THE HODGKINSON FAMILIES OF
ASHTON-
LANCASHIRE
The name HODGKINSON is a surname strongly associated with the county of Lancashire in the northwest of England.
ASHTON-
Ashton-
In the LDS 1881 census index, there were 7627 individuals in Britain with the name
Hodgkinson or variant, 2235 of these enumerated in Lancashire. If the exact spelling
of the surname is used, then there were 1125 individuals with the name in the county.
Of these, 47 were resident in Ashton-
The following table shows the number of individuals bearing the name Hodgkinson in
Ashton in each of the census years 1841-
The following table lists the types of occupations of the Hodgkinson (families) of Ashton in 1881:
These occupations reflect the main industries in Ashton:
THE HODGKINSON FILCUTTERS
Nearly all of the Ashton Hodgkinsons are descended from John Hodgkinson, (1757?-
The business now became a partnership between three sons of John (born 1780), these being:
Towards the end of the 1840's the family acquired Field Farm, off Heath Lane behind
St Thomas' Church (see map above) and this became the "Field Farm Fileworks", later
the "Ashton Fileworks". The firm was known as "John Hodgkinson & Brothers". An elderly
relative described going to the "little smithies" there as a child in the early 1900's.
Below is the fileworks as it was in the early 1980's prior to demolition -
John (born 1817) became a prominent local figure, being the Provisional CS of the Oddfellows Society for Ashton for 40 Years. In the 1870's religious disturbances took place at Ashton, the local vicar having become too "high church" for the taste of many of the townsfolk (for more information click here). The Hodgkinsons took the lead in establishing (and actually building) a new church, initially called Christ Church, but soon changing after receipt of a funding gift to the Cave Browne Protestant Institute. This very active church is found in Heath Lane. The last Hodgkinson worshipping there died in the early 1990's.
Bryan was also involved with the Oddfellows, and his obituary describes how "the
deceased had worked as a file-
To read the obituaries of John and Bryan, click here
Benjamin Hodgkinson and workers (date unknown)
In 1871 John was described as employing "3 men and 2 boys" and in 1881 as "employing two sons", perhaps reflecting some business decline. The firm was taken over by Alfred Sibson Hodgkinson, son of Bryan.
At some point the firm was sold to Cromptons, who had a large factory built probably on the site of the old gennels in the centre of Ashton. The picture below of men who "worked for" Alfred Sibson Hodgkinson, may have been taken after this point.
A hand written price list for file-
To read an overview of the file-
used by the Hodgkinsons, click here
WHERE DID THE HODGKINSONS COME FROM?
The name Hodgkinson does appear in the Winwick registers in the 1600's, but only sporadically. These Hodgkinsons could be connected to the Hodgkinson families of Deane or Leigh, but it is more likely that this family may have its origins in Warrington. Of interest is the family of John & Elizabeth Hodgkinson nee Mather married 1748, in which there is a gap which could contain the birth of the 'original' John Hodgkinson:
1749 (10/5) HANNAH d. JOHN & ELIZABETH H bp. @ Newton
1750 (23/9) ALICE d. JOHN & ELIZABETH H bp. @ Newton
1752 (16/7) BETTY d. JOHN & ELIZABETH H bp. @ Newton
1755 (8/5) MARGARET d. JOHN & ELIZABETH H bp. @ Newton
1756 (30/9) MARY d. JOHN & ELIZABETH H bp. @ Newton
? 1757 JOHN
1758/9 HENRY (s. JOHN & ELIZABETH H buried Warrington 6/3/1764, aged 6)
1760/1 PEGGY (d. JOHN & ELIZABETH H buried Warrington 29/4/1764, aged 4)
1762 (24/1) MARTHA d JOHN & ELIZABETH H @ Warrington
1770 (28/1) THOMAS s. JOHN & ELIZABETH H @ Great Sankey
John Hodgkinson was perhaps the son of Henry (born 1723) and Alice , and was a husbandman
of Rixton (Warrington) on 10 April 1748 when he took out a licence (supported by
John Hall of Newton) to marry Elizabeth Mather of Billinge at Wigan or at Burtonwood
chapel (Warrington parish). The marriage took place at Wigan later that day. John
and Elizabeth Hodgkinson seem to have lived for at least the first eight years of
their marriage at Newton-
GENEALOGICAL DATA
Click here to begin to access the family trees, starting with John & Betty Hodgkinson. A blue underlined link associated with a surname in capital letters will take you to another tree from that individual's family. The link <parents> will take you back to the previous tree.
Click here to go to a list of surnames associated by marriage with the Hodgkinsons in the trees.
Click here to go to an index of the Hodgkinsons listed in the trees.
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File manufacturing |
6 |
Coal mining |
5 |
Cotton industry |
4 |
Hinge manufacturing |
2 |
Retail trade |
1 |
Census year |
Individuals |
1841 |
37 |
1851 |
53 |
1861 |
58 |
1871 |
45 |
1881 |
47 |
1891 |
51 |
1901 |
70 |
1911 |
73 |