Big Tree of Hockleys - HOCKLEY FAMILY HISTORY

THE BIG TREE OF HOCKLEYs

The family tree for one HOCKLEY family from Essex, England

by Ruth Hockley

    Where does one start with a family like ours? So many people have tried to put it all together but it would seem that no-one can ever have all the answers. The late Oliver Hockley did a great deal towards sorting out a large portion of this history and after him came Darrel Hockley who managed to collect further information, particularly for the emigrant branches of the tree. Michael Peck had done lots of research on the Hockleys and he was kind enough to let me have a copy of his tree however, it wasn't until Ian Hockley started delving into the older records and checking out what had been amassed by the others, that it became clear that our branch was connected to Oliver's and that they all came from the same stem. I, myself, had done quite a lot of research into our branch but had picked up a 'red herring' on the way and it was Ian who sorted this out for me.

    Then came the Internet and a chance connection with Darlene Heal in Canada. Darlene's family is descended from an emigrant from our branch of the family and she has done lots of research into that group, even overcoming the problem of a name change! She has transcribed Hockley data and contacted other Hockley researchers world-wide. Her daughter Lindsay, set up the Hockley Web-page on the Internet where Darlene is amassing Hockley data from parish records and also the 'Hockley Researchers List' most of whom have no connection with our tree but who we support in any way we can with data and contacts. There are many others, each of whom have researched their own part of the tree and made their contribution.

    The Hockley Book is a compilation of our whole family. It is a jigsaw puzzle and a logic problem and there are still areas to research. We have tried to take the story further back in time than Oliver. We admit that we cannot offer the detail Oliver was looking for when he began his search though the information he and Darrel provided has been included here. It can't be helped, it is just too late to have family stories 'first-hand'. Some of the evidence is circumstantial but what family history doesn't contain that. We do our best and keep on looking for that little missing piece which just might tie in a few loose ends. What is fairly certain is that there is evidence for the family having been in Thaxted and the surrounding area in the early 17th Century and that is where the story begins.

    The Hockley Book is not linked to this web page. The book contains personal details about living family members, for this reason, will never be posted to our website. Last count, it contained more than sixty pages of genealogy, stories, photographs, wills and certificates. The interactive Hockley book is available to family members on CD. For further information contact Ruth Hockley

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The Big Tree of Hockleys

Hockley Family History Site

Posted: June 15, 2003