Buckinghamshire Quarterly Quaker Meeting
and Upperside Monthly Meeting Records
FHL #0583991, #0583992, #0583993, #0814827, #0814828, and #0814842
Wooburn Parish Records
FHL #1966923
I had found almost nothing about William, the son of William and Katherin Hopkins, in the Southwark records, and wondered what had happened to him. Then, when I found William Hopkins' will, he mentioned his son William, who was living in Buckinghamshire at the time his will was made (1705). So I ordered the Quaker films above from the Family History Library.
These films contained the information I'd been seeking. William was a shopkeeper in Wooburn, which is just southeast of High Wycombe. He was married to Sarah Belson, and had five children listed in the records. Sarah was the daughter of Edmund and Sarah (Hoare) Belson of Haddenham, which is southwest of Aylesbury. Following is a register report for William and his family:
1. William Hopkins was born on 20 Aug 1670 in St. George's Parish, Southwark, Surrey, England. He died about Jul 1747 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England.
William married Sarah Belson daughter of Thomas Edmund Belson and Sarah Hoare on 12 Apr 1698 in New Jordans, Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, England. Sarah was born on 15 Mar 1673 in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England.
They had the following children:
2 M i. William Hopkins was born on 10 Sep 1699 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England. He died on 11 Apr 1739 in Camberwell, Surrey, England.
3 M ii. Benjamin Hopkins was born on 2 Sep 1700 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England.
4 M iii. Edward Hopkins was born on 8 Mar 1702 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England. He died on 15 Jan 1711 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England. He was buried in New Jordans, Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, England.
5 M iv. Abraham Hopkins was born on 26 Jun 1703 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England.
6 F v. Sarah Hopkins was born on 4 Nov 1704 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England. She died after 10 May 1720.
Among the relations present at the marriage of Benjamin Hopkins and Sarah Haddon on 29d 6m 1706 were a William and Sarah Hopkins. I think that these were William and Sarah of Buckinghamshire, attending his youngest brother's marriage. In searching the Buckinghamshire Quaker records, the latest mention of William I found was at the time of the death of his son Edward (1711). From that time forward, I found no mention of William or his children in the Buckinghamshire Quaker records, except for one mention of Sarah Hopkins, who was a witness to the birth of Anne Brown, daughter of Henry and Sarah Brown, in Wooburn on 22d 10m 1725. Their absence from the Quaker records made me wonder whether they continued to be active members of the Society.
Accordingly, I ordered the film containing the Wooburn parish church records, FHL film #1966923, to see if there were any Hopkinses mentioned in them. There were no Hopkinses listed, or any similar surnames that seemed connected to William and his family. I did find a number of records for people with other surnames of interest. For example, there were a number of Fellows families in the Wooburn records. (William's sister Sarah married Thomas Fellows of Reading in 1701.) A register report for one Fellows family follows:
1. Richard Fellows .
Richard married Margaret Harding on 11 Feb 1726 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England.
They had the following children:
2 M i. William Fellows was born on 3 Jun 1728 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England. He died on 19 Jul 1728 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England.
3 F ii. Elizabeth Fellows was born on 20 Jul 1729 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England. She died on 28 Sep 1729 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England.
4 M iii. John Fellows was born on 7 Apr 1731 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England.
5 M iv. William Fellows was born on 1 Apr 1733 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England.
6 F v. Elizabeth Fellows was born on 10 Jul 1735 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England.
7 M vi. Richard Fellows was born on 9 Jan 1736/1737 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England. He died on 18 Feb 1737/1738 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England.
8 M vii. Henry Fellows was born on 3 Oct 1739 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England. He died on 25 Dec 1739 in Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England.
I'm including a list of the data I transcribed from the Wooburn parish records in this file.
Since I didn't find a death record for William, I looked in the PCC Wills Online at the Public Record Office site. There was no mention of William or any other Hopkins in Wooburn during that time period. Then I checked in the index to wills and administrations for the Archdeaconry of Buckingham. There I found an administration bond that was issued to Elizabeth Hopkins of Southwark and two local men, William Walker and Thomas Miller, both of Aylesbury, to settle the estate of William Hopkins of Wooburn. Elizabeth was described as his daughter-in-law, and was his executrix. The date of the bond was 9 July 1747. There was no inventory or other documents relating to William in this film, or in the other administrations films I ordered.
--FHL #1042773 Buckinghamshire Archdeaconry Administrations, Box 129, item number 27, 1747 Act Book
Concerning William and Sarah's son William, I found this in the Southwark records, which gives a death date for a William Hopkins in 1739.
William Hopkins late of Camberwell Parish aged about Fourty Years who Died the 11th Day of the Second Month 1739 of Convultions as 2 Common Searchers who view'd the said Body.
--FHL #0811791, Southwark MM Burials
Camberwell is just south of St. George's Parish in Surrey. The age given is about right for William. No other information is given about him.
I've found no other information about any of William and Sarah's other children
In the Buckinghamshire Quaker records, I found more information about the Belsons, including some marriages and the children of these unions:
1. Thomas Edmund Belson was born calculated 1645.
Thomas married Sarah Hoare on 8 Dec 1670 in Meadle, Buckinghamshire, England. Sarah was born calculated 1645/1650.
They had the following children:
2 M i. Edward Belson was born on 13 Nov 1671 in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England. He died on 11 Dec 1673 in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England.
+ 3 F ii. Sarah Belson was born on 15 Mar 1673.
4 F iii. Elizabeth Belson was born on 13 Jul 1675 in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England.
5 F iv. Mary Belson was born on 25 Nov 1677 in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England.
6 F v. Judith Belson died on 14 Jan 1678/1679 in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England. She was buried in Meadle, Buckinghamshire, England.
+ 7 M vi. Edward Belson was born on 2 Jan 1681.
3. Sarah Belson (see above)
7. Edward Belson (Thomas Edmund) was born on 2 Jan 1681 in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England.
Edward married Rachel .
They had the following children:
13 M i. William Belson was born calculated 1710. He died on 13 Sep 1730 in London, England. He was buried in London, England.
+ 14 M ii. John Belson
14. John Belson (Edward, Thomas Edmund).
John married (1) Phebe Cooper on 17 May 1739 in Ratcliff, Middlesex, England. Phebe died on 2 Oct 1743 in St. Magnus by the Tower, London, England. She was buried on 5 Oct 1743 in Middlesex County, England.
They had the following children:
15 M i. Edward Belson was born calculated Jan 1740. He died on 30 Mar 1740 in St. Magnus by the Tower, London, England. The cause of death was Convulsions. He was buried in Middlesex County, England.
16 F ii. Mary Belson was born calculated Oct 1741. She died on 30 Apr 1743 in St. Magnus by the Tower, London, England. The cause of death was Consumption. She was buried on 5 May 1743 in Middlesex County, England.
17 F iii. Sarah Belson was born calculated Nov 1742. She died on 14 Apr 1744 in St. Magnus by the Tower, London, England. The cause of death was fever. She was buried on 19 Apr 1744 in Middlesex County, England.
John married (2) Martha Ansell daughter of Nicholas Ansell and Hannah on 7 Jul 1747 in London, England. Martha was born calculated 1714. She died on 30 Oct 1749 in St. Magnus by the Tower, London, England. She was buried on 2 Nov 1749 in Middlesex County, England.
They had the following children:
18 M iv. John Belson was born in Jul 1748. He died on 1 Aug 1748 in St. Magnus by the Tower, London, England. The cause of death was Convulsions. He was buried on 4 Aug 1748 in Middlesex County, England.
In researching my Hopkins family in Buckinghamshire, I transcribed a number of Quaker records for other individuals. These transcriptions are available through the following links, in files using the rtf format. These should be usable with most word processing programs, and should also be viewable in your browser. Just click on the link for the type of record you're interested in. There is an rtf file that lists the surnames of the people in these records at this link:
| Bucks Births | Bucks Burials | Bucks Marriages |
Back to the family in Southwark. View William's Marriage Certificate
Northamptonshire Quaker Records Southwark Quaker Records
This file was last updated on 4/7/2006.
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