Descendants of William Hickin - and notes on his ancestry

The earliest HICKIN ancestor I can identify positively is William Charles HICKIN, my great great grandfather who, according to the 1851 census, was born about 1825 in the Holborn district of London.

Being born before the era of Civil Registration, however, makes establishing William's ancestry more difficult. The 1841 census shows him at home with his mother, Sarah, and two sisters, but no father. His mother Sarah is living alone in 1851, described as a widow. There is no GRO reference for her husband's death in the years 1837 - 1851; he is a 'lost' ancestor.

A baptism record in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) showed a William Hickin born in 1825 and christened at St Dunstan in the West, with a father also called William and a mother called Sarah. A check of the actual parish registers for St Dunstan's at The Guildhall Library [MS 10355/3] revealed that this William was born on the 2nd November, Christened on the 30th November 1825, his father was Assistant Vestry Clerk and his abode was 110 Fetter Lane. This fitted with evidence obtained from census data and entries on marriage certificates, although on the marriage entries the father's occupation was simply 'Clerk'.

We seem to have discovered William's birth record but so far it does not quite pass the Genealogical Proof Standard. (See http://www.bcgcertification.org/resources/standard.html). However we are talking about a man with a rare surname, living in the right part of London, with a wife called Sarah and with the right occupation. The chances of it being the 'wrong' man are, I think, remote.

A lot is known about the William Hickin who was assistant vestry clerk at St Dunstan in the West, which explains why he was 'lost', but this will not be published until further proof of his place in the family is available. One thing that is important here is that he was 26 years old in January 1827.

Another search of earlier registers for St Dunstan's revealed another William Hickin baptised there in 1800,[MS 10355/2] has the entry: 'Dec 7 1800 William, son of William and Amelia Hickin born 9 November from Hen and Chicken Court'. This is the right date for the William who went on to become assistant vestry clerk.

The International Genealogical Index has a marriage of William Hickin and Amelia Williams in March 1799 at St Bride Fleet Street, the adjacent parish to St Dunstan's. The original register has been checked, and confirms the IGI record. This William Hickin was described on the marriage certificate as being of the parish of St Dunstan's. A search of the baptism records for the 1770s, however, revealed no William Hickin, though Amelia Williams was found in the St Dunstan's registers in 1775 [MS 10355/1]. Interestingly the Vestry Clerk of St Dunstan in the West until his death in 1823, was John Hickin, whose address in a list of inhabitants of the parish is given as Hen and Chicken Court. There is evidence to suggest that this John Hickin was the brother of the William who married Amelia Williams.

Another Hickin who turns up, both in the parish registers for St Dunstan and in a list of inhabitants is Hilton Hickin (name spelt Hicken, in one place, and Hickins in another). This was unexpected. A search for Hilton Hickin on the IGI, however, revealed several Hilton Hickins, born in Oldswinford, Worcestershire. As his address is listed as 4 Hen and Chicken Court, it seems very likely he is of the same family, and that would indicate an origin in this part of the world, which is on the border between Worcestershire and Staffordshire. The IGI shows Hilton Hickin marrying Elizabeth Quay at St Clement Danes, London, in 1773 and it is possible that he is, in fact, William's father. Further investigation is required.

To date (September 2004) no record has been found for a marriage between William Hickin and Sarah. A search of the St Dunstan registers for the candidate years was unsuccessful, as were those for St Bride's.

St Dunstan in the West in about 1830 - Hen and Chicken Court is to the right of the church

1 William Charles HICKIN b: ABT 1825 d: 1897
  + Elizabeth MARSDEN b: ABT 1823
    2 Charles William HICKIN b: 5th Nov 1851 d: 1901
      + Harriet Kitty SIMS b: 8 Aug 1850
        3 Frank Edward HICKIN b: 4 Jul 1883 d: 1955
          + Catherine Henrietta CLARK b: 13 Nov 1885
            4 Harold Ernest HICKIN b: 18 Sep 1919 d: 2 Mar 2001
              + Patricia Agnes MCNALLY b: 23 Jun 1928 d: 27 Dec 1973
                5 Sean HICKIN
               

Click on any name to see more detail about the person and their descendants/ancestors.

Home | The Genealogy | Name Index | Surname Distribution | Photographs | GEDCOM Location

This site, like every other, is best viewed with Mozilla Firefox,