Vernon John Charles Hawkins and Mary Jane Hogan

Go to: John's Page / John's Family Tree Home / John's Family Tree Index.

Vernon John Charles Hawkins and Mary Jane Hogan

Married 1893

Vernon and Mary seem to have met on Guernsey, and were probably married there too.

The date they were married is somewhat conjectural. Basil is known to have said something along the lines of his parent's not having been married when he was born, although it seems likely they then would have married before having a second child.

We know from the article about Vernon's funeral that in total Vernon and Mary had ten children - five sons and five daughters. The article mentions that two of the daughters had died before Vernon - although their names are not mentioned, it can be deduced that this is referring to Muriel and Olive.

My Dad had got the impression that most of the children emigrated to Australia. However, talking to Cornelia, Phyllis' daughter, it seems it may have only been two of the children - Vernon ("Micky") and Dennis who moved there permanently. The rest may have visited for a time, but did not settle there permanently.

Husband: Vernon John Charles Hawkins

Born: 11-Aug-1867
Died: 1937
Father: John Hawkins
Mother: Marion Marshall

Occupation: Company Secretary to Portsmouth and Brighton United Breweries.
First appears in the 1871 census, aged 3, his place of birth recorded as Portsea, Hants.

At the time of the 1881 census, aged 13, he lived at 4, Gresham Buildings, Portsea, with his parents, brother, and two sisters. Coincidentally, at this time one Mr. William T. Dupree, lived next door at number 3, Gresham Buildings. It seems very likely that this is the same William Dupree mentioned in the article about Vernon's funeral. At this time William T. Dupree is 24, married (to Mary) with one child (Violet I. M. Dupree), and working as a "Brewers Agent Manager".

At the time of the 1891 census, aged 23, he is living on Guernsey. He is recorded here as a boarder in a house in St. Peter Port, the head of the household being one Edward Edmonds. The house number is 25, but the street name is very hard to read - something like Front Canilfiers (?!). After a bit of investigation, I'm now reasonably sure this actually reads "Canichers". Next door, number 26, is named Brunswick House. The ecclesiastical parish is St. John. At this time his occupation is recorded as "Traveller (commercial)", and his marital status is recorded as single.

Vernon must have spent at least a few years on Guernsey, as seemingly he met his wife there and his three eldest children had been born there. He may have moved there originally for business reasons - it doesn't appear that the rest of the family had any links there. His occupation in the 1891 census seems to confirm this. It seems likely he was married in the channel islands, possibly in 1892 or 1893.

By 1896 he had returned to Portsmouth with his wife and three children. At the time of his fourth child Vernon's birth, 1896, he would have been aged 29. On Vernon Junior's birth certificate, Vernon's occupation is recorded as something like "Brewer's Clerk". His address appears to be Deans Road, Cosham.

Around the age of 30 (1897 or therabouts), according to the article below, Vernon would have been appointed secretary of Portsmouth and Brighton United Breweries (as it was known at the time of Vernon's death). It may have had a different name at the time of Vernon's appointment.

At the time of the 1901 census, aged 33, he was living at 17 Darlington Road, Portsmouth with his wife and six children. Here his occupation is recorded as "Secretary To Brewery Company". This correlates well with the funeral article, and he would have been relatively new in the position at this time.

In Kelly's Portsmouth directory for 1902, somebody else appears to be living at number 17, Darlington Road, so it appears Vernon and family had moved again by this time. In the private residents directory there is a Vernon Hawkins living at 49, King Street. Searching the 1901 census, there seems to be only two Vernon Hawkins in the Portsmouth area around this time, Vernon and Vernon's son. So unless another Vernon Hawkins moved to Portsmouth in the following year (and there appears to only be one other in the country!), it is almost certain this is our Vernon.

At the time of his eldest son Basil's marriage in 1916, his occupation appears to be recorded as "Secretary", presumably an abbreviation of company secretary.

The last address Vernon was known to live at was (according to the article below) 24 Tudor Crescent, Cosham. It seems he had remained company secretary right up until the time of his death.

Extract from a newspaper article about Vernon's funeral:

----------------------

DEATH OF MR V. HAWKINS
-
A Well-Known Portmuthian
-
A well-known business man and church (?) worker Mr Vernon John Charles (?) Hawkins, of 24 Tudor Crescent, Cosham, died after a long illness at a Southsea nursing home at 12.5 a.m. on Monday.
Mr. Hawkins, who was 70 (?) years of age, is survived by the widow, five sons, and three daughers (two daughters having died), and 17 grandchildren, who have the sympathy of a large number of friends.

Mr Hawkins was associated since he was a boy with the late Sir William Dupree, Bart, until the time of his death - a period of over 50 years - and was appointed secretary of the Company now known as Portsmouth and Brighton United Breweries, 40 years ago.

The family mourners were the widow, Mr. Basil Hawkins (eldest son), Mrs. and Mr. Crofton (daughter and son-in-law), Mrs. and Mr. Bentley (daughter and son-in-law), Mr Eric Hawkins (son), Mr. Alan Hawkins (son), Mrs. Lucas (daughter), Mr. Dennis Hawkins (son) and Mrs. and Mr. Breed (sister and brother-in-law).

----------------------

Sir William Thomas Dupree, Mayor of Portsmouth, died in 1933, and is buried in Highland Road Cemetery in Portsmouth. One of his achievements as Mayor was to obtain Charles Dickens' birthplace (393, Old Commercial Road) after the death in 1902 of it's former occupant Sarah Pearce. Her father had owned the house at the time Dickens was born (1812).

Wife: Mary Jane Hogan

Born: 1871
Died:
Father: Michael Hogan
Mother: Elizabeth

Mary was born on Jersey to Irish parents, and throughout her life seems to have travelled a fair amount.

She first appears in the 1871 census in Jersey, aged 1. Her birthplace here is recorded as "St. Helier, Jersey".

She appears again in the 1881 census, aged 10, living with her parents in 2 Royal Crescent Cotys, St. Helier, Jersey. Her birthplace here is recorded as "St. Helier, Jersey".

One "Mary J. Hogan", aged 19, appears in the 1891 Channel Islands census. Here she is living at 24, Temple View in the parish of St. Martin on Jersey. She appears to be working as a nurse and domestic servant for one John M. Miles and his family. This seems to fit, as I have heard on several occasions that Mary was working as a maid or something similar at some point, around the time she met Vernon.

Winin a year or so of the 1891 census, it seems likely she moved from Jersey to Guernsey, where (probably) she met her husband Vernon, and where her first three children were born, starting with Basil in 1892.

By the time of her son Vernon's birth in 1896 she had moved to Vernon's home town of Portsmouth, where the rest of the children were also born.

She next appears in the 1901 census, living with husband Vernon and six of her children at 17 Darlington Road, Portsmouth. Her age is recorded as 29 and her place of birth is written "Channel Islands Jersey".

Mary is mentioned as one of the attendees at her husband Vernon's funeral, in 1937.

My Dad had the impression that very late in life, maybe even in her 80s or 90s (so during the 1950s or even 1960s) she finally emigrated to Australia, most of her children having moved there previously. From talking to her granddaughter Cornelia it appears this may not entirely true - perhaps only two of her children moved permanently to Australia, and although Mary did go to Australia very late on in life, Cornelia seemed to think she did later return to England. Cornelia think this was when she was 13 or so, making it sometime around 1953 perhaps. Cornelia said that Mary then went to live with her eldest daughter Blanche.

Child 1: Basil St. Helier Hawkins

Born: 1892
Died: 1984
Spouse: Dorothy Milner
Children: Marion Hawkins, Gerald Basil Milner Hawkins, Doreen Hawkins

Born on Guernsey. Aged 8 at the time of the 1901 census, so would have been born sometime between 1st April 1892 and 31st March 1893.

Child 2: Blanche M. J. Hawkins

Born: 1893
Died:
Spouse: William Royston Crofton
Children: Vernon Royston Crofton, Brenda Crofton

Born on Guernsey. Aged 7 at the time of the 1901 census, so would have been born sometime between 1st April 1893 and 31st March 1894.

She may have been named after either or both of two aunts - both Vernon and Mary had sisters named Blanche.

Blanche was apparently a very maternal figure, and spent a lot of time looking after other members of the family. It is thought she looked after Mary in her later years, as well as taking in her sister Olive's daughter when Olive died.

Child 3: Muriel Hawkins

Born: 1894
Died:
Spouse: Horace C. Manders
Children:

Born on Guernsey. Aged 6 at the time of the 1901 census, so would have been born sometime between 1st April 1894 and 31st March 1895.

In the article about Vernon's (Muriel's father's) funeral it is mentioned that two of his daughters had died before he had. The list of funeral attendees includes a Mrs. Crofton (Blanche), a Mrs. Bentley (Gladys), and a Mrs. Lucas (Phyllis) but no Mrs Manders. It therefore seems likely that Muriel was one of the two daughters that had died before Vernon.

Child 4: Vernon Michael Cecil Hawkins

Born: 25-Oct-1896
Died:
Spouse: Lily Gertrude Pheobe Woodlands
Children: Muriel Dorothy Hawkins, Vernon George Hawkins, Kathleen Joan Hawkins, Barbara Hawkins, Terence Hawkins

Aged 4 at the time of the 1901 census, and recorded as having been born in "Hants Cosham".

This seems to tie in with a Vernon Cecil Hawkins recorded in the GRO index for Jan/Feb/Mar 1897 as having been born in the district of Fareham (volume 2b page 569).

I have a copy of Vernon's birth certificate which confirms this is the correct entry. The handwriting is very difficult to read, and it is hard to make out his date of birth, but it appears to be 25th October 1896. It appears the birth was registered on the 1st January 1897.

Vernon seems to appear in the earlier family photo, but we believe he's not in the later one. At the time of his father's funeral he was seemingly still alive (the article mentions Vernon Sr. having five boys and five girls, and two of the girls having died, so presumably all the boys were still alive), but for some reason he did not attend - or at least he does not appear in the list of family attending.

It seems Vernon was probably the first of the children to move to Australia. He is recorded as having enrolled for the first world war in the Australian army on the 10th January 1916 and returned on the 25th January 1919. The place of enrollment is recorded as Goulburn, New South Wales.

He also enrolled for the second world war, again in the Australian army, on 25 Mar 1941, and was discharged on the 25th November 1944. The place of enrolement is recorded as Paddington, New South Wales, and his locality at the time of enrolement is recorded as Lidcombe, New South Wales.

His next of kin in the second instance is recorded as Lily Hawkins and there is a record of a marriage between VERNON M.C. HAWKINS and LILY G.P. WOODLANDS in Auburn. I now have a transcript of the marriage registration giving more details.

Although the middle name "Michael" does not appear on Vernon's birth certificate, it appears in several places in his Australian records.

In fact, it appears from talking to his niece Cornelia, that actual Vernon was often called by his middle name - she referred to him as Uncle Micky.

Cornelia also said that he may have been staying with his uncle - one of Mary's brothers - when he first moved to Australia. Apparently he was something of a tearaway as a child in England, and it was thought some time in Australia might straighten him out.

Child 5: Gladys Isabel Hawkins

Born: 1898
Died:
Spouse: Clifford Donovan Bentley
Children: Cragie Bentley

Recorded as being age 3 at the time of the 1901 census, and recorded as having been born in "Hants Portsmouth".

There are two possible birth records with which this may tie in.

The first is a Gladys Rose Hawkins recorded in the GRO index for Jul/Aug/Sep 1897 as having been born in the district of Fareham (volume 2b page 562). As her older brother Vernon seems to have been born in Fareham it is possible the family lived in that district at some time.

The second is a Gladys Isabel Hawkins in the Apr/May/Jun 1898 indices for Portsea (volume 2b page 500). Although this does not fit quite so well with the age as recorded in the census, the place probably does fit better.

The second record seems more likely, given the entry for a marriage between one Gladys I. Hawkins and a Mr Bentley in the GRO indices for Oct/Nov/Dec 1917 (volume 2b page 1223). A Mr and Mrs. Bentley were mentioned as son and daughter and law in the article about Vernon's funeral.

There is an entry in the England and Wales Civil Registration Death Index: 1993-2002 for a Gladys Isabel Bentley, who died in 1993, aged 95. Here her date of birth is recorded as 18th March 1898. (Carlisle, Cumbria, B43E, 73, registered January 1994)

Child 6: Eric Herbert M Hawkins

Born: 1900
Died:
Spouse: <NoName>
Children: Peter Hawkins, Wendy Hawkins, Heather Hawkins

Aged 1 at the time of the 1901 census, and recorded as having been born in "Hants Portsmouth". This seems to tie in with a Eric Herbert M Hawkins recorded in the GRO index for Jan/Feb/Mar 1900 as having been born in the district of Portsea (volume 2b page 541).

Child 7: Olive Hawkins

Born: 1901
Died:
Spouse: <NoName>
Children: Joan

From talking to Olive's niece Cornelia, it seems that Olive was one of the two daughters who died before the time of her father's funeral.

She did have one child, a girl called Joan. Apparently she was brought up by Olive's sister Blanche.

Child 8: Phyllis Octavia Hawkins

Born: 5-May-1903
Died: May-1990
Spouse: Cornelius Lucas
Children: Cornelia Lucas, Muriel Dawn Lucas

There is an entry in the GRO indices for Apr/May/Jun 1903 of a Phyllis Ocatavia Hawkins born in Portsmouth (volume 2b page 536).

Phyllis died at the age of 87 in May 1990, in Brighton (volume 18, page 222).

Child 9: Alan Harry Hawkins

Born: 1904
Died:
Spouse:
Children:

As Alan was not listed in the 1901 census, it is assumed he was born some time after 31st March 1901.
This may tie in with an Alan Harry Hawkins recorded in the GRO index for Oct/Nov/Dec 1904 as having been born in the district of Portsmouth (volume 2b page 512).

Child 10: Dennis Hawkins

Born: 1910
Died:
Spouse: <NoName>
Children: Jacqueline Hawkins, Michael Hawkins

As Dennis was not listed in the 1901 census, it is assumed he was born some time after 31st March 1901, so this date of birth is a bit conjectural. The article about Vernon's funeral seems to list his children in age order, so it would appear Dennis was the youngest son of the family.

Having scoured the GRO indices from 1905 to 1912, there seem to have only been a few Dennis Hawkins born in England during this period, and none of them are a perfect fit. The closest perhaps is a Dennis Charles Hawkins, recorded in the Apr/Jun/Jul 1910 index as having been born in Winchester (volume 2c, page 145).

This same Dennis Charles Hawkins appears in the England and Wales Civil Registration Death Index (Winchester, volume 20, page 2097). Here his date of birth is entered as 10th April 1910, and the death was registered in December 1989.

From talking to his niece Cornelia, it seems Dennis was one of the children who moved to Australia, where he raised a family.

Family Picture Album

	A family picture with Vernon, Mary and nine of their ten children. From the article about Vernon's funeral, we know that in total Vernon and Mary had five sons and five daughters, although two of the daughters had died by the time of the funeral. In this picture we can see all five daughters, and four of the five sons. This could mean that the youngest son - probably Dennis - had not yet been born. A rough guess based on how old the youngest son in the picture (probably Alan) looks here would suggest this picture is taken around 1907 or 1908. As for exactly who is who, again there's a certain amount of guesswork involved. Obviously we can pick out Vernon Sr. and Mary. After that, Basil is almost certainly the eldest looking son standing beside his father and Blanche is most probably the eldest looking daughter standing beside Basil. It also seems fairly likely that Muriel is the eldest looking girl on the top row at the right hand side. So, along the top row, from left to right, we have : Blanche, Basil, Vernon, Alan, Muriel and Vernon Junior. Along the bottom row from left to right: Eric, Mary, Olive, Phyllis and Gladys.
	Another family picture, taken at a party some years later by Basil, who apparently was a very enthusiastic photographer. Apparently, he's actually taken this picture with some kind of timer, and has managed to get in the shot himself (top right hand side), and thus his face is a little blurred. It's very hard to pin this picture to an actual date. Between me and my Dad, after much deliberation, we decided it was probably towards the end of the first world war. It seems likely that had any of Basil's children been born, that they would also appear in the picture, but they don't. At the same time though, comparing this to the previous picture would suggest it is probably in the region of ten years later at least, given how much everyone seems to have aged. As for who is who, this too is down to a certain amount of conjecture. It seems pretty obvious Vernon and Mary are the two elder figures sitting at the front, and we're pretty sure Basil is at the top right hand side there, as my Dad had been told about him rushing in to be in the picture. The rest is largely guesswork though. So, on the top row, from left to right, we start with maybe Phyllis, then her boyfriend (a soldier it seems) next is possibly Dorothy (Basil's wife), then Blanche, Muriel's husband, Muriel, Alan and finally Basil. On the bottom row we have probably Gladys (she looks like a Gladys), Vernon, the little boy (?) poking his head through may well be Dennis, then Mary (holding a teddy bear!), then Eric's Wife and finally Eric.
	This may be a picture of some of Vernon and Mary's children in Australia.