Staffordshire Links

This is a transcription of a letter from William Hopkins to William Alcock of Horninglow, Staffordshire, regarding a potential apprehentice, a son of Thomas Coulson. In it, he refers to Alcock as a loving cousin, and to "our relations & Friends" there.

London the 13th of March } 1698/9 }

Loving Cosen William Alcock this with my love with wife
& Childrens unto thee & thy Children Hoping these few
Lines may find you in good health as we are all indife
rent well thanks be to god for it I have recived thy
Letter & by that I understand thee hast heard of a boy
For a prentis for me I kindly acccept of thy Love for it
this may let the understad that I have no objection
against the parrist puting of him out if they will
Cloth him well & send him up as Quickly as they can
Conveniently: so having no more at present but my Love
to those our relations & Friends In the Countrey as
opetunity may serve I remain thy Loving Cozen

William Hopkins

Ap 6 99
Reced of Mr Brome thirty
Shillings in order to buy clothing
for the son of Tho: Coulson
To be made an Apprentice in
London

P Pg: Wakefeild

This For William
Alcock at his house in
horniglo near burton
upon Trent ~~near~~ in
Stafford Shire

with Card

receipt for 30 ⁸ toward
clothing Coulson
98

Source: Staffordshire County Archives, D4219/6/728

Possible Hopkins Connections to Staffordshire

I had been going on the assumption that William was from Northamptonshire. But I had noticed previously that there were connections between William Hopkins and people from Staffordshire. This letter gave me more reason to think that he might have been born there, or nearby. Here are some of the connections.

William Alcock was mentioned in William Hopkins' will as a cousin from Horninglow, and left 20 shillings. Several of the Hopkins family were listed as relations at the marriage of Alcock's son Thomas.
Edward Henly, son of William of Alrewas, Staffordshire, was apprenticed to William Hopkins in 1678.
Henry Smith, son of William of Rollleston, Staffordshire was apprenticed to William Hopkins in 1683.
James Healey, son of Richard Healey of Barton under Needwood, Staffordshire, was apprenticed to William Hopkins on 6 Jul 1692. Richard and his wife Mary were often linked to the Hopkins family in the Friends records.
Thomas Coulson, who was mentioned in the letter above, was apprenticed to William Hopkins on 5 Sep 1699.

There were a number of Hopkinses in towns near Horninglow during the late 1600s. There were three christening or baptism records for William Hopkinses that might have been my William:

William Hopkins, son of William and Joane, baptised on 23 Dec 1627 at St. Bartholomew, Wednesbury, Staffordshire.
William Hopkins, son of Wm. Hopkins and Ann Hope, baptised 1630 at Rugeley, Staffordshire.
William Hopkins, son of Thomas, baptised 6 Mar 1634, St. Martins, Tipton, Staffordshire.

There were others that were a little further from William's birth date of about 1634.

William Hopkins, son of Richard and Anne, baptised 24 Mar 1638/9 (possibly 1637/8) at St. Bartholomew, Wednesbury, Staffordshire.
Gulielmus Hopkin, son of Gulielmi and Margaretae, christened on 12 Jul 1640 at Wolstanton, Staffordshire.
William Hopkins, son of Richard and Anne, baptised 13 Feb 1641/2 (possibly 1640/1), at St. Bartholomew, Wednesbury, Staffordshire.
William Hopkins, son of Nicklis, baptised 29 May 1642, Walsall.
William Hopkys, son of Robert, christened 23 Nov 1650, Wolverhampton.
William Hopkins, son of Henrie, christened 20 Sep 1678, Wednesbury.

There are a few records of Hopkins marriages that fit the time frame in this part of Staffordshire.

Thomas Hopkins and Jana Greene, Rugley, 1616
Wm. Hopkins and Ann Hope, Rugeley, 30 Nov 1629
Richard Hopkins and Anne Willettes, Walsall, 20 Aug 1633

I've also found these death records for Staffordshire Hopkinses.

Thomas Hopkin, died 4 Nov 1642, Burton upon Trent
Robert Hopkins, died 24 Sep 1643, Rolleston
Thomas Hipkins, died 5 May 1668, Tipton
Sarah Hopkins, daughter of William, died 21 Jun 1685, Wolverhampton
Thomas Hopkins, son of William, died 6 Jul 1685, Wolverhampton
William Hopkins, died 30 Nov 1688, Wednesbury
William Hopkins, Sr., died 18 Nov 1693, Wolverhampton

And these will records:

William Hopkyns, will, 1541, Wallsal
Nicholas Hopkyns, will, 1542, Wednesbury
William Hopkys, will, 1548, Wednesbury
George Hopkyes, admin, 1549, Wednesbury
Edward Hopkyns, will, 1549, Wednesbury
Richard Hopkyns, admin, 1554, Wallsal
William Hopkins, 1563
Richard Hopkins, 1566
William Hopkins, 1566
Richard Hopkins, (son William), yeoman, will, 11 Jun 1603, Wednesbury
Richard Hopkins, (son William) yeoman, 6 Sep 1623, Wednesbury
Robert Hopkins, (wife Margaret), clothworker, will, 13 Apr 1629, Burton upon Trent
William Hopkins, (son William), gentleman, 2 Jun 1632, Borough of Warwick
John Hopkins, (wife Joan), will, 23 Mar 1633, Tipton
William Hopkins, 1634
Thomas Hopkins, nailer, admin, 8 Jul 1634, Wednesbury
Thomas Hopkins, yeoman, will, 20 Feb 1635, Wednesbury
George Hopkins, husbandman, will, 6 Jul 1636, Wednesbury
John Hopkins, 1636
William Hopkins, will, 1645
George Hopkins, couper, will, 8 Dec 1646, Wednesbury
Christopher Hodgkyn, Darley, 1648
Peter Hopkins, Whitchurch, 1649
William Hopkins, Abbey Hilton, 1649
Thomas Hopkyn, Tilstock, 1649
William Hopkins, yeoman, admin, 1 Dec 1662, Wednesbury
Thomas Hopkins, admin, 3 Mar 1676, Wednesbury
Henry Hopkins, (wife Mary), ironmonger, will, 14 Jun 1684, Wednesbury
Thomas Hopkins, husbandman, admin, 7 Jun 1681, Rolleston
John Hopkins, (wife Elizabeth), ironmonger, will, 12 May 1690, Wednesbury
William Hopkins, gentleman, will, 16 Aug 1699, Wednesbury
Thomas Hopkins, maltster, will, 22 Jul 1726, Wednesbury

I found this reference to Hopkinses in Staffordshire in the historical literature:

Royalist Composition Papers in Her Majesty's State Paper Office Second series vol 27 p 287 March 24 1646/7

These are to certifie all whom it may concerne that William Hopkins of Wednesbury in the county of Stafford at the surrender of Rushall upon the 22nd of May 1644 was there amongst other prisoners at wch time having for good reasons prevailed for my protection he went unto his house at Wednesbury [Oakeswell Hall] where hee lived ever since obedient to all orders and ordinances of Parliament as I have been credibly informed by a certificat given to him by Captain Robert Tuthill then Governor there Holdenby the 24th of March 1646 Signed B DENBIGH

Source: W. Parke, 1854: A History of Wednesbury, in the County of Stafford,
and Embracing an Account of the Coal and Iron Trade

There seems to have been a concentration of Hopkinses in Wednesbury and Tipton. In his 1684 will, Henry Hopkins left money to the poor in both towns. They're only about 3 miles apart.

I'm continuing to research this Staffordshire connection, and will update this page whenever I find new information.

The Alcock Family

There were a number of Alcocks in the records in Staffordshire. They seem to have been concentrated in the area close to Rolleston and Barton-Under-Needwood. I've collected what I could find about them in this page.

The Healey Family

Another of the Staffordshire families with links to the Hopkins family was the Healey family. As mentioned above, James Healey was apprenticed to William Hopkins on 6 Jul 1692. James and his wife Mary (Cross) were close to Benjamin and Sarah (Haddon) Hopkins. For more on that, please see this page.

I've found a number of records for the Healey family in Staffordshire. Please see the Healey Family page for more details, and a link to a register report for the family.

Here is a link to a pdf file containing a transcription of William's letter more as it appears in the original.

I've prepared a map showing the locations of interest in Staffordshire, and their relations to one another geographically. These towns are pretty close together, within 30 miles at most.

Back to William Hopkins …§… Back to Vintners page

This file was last updated on 5/1/2017.