Could Sir Alfred be a distant rellie?

[shelley75]

Thats strange. Richard and Susan are my GGG grandparents in my family tree. Theres no mention of the name Drinkwater in Sir Alfred Hitchcock's family tree as far as I know. Where do you get the Drinkwater name in your family tree, perhaps Charles was Richard's brother and Susan Drinkwater was his sister in law or maybe his first wife. Didnt you say Charles had been married before. This is getting really interesting. If we can find the connection it means we are related way way back. Shelley75.

[davepattern]

Hi Shelley & Lizzie!

I'm busy researching Alfred Hitchcock's ancestors at the moment for the Alfred Hitchcock Wiki site and would be interested in sharing info and comparing notes. I think I've probably reached the same point as you -- trying to piece together who Charles' parents and siblings were, and some family insider knowledge would be welcome to help patch some of the holes 

It seems to me Enoch Hitchcock (b. ~1781) and Ebenezer Hitchcock (b. ~1791) are likely siblings (Enoch named a son Ebenezer and Charles named one of his Enoch). Due to the names Charles chose for his children, Mary Hitchcock (b. ~1770) and Sarah Hitchcock (b. ~1763) both seem good candidates for his mother and possibly William Hitchcock (b. ~1758) for his father. It looks like Charles came from a family of coopers with links to Dedham and Colchester, so I'm intrigued why he decided to move to Stratford, after the birth of his first daughter, to set up a fishmonger & greengrocery business.

Feel free to drop me an email at d.c.pattern{@}hud.ac.uk

Dave

[polly50]

Dave.....it would be wise to remove your email address from your message or you could have a problem with spammers.

Sorry I can't help with your query.

[davepattern]

Thanks Polly -- I used my work email as that's fairly well protected from spam. Should say I'm also more than happy to chip in on this thread too 

This is my first attempt at tracing a family tree, so I've likely made loads of beginners mistakes, but I started off writing it up as a blog post before deciding to try and document it fully on the wiki itself. It's still an early work in progress, but the aim is to have separate pages for each ancestor (e.g. Charles Hitchcock (b. ~1791) and to try and piece together the various Hitchcocks who lived in the Dedham and West Ham areas (I thought even if they're not related to Alfred Hitchcock, it might come in useful some someone else Googling their family tree).

I'm only using findmypast.co.uk for this, but it's been a fun process -- a bit like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle in the dark when you already know lots of pieces are missing 

[polly50]

The best of luck to you Dave. Tracing one's family history is very,very addictive
You sound very organised though. I wish I had been more organised at the start of my journey into the past

[Jaxyfone]

When I first thought Frederick Abberline's wife was a rellie, I was already back to the 1500s, so what I did was to trace Martha Mackness' line back to try and find a common ancestor. It meant working through every individual on the family's census records, but I got there in the end.

I have a Rowland Hill in my line too, but no link found as yet. Would have been good because all the bookishness comes from that side of the family.

[shelley75]

Ill be interested to see what you find out about all of Alfred's relations as I'm trying to find his connection to my family. As I said earlier I can trace my family back to a John Hitchcock b:1790ish in Essex. He had a son called Richard Hitchcock b: 1810 in Essex and he married a Susan Drinkwater b:1821. He was a gardener and she was the daughter of Thomas Drinkwater who was a publican. They were married on 25/11/1855 at Harlington Middlesex. Shelley75.

[lizzy56]

My GG Grandfather was Charles Hitchcock born 1791 in Dedham Essex. I have been trying to find siblings and parents for the past few years. He was married twice and I have found a first marriage but still not 100% sure iff that is the right one. As Alfred's father was catholic I am wondering that's why I am having trouble finding any more connections. Have his second marriage.
Angie.

[davepattern]

Hi Angie

Charles was Alfred's great grandfather, so (I think) that makes you a second cousin (once removed) of the famous director, yes?

I've currently got the following listed as Charles' children:
- Susannah Hitchcock (b. ~1823)
- Sarah Hitchcock (b. ~1824)
- Joseph Hitchcock (b. 1828)
- Charles William Hitchcock (b. 1838)
- Mary Emily Hitchcock (b. 1840)
- Enoch Hitchcock (b. 1844)

I'm struggling to find much info on Susannah and Sarah tho.

Charles being married twice makes sense, as Sarah (2nd wife) was born around 1810 so she'd likely only be the mother of Charles William, Mary Emily and Enoch.

Going by the birth locations given on the census returns, only Susannah was born in Dedham, which makes me think Charles moved to Stratford in late 1823/early 1824. When did he marry Sarah?

I think the Catholic influence on Alfred came mostly from his mother Emma, who apparently insisted on taking him back to the Catholic church in Stratford every Sunday (even tho they lived up the road in Leytonstone, about 2 miles from the church). Dedham seems like an Anglican/Protestant village, so the Catholic influence mostly came from Alfred's grandfather marrying Ann Mahoney and then Alfred's father marrying Emma Jane Whelan (both were daughters of Roman Catholic Irishmen).

On the marriage certificate you've got, was the marriage to Sarah in Stratford/West Ham? If so, there was a William and Jane Hitchcock (both born around 1794 and parents of another Jane Hitchcock who born ~1831) living in Stratford at the time of the 1851 Census. What would fit really nicely is if this William was a relative of Charles (e.g. brother or cousin) who was already living in Stratford, as I've puzzled over why Charles would decide to make the move 60 miles southwest from Dedham.

As for Charles' siblings and parents, I've got nothing definite but there are a few candidates living in Dedham around that time. Sara Martin married William Hitchcock in 1782 in Dedham, which would be the right time to make them the parents.

Dedham seems to be a hotspot for coopers (i.e. barrel makers) around that time and several are good candidates for being Charles' brothers, especially Enoch Hitchcock (b. ~1781) and Ebenezer Hitchcock (b. ~1791) as Enoch named one of his sons Ebenezer and Charles named one of his sons Enoch (i.e. brothers naming their sons after their own brothers). Other coopers include George Hitchcock (b. ~1790). There's also a William Hitchcock (b. ~1783) who likely married Elizabeth Sharp in 1805 but who died before the first census in 1841, so I don't know what his occupation was.