Parents/grandparents of Martha Hicking or Hickling of Littleover, m Richard Lee.

[Arachne]

Well, I've now sighted Martha's cert and it seems we are on exactly the right track - her father is given as George Hicking (farmer) and mother as Mary nee Watson, her birth having taken place at Ripley, Derbyshire, England.

Thanks very much all - considering the lack of names to be going on with, I'm impressed at how much we've worked out between us

And as a footnote, I have tracked Martha's missing sister. In 1879 she married a former English soldier who became a gold miner on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. They lived around Greymouth and had a daughter. Mary Ann's husband Allen Haig had been serving in India (he was a veteran of the Indian Mutiny) when Governor Grey called for reinforcements to deal with  an uprising by the native Maori tribes of New Zealand and he stayed on after the 68th (light Durham Infantry) were to be sent home in 1866. By coincidence Allen Haig was deployed to Tauranga, New Zealand, and took part in the Battle of Gate Pa.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/war-in-tauranga/gate-pa

Later my grandmother (Martha's granddaughter) lived there with her own family and my father and his sisters grew up running around the redoubt and trenches of Gate Pa, relics of that former battle. The effectiveness of the Maori trenches as a defense mechanism was noted by the British Army and were probably at least partly responsible for those infamous trenches we associate with the horrors of WWI.

[Derbysderek]

Sorry to butt in..I have the PR's for Heanor St. Lawrence..I haven't been following this thread..but if I can add anything to the excellent work of Spendlove..just ask.
Derek

[Arachne]

Hi Derbyderek - Just curious because I haven't seen her place of baptism mentioned, but wonder if there is a record of Martha Hicking being baptised at St Lawrence? Date of baptism is believed to have been 27 March 1842, birth at Ripley, Derbyshire.  Parents were George Hicking  (farmer) and Mary (nee Watson).

I notice that Thomas and Stephen Watson (presumably working in partnership) are mentioned as being freeholders of Codnor & Loscoe in the parish of Heanor in 1821 (History & Gazetteer of the County of Derby, Vol 2, Part 1) and wonder if they are connected to Martha's mother Mary (nee Watson), whose parents I believe to have been Thomas & Hannah (nee Baker) Watson. Mary was born at Loscoe and baptised at St Lawrence Heanor on 2 September 1807, and it may be significant that she named her youngest son Stephen.

[Arachne]

Since I last posted here I have pretty much managed to sort out all the members on this side of my family,  but have one birth/baptism date which I have been completely unable to confirm, and wondered if one of the helpful researchers here might be able to help.

The person concerned is Mary Ann Hicking, daughter of George Hicking and his wife Mary nee Watson. I know from census records that Mary Ann was born around 1845 at Ripley, Derbyshire - her father had a farm at Greenwich, Ripley, at that time - but can't find a record which provides details of her birth and/or baptism date/s.

Many thanks,
Anne.

[[Ray]]

Hi

? Is this a start . . . . .
HICKLING, MARY         (mmn WATSON)
GRO Reference: 1842  S Quarter in BASFORD UNION NOTTINGHAM DERBY  Volume 15  Page 396

 
and . . . . .
 
HICKLING, JANE         (mmn WATSON)
GRO Reference: 1844  D Quarter in BASFORD  Volume 15  Page 403
 
 

[Arachne]

Thanks for this, Ray. I appreciate your response, but I feel that the birth date for this Mary is a bit too early. Going by the census records my Mary Ann Hicking's birth date is extrapolated variously as being abt 1845 or abt 1846. In  1874 when listed as a passenger on the immigrant ship 'Cartvale", her age is given as 28yrs which could possibly make it closer to 1846. Birth place in census records for 1851, 1861 & 1871 is recorded invariably as Ripley, Derbyshire, and as her father had a farm at Greenwich, Ripley, that does seems likely.

Cheers,
Anne.

[suzard]

Hi

? Is this a start . . . . .
HICKLING, MARY         (mmn WATSON)
GRO Reference: 1842  S Quarter in BASFORD UNION NOTTINGHAM DERBY  Volume 15  Page 396

 
and . . . . .
 
HICKLING, JANE         (mmn WATSON)
GRO Reference: 1844  D Quarter in BASFORD  Volume 15  Page 403

If Mary Ann was b. Ripley her birth would be registered in Belper district - if it was registered??

Suz