Please note: Family pages are organised by surname; however, this does not mean that all those people featured are related to each other. Where possible we will try to be clear about any connections there may be.

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Belvoir Angel: Anne Hopkinson 1707

Hickling is home to a series of distinctive Belvoir Angel headstones; one of these relates to Anne Hopkinson: click here . This is a very unusual example of these beautiful carvings and it is extraordinary that it has survived – it is well worth looking out for when you visit the churchyard.

“To Anne daughter of John Hopk[…] by Mary his wife d. 1707 in her first year she was a twin Do not for me in tears remain I sleep but till Christ come again”

William Hopkinson (seaman)

A National Archives record gives the details and a physical description of William Hopkinson from Hickling, Notts who was serving as a seaman in 1828:

In the Parish Records:

Baptisms (father’s surname)

Marriages (groom’s surname)

Marriages (bride’s surname)

Burials:

Hopkinson lineage (incomplete).

Generation 1: Robert Hopkinson b. 1622

Married 28th November 1640 at Southwell to Millicent Daft (b. 1620 d. 8th April 1672) – daughter of George (shoemaker) & Sarah.

• Robert Hopkinson buried 30th March 1663 at Hickling

Known children:

• Robert b. 1642, burial 27^th July 1710
• John b. 1644, his burial is recorded as; John snr 22^nd Sept 1712 – see generation 2

Generation 2: John Hopkinson 1644

Married 19th June 1669 at Hickling to Ann Butler

• Buried 22nd September 1712 Hickling – John snr

Known children:

• Ann bap 1st May 1670 Hickling married 13th Nov 1692 Hickling to George Marriott
• John bap 1673 died 1675 (infant death)
• John bap 9th April 1676 Hickling died 1728

Generation 3: John Hopkinson bap 9 April 1676 at Hickling

Married 13th January 1699 Hickling to Mary Robinson

• John Hopkinson buried 24th April 1728, Hickling

Known children:

• John bap 10th Nov 1700 Hickling buried 24th April 1728 (same day as his father) – no marriage record found.
• Mary bap 31st May 1702 Hickling buried 27th August 1713
• Anne bap 6th March 1707 Hickling buried 7th October 1707 (infant death)
• Richard bap 6th March 1707 Hickling died 1712 (Anne and Richard were twins and both died young; there is no trace of a headstone for Richard although his burial is recorded in Parish registers on 20^th May 1712.
• Joseph bap 10th Feb 1711 Hickling died 1784 (see generation 4)
• Richard bap 3rd June 1715 Hickling
• Thomas bap 20th July 1718 Hickling buried 6th June 1722

John snr and John jnr are buried on the same day and they share a headstone; there is nothing in the Parish Registers to indicate infectious disease in the village at the time and a cluster of deaths. Neither the Parish Registers nor the headstone explain why the two men died so close together but it is odd – perhaps an accident?

However, John snr made a Will dated December 1727 which could indicate that he was ill at the time; his son, John, was named as an executor:

• John Hopkinson is described as a yeoman and made his will in December 1727, making his wife, Mary and his son, John executors. He left a house and over two oxgangs of land and his goods, farm stock and chattels which were valued at £130 13s 10d. The house and one and half oxgangs were left to John but with no further instructions this would have gone to Mary as surviving residuary legatee and it is not known what happened to this land. Joseph was left half an oxgang.
• John signed the Will and Mary, the only surviving executor, signed the administration bond.

Generation 4: Joseph Hopkinson – bap. 10th February 1711 Hickling

Married Abigail Langham by licence (dated 7th June 1745 and for a marriage at Ab Kettleby, although the marriage is not recorded in the registers there)

• When Joseph’s father died (1728, generation 3, above), Joseph was left half an oxgang in his father’s Will.
• Joseph Hopkinson died 17th October 1784; buried 18th October 1784 Hickling; the Parish registers note that he was a yeoman.
• Abigail Langham was baptised on 24th January 1717 at Asfordby, Leics. She was the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Gamble) Langham.
• Abigail (Langham) Hopkinson died on 8th November 1786 aged 69years, two years after her husband’s death. She was buried with her husband in Hickling Churchyard.

Known children:

• John bap 6 Jan1749 Hickling buried 11 Feb 1833 Hickling
• Elizabeth bap 30 March 1752
• Mary bap 15 March 1754 Hickling – married 8th Feb 1774 Hickling to Samuel Morley
  • Children: Joseph Morley 1775; Abigail Morley 1776; Mary Morley 1779; Thomas Morley 1784 & William Morley 1788
• Abigail bap 30 May 1755
• Joseph bap 26 June 1757 Hickling buried 18 December 1767 age 10 (see headstone 4, above).
• William bap 8 Feb 1761 Hickling died 1808

Parish Registers in the early 1800s record that several members of the family were living in Loughborough but buried in Hickling.

Hopkinson family graves in the churchyard of St. Luke’s, Hickling: