to be of the same parish and her marital status is given as “spinster”.
George Mason, curate
George Mason's ordination was in 1794 and, after holding posts in Mirfield and Honley with Brockholes, took up the curacy of St Mary's, Stockport, in October 1796.
The wedding ceremony was held in the presence of William Jones and John Bibbey, the officiating clerk.
This painting of St Mary's Parish Church, Stockport is by William Shuttleworth.1 It is where George Hodkinson and Hannah Mathers were married, and three of their five children baptised.
By 1810, St Mary's Church was very much the worst for wear. In that year, the promoters of a Bill before Parliament to rebuild St Mary’s stated that the building “is a very ancient structure, and the Nave and Tower thereof have been for many years in a very ruinous condition. It has already been found necessary to take down a part of the tower, and in consequence of the dangerous state of the remainder of the church, Divine Service has been performed for the last eighteen months in the Chancel.”2
Heginbotham, in his 1882 history of Stockport, states that on 14th March 1810 “men were set to work to pull down the steeple … and these operations speedily extended to the nave, whose walls clung together with such tenacity as to require both battering rams and gunpowder to complete their destruction.”3 The demolition of the parish church would have attracted many sightseers (Hodkinsons included?) either to watch the live action as the building was taken apart, or, after the working day or the working week was over, to look at what still stood amongst the rubble.
Only the chancel was kept and the rest of the church was rebuilt between 1813 and 1817.
This painting of St Mary's Parish Church, Stockport is by William Shuttleworth.1 It is where George Hodkinson and Hannah Mathers were married, and three of their five children baptised.
By 1810, St Mary's Church was very much the worst for wear. In that year, the promoters of a Bill before Parliament to rebuild St Mary’s stated that the building “is a very ancient structure, and the Nave and Tower thereof have been for many years in a very ruinous condition. It has already been found necessary to take down a part of the tower, and in consequence of the dangerous state of the remainder of the church, Divine Service has been performed for the last eighteen months in the Chancel.”2
Heginbotham, in his 1882 history of Stockport, states that on 14th March 1810 “men were set to work to pull down the steeple … and these operations speedily extended to the nave, whose walls clung together with such tenacity as to require both battering rams and gunpowder to complete their destruction.”4 The demolition of the parish church would have attracted many sightseers (Hodkinsons included?) either to watch the live action as the building was taken apart, or, after the working day or the working week was over, to look at what still stood amongst the rubble.
Only the chancel was kept and the rest of the church was rebuilt between 1813 and 1817.
Stockport at the time of George Hodkinson and Hannah Mather's marriage
Much was changing in Stockport when George and Hannah married; much more would change by the time that they had their last child in 1808. The township of Stockport had about 5,000 inhabitants in 1779; by 1801 it was nearly triple that number. Half of the inhabitants came from non-Stockport locations (including, it would seem, George Hodkinson and Hannah Mathers), attracted by work opportunities which the growing textile industry and its offshoots had to offer. In turn, more housing was needed and supply could not always meet demand.
Stockport was truly in a process of transformation. Once, a market town where agriculture was the main form of employment, Stockport was becoming an industrial town, characterised by overcrowded slum dwellings with grossly insanitary conditions; widespread air and water pollution; and working conditions in the new factories and mills that often were appalling. Within the industrialising township, there were nice places, with nice houses and people who had nice jobs, but for the majority of the population life was grim – often, very grim.
The drawing above is from Heginbotham’s 1882 history of Stockport and depicts the town in about the late 1780s.5 This is the town that the Hodkinsons knew, one that was being transformed before their eyes by new industries. The photographs, dating from 2025, show three of the buildings in the drawing, all of which have been modified or extended or rebuilt over the past 240 or so years since the drawing was produced.
The Reverend Nathaniel Pugsley, who was the minister at Orchard Street Congregational Church, Stockport, between 1815 and 1819, made the following comment when he visited Stockport for the first time:
The sensation I felt in entering this town was the most ludicrous. I saw immense stream-engines [to drive power looms] pouring forth fire & smoke, which being assisted by women at ever[y] door with a pipe in their mouths, enveloped the whole town in 'darkness visible.' Women were quarrelling - children were crying - carts were drawing horses instead of horses carts … I was absolutely unwilling to get off the coach when they told me it was Stockport, at any rate I think I should have rode on to Manchester ...
An article by Robert Glen in the Journal of the United Reformed Church History Society6 made the following observation about Pugsley’s comments on Stockport:
Stockport's street life astounded Pugsley. His coach almost certainly came down Hillgate toward the old bridge across the Mersey which separates Cheshire from Lancashire. Hillgate was notorious for the steepness of the descent and the narrowness of the roadway. Thus, the quarrelling women, crying children, and bustle of the carts and horses would have been audible and visible for a considerable time as Pugsley's coach made its way slowly down the town centre. So, too, would the "women at ever[y] door with a pipe in their mouths," which though no doubt exaggerated, probably reflected the actual scene. Many North Country women smoked pipes … and there is Stockport evidence to the same effect. For the Royal Jubilee of 1809, various local competitions were held. One of them was a tobacco smoking contest for old women, the prize ("One Pound of best Tobacco") to the woman who could smoke half an ounce of tobacco in the shortest amount of time.
Such was the Stockport where George and Hannah Hodkinson and their children lived.
The children of George and Hannah Hodkinson (Mathers)
George and Hannah Hodkinson had at least five children, born between 1800 and 1808. There may have been more, but records do not show anyone else who is a good match. What is interesting about the known births is that it looks as though the parents had given serious thought to family planning! The first child was born 26 months after marriage, and the gaps between births were 23 months, 23 months, 27 months, and 24 months. That can’t have been a coincidence!
Jane Hodkinson was born on Tuesday, 18th November 1800 and was baptised in St Mary’s Church, Stockport, on Sunday, 15th February 1801. There is a death record for a Jane Hodkinson who died on Sunday, 9th May 1824, age 23, and who was living in Portwood. Having researched other contemporary Jane Hodkinsons, it looks as though the Jane Hodkinson who died in May 1824 was the same as the one born to George and Hannah, 23 years and 6 months earlier.
Thomas Hodkinson was born on Tuesday, 19th October 1802 and was baptised in St Mary’s Church, Stockport, on Sunday, 2nd January 1803. There is also an entry for the burial (no date of death given) on Monday, 5th August 1805 of a Thomas Hodkinson, with the father stated as George Hodkinson. This looks to be the same Thomas, especially after research into other contemporary Thomas Hodkinsons provided no similar results.
Sarah Hodkinson was born on Tuesday, 18th September 1804 and was baptised in St Mary’s Church, Stockport, on Sunday, 24th February 1805.
Hannah Hodkinson was born on Thursday, 11th December 1806 and was baptised in the Tabernacle Chapel, Middle Hillgate, Stockport, on Thursday, 23rd March 1809. Sadly, she died the following month and was buried on Wednesday, 12th April 1809 at St Mary’s Church, Stockport.
George Hodkinson was born on Saturday, 10th December 1808 and was baptised in the Tabernacle Chapel, Middle Hillgate, Stockport, on Thursday, 23rd March 1809. He married Hannah Oldham in Cheadle in 1832. The couple had four children but went their separate ways in about 1841. George died in a Manchester workhouse in 1847. There is more about his life here.
The Tabernacle Church in Middle Hillgate (a place of worship from 1807-1956) was where George Hodkinson and Hannah Hodkinson were both baptised on 23rd March 1809 by Pastor Solomon Ashton. He would have been horrified had he known that his church, with enough room for a congregation of 600, would eventually have so little support that it would close and, even worse, that the building would be used for drinking alcohol, dancing and listening to non-religious music, following its re-birth in 1966 as the Tabernacle Club, later Sgt Pepper's. The building is no more – a 1970's photograph shows it being demolished and the area between Waterloo Road and Black Lion Passage (see map above and photo below) is now grass. The lamppost is roughly where the entrance to the church was located. The map was surveyed in 1844, revised in 1893 and is reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.
This view of the location of the Tabernacle Church was taken from Edward Street. On the corner of the red brick building is a plaque which commemorates the existence of the Tabernacle Club, stating it was formerly the Tabernacle Congregational Church. (Photograph: Samuel Hodkinson.)
As can be seen from the information above about the children, the first three were baptised in St Mary’s Church, an existing Anglican church, and which is where their parents were married. The last two children – Hannah and George – were baptised in a nonconformist church, the Tabernacle Church, which was on Middle Hillgate. Solomon Ashton was the pastor, having taken up the post in 1807 and was 34 years of age when he baptised Hannah and George.
Hannah and George were baptised on the same date – Thursday, 23rd March 1809. George was three months old and Hannah was two years and three months. Hannah died the following month. Was it a coincidence that she died so soon after her baptism, or was she seriously ill at the time of the ceremony and her parents decided that they had to have her christened because they feared she might not live long? Interestingly, when Hannah died, her funeral did not take place at the Tabernacle Church, but at St Mary’s. Why, at this stage, had her parents reverted to Anglicanism?
The homes of George and Hannah Hodkinson and family
Very little information is available about where the Hodkinson family lived.
Stockport
Birth, baptism and burial records show that for at least the years 1800-1809, the Hodkinsons lived in Stockport. Maybe they lived in Hillgate, an area of Stockport which was undergoing extensive development, but there is only flimsy evidence to support this view.
Hillgate, Stockport
Two Hodkinson children – George and Hannah – were baptised in the non-conformist Tabernacle Church in Middle Hillgate. There are two ways at looking at this information. It is possible that the Hodkinsons may have lived some distance away from the church but chose it on religious grounds and, like many others, they may also have been attracted to the church because of the popularity of the pastor, Solomon Ashton. The other possibility is that George and Hannah may have simply chosen the non-conformist church nearest to them and, on that basis, lived in Hillgate for an unknown length of time.
Portwood, Stockport
What is certain is that Jane Hodkinson was living in Portwood at the time of her death in 1824. As for other surviving members of the family, they could have been living in the same house as Jane, or anywhere else in Stockport, Cheshire or the rest of the country, or abroad.
Notes and sources for this page:
- Art UK, Church of St Mary, Stockport, Cheshire. (https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/church-of-st-mary-stockport-cheshire-89701. Accessed 23 February 2023.)
- Henry Heginbotham, Stockport: Ancient and Modern. (London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company. 1882.) Vol. I. p.210.
- History Extra, A survivor's guide to Georgian marriage. (https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/a-survivors-guide-to-georgian-marriage. Accessed 17th February 2025.)
- Henry Heginbotham, Stockport: Ancient and Modern. (London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company. 1882.) Vol. I. p.216.
- Henry Heginbotham, Stockport: Ancient and Modern. (London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company. 1882.) Vol. I. Illustration between p.326 and p.327.
- Robert Glen, Nathaniel K. Pugsley - from Hoxton Academy to Industrial Stockport. The Journal of the United Reformed Church History Society. 2001, Vol 6, no. 9. p.656.
This page was originally published on 23rd March 2023, with the latest updates completed by 17th February 2025.