This page is very heavily based on the work of Joe and Judy Smaldone of Arnold, Maryland, USA. Judy is descended from Hinksons in Co. Cavan which is now in the Irish Republic, just south of the border with Northern Ireland, but which originally formed part of the Irish province of Ulster. Joe contacted me with intriguing evidence of earlier work on the family by a Dr Longford, and information that some at least of the Hinksons (as they tended to spell the name) were Quakers. This raised the interesting possibility of links with the Quakers in Tree HD (which has proved to be false), links to Tree HN around Cork (almost certainly false), links to Hinksons in Kentucky (probably true) and links to Judy Smaldone's own family via Pennsylvania.
The Smaldones' own document is available on this site in its original form and contains many detailed references to the sources of their information, which are not reproduced here. I am grateful to them for a copy of their document and for their willingness to allow me to put this page online, which puts their information into our common format and which contains links, most of them speculative, to other sources of Hingston/Hinkson information. This page should also be read in conjunction with two other pages on this site that we now know are descended from people listed here. One is the family of John Hinkson who went to Pennsylvania but then fairly quickly went onto be a frontiersman in Kentucky. His family were the objects of study many years ago and they have been listed here as Tree HK. The other document relates the descendants of another John Hinkson who went to Chester in Pennsylvania, on the banks of the Delaware River. John's wife was certainly a Quaker and many of the family maintained that faith. It is shown here that the two Johns who emigrated were probably uncle and nephew. I may at some time combine these documents into one single tree, as I have done with other the other Hingston families.
The Hinksons first appear in northern Ireland records in the early 1600s. By the 18th century their descendants were settled predominantly in Co. Cavan, where multiple generations resided in the townland of Bunn (map), Parish of Urney. With the exception of a few who were born into or joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), the Hinksons of Bunn were members of the Church of Ireland Parish of Annagh/Belturbet (map). The surviving baptism, marriage, and burial registers of this parish document the Hinkson presence for more than two centuries until the name became extinct locally in the 1960s. However, the Hinksons of Bunn had large families, and during the 19th century several of them dispersed to Dublin and beyond, to England, Canada, Australia, the United States, and the West Indies. Some of these diaspora lines can be traced into the mid-20th century.
The northern province of Ulster had been the most Gaelic area of Ireland but after the Flight of the Earls (of Tyrone and of Tyrconnell) in 1607, King James, who by this time held the thrones of both England and Scotland, wanted to settle Ulster with a population that was both loyal and protestant. This settlement, known as the Plantation of Ulster, began in 1609. Land was granted to English landowners, who transferred some of their tenants to Ulster, and also to the Livery companies of London, which led to the Irish town of Derry being renamed Londonderry. The Livery companies were Guilds that represented workers in different professions, the premier of which was that of the Mercers (= Merchants). Their settlement was at Movanagher, which is near the town of Kilrea, founded by the Mercers. However, James could not persuade enough English Protestants to settle, so many of the original Catholic population remained, now working as labourers on land they originally occupied as tenants of the departed Earls, and James had to import many Scots, who brought their own austere Calvinist and Presbyterian form of Christianity. In the short term, this policy led to trouble between the different communities, with massacres of the planter population in Ulster during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, and also the sacking of Belturbet. There were also continuing attacks from the Rapparees, bands of catholic guerillas. To protect themselves the planter families raised local militias, and the division between the catholic and protestant communities has continued, with varying degrees of animosity, to this day.
There has been previous research into the Hinksons of Ulster by Dr William Ulic Desmond Longford (1891-1960), the son of 18. Adelaide Georgina Hinkson. Although he had been born in London he became a GP in Co. Down, Ireland and on his death his obituary was published in the BMJ. He was a keen genealogist and conducted extensive research on his ancestry, including the Hinksons. He almost certainly interviewed many members of the Hinkson family, and published at least two queries in genealogical journals (in 1925 and 1942) seeking information. It is not know whether he received any replies since the journals have no records from that period. Fortunately, his son Desmond Longford, also a doctor of medicine and living in Smithfield, Virginia, USA, is now the custodian of his father’s records and has given copies of some of his father's research to Joe Smaldone. We are grateful for his assistance. His father’s work included a hand-drawn skeletal Hinkson family tree and other notes, which greatly facilitated the Smaldone's research. References to "Longford" below are to information contained within his notes.
Quakerism was founded in England by George Fox in about 1650 when it was given the name as a term of ridicule by a magistrate because Fox told him to "tremble at the word of the Lord". The more formal name is the Society of Friends. William Edmundson took the ideas to Ireland in 1654, when the first meeting was held in Lurgan. Edmundson must also have preached in Belturbet because he was at one time placed in the stocks there. Perhaps significantly, one of the earliest houses where the Friends met was at Tamnaficarbet, which is where Jane Morrow, wife of 20. John Hinkson came from (they were married in 1747). There was also a Meeting house at Cootehill. So it seems unnecessary to invoke a link to Tree HD in South Devon, where there were many other Hingston Quaker families, some of whom emigrated to Pennsylvania.
We do not draw any distinction between Hingstons and Hinkson; when said quickly, in a rural accent, they are almost undistinguishable, and since few people could read or write, scribes and parish clerks wrote down names as they heard them. We know that most of the Hingston families originated in Devon where they were well distributed over the area known as the South Hams by the time of the Lay Subsidy Returns in 1543. So there are many families from which our Ulster Hinksons could have been drawn. But there are also other possibilities; William Edward Hingston (WEH), in his earlier study, identified some very early Hingstons who moved to London from Devon in the 14th century. Those families have not been studied in any detail but there are very few records for ordinary people this early, and it is possible that some London Hingstons went with the Mercer's Company to Ulster.
There were also the Hingstons living at Aglish in Co. Cork in the south of Ireland (Tree HN). They claim descent from a Major James Hingston who was in Cromwell's army in Ireland in the late 1640s, but by that time the Hinksons were already present in Ulster. So the HN Hingstons cannot be the origin of the Ulster Hinksons. WEH (and the HN Hingstons themselves) believed that the Hingstons from Co. Cork were descended from HP#2. John Hingeston, musician in turn to Francis Clifford (the Earl of Cumberland), Oliver Cromwell and Charles II. That family is shown on this site as Tree HP and it is shown there that HP#2. John was not married and almost certainly had no children. But he did have nephews and cousins, and he maintained his close connection to the Cliffords, one of whom was Baron Clifford of Lanesborough who was made Lord Treasurer of Ireland by Charles II. This is too late for the first Hinksons in Ulster, or for the Hingstons in Cork, but it could be that there are links from the York Hingstons to Ireland. But it is unlikely that we will ever be able to prove a link, and the HP Hingstons themselves almost certainly came from Devon, since there are no earlier references to Hingstons in Yorkshire.
The lines of descent shown here are a little sketchy due to the absence of records. It has been assumed that the average interval between generations is about 30 years so we have speculated about missing individuals. Nothing should be regarded as certain until about Generation 6 when church records become available. There are almost certainly many more individuals in the early years about whom we have no knowledge.
We know of two Hingstons who served in militias; these were forces raised locally so we can assume they were settlers, probably born in England, and probably young men in 1630, so possibly born c. 1600. They may well be related.
WILLIAM HINGSTON appears on the muster roll of Mr. Church’s Mercers Estate militia in 1630, presumably at Movanagher or Kilrea..
1. JOHN HINKESON also appears on a muster roll 1630 as a swordsman, this time of the City & Liberties of Londonderry. He could well be the John Hinckson who was buried on 24 Apr 1662 at Derry Cathedral. Longford believed that he was “probably” the ancestor of the numerous Hinksons of Co. Cavan and of at least two John Hinksons of May(ne)field, Co. Monaghan, as submitted in his query to The Irish Genealogist, in 1942.
It seems likely that there was a generation that included the children of William and John (and possibly others) but we have at present no firm evidence for them.
2. Capt. JOHN HINKSON supposedly came to Ireland with the army of William of Orange in 1690. The regular officers of William's army are listed in Dalton's English Army list (Vol 3) but he isn't there, so he must have been in one of the militias or irregular units that were raised in the area. Since he lived locally he could well be related to 1. John Hinkeson as surmised by Longford. Longford said that he died in 1734 and was buried in the Annagh/Belturbet Church of Ireland graveyard but it is not known where he obtained this information since there are no known burial records for this church prior to 1803. He did visit the area, and perhaps the tombstone was then legible. But his existence is attested in the wills of his children.
There is no firm evidence of succession but it seems likely that John had a number of sons who would have been born around 1690:-
The indexes of the early land transactions in the Dublin Registry of Deeds include references to Hinksons in the townlands of Aghadrinagh, Ardamagh, Ballyhaise, and Drumgorry, all in Co. Cavan from 1708 onwards. These indexes are difficult to read, and they have not been fully studied.
There is uncertainty in what follows. We know there were three brothers, 4. Thomas, 3. John and 5. Robert born about 1680-90, and we know of three John Hinksons in the next generation. One (6. John) was the father of the John Hinkson who went to Kentucky; one was 7. John of Maynefield, and one was 20. John of Drumgorry. Records in the US imply that 6. John was the son of 4. Thomas, so it is assumed here that 3. John and 5. Robert both had sons called John, but it isn't clear which was 7. Johnm and which was 20. John. The question is compounded because Longford implied that there was at least one other family in this generation. Most of what follows must be regarded as questionable.
4. THOMAS HINCKSON, son of 2. Capt. John Hinkson. The will of Thomas Hinckson of Drumgury [Drumgorry], Co. Cavan, was dated 23 Jun 1733, and proved on 10 Dec 1754, presumably shortly after his death. This will, like many other Irish records of historical and genealogical significance, was destroyed in the infamous fire at the Public Record Office in Dublin during the Civil War in 1922, but an abstract prepared in the early 1800s by Sir William Betham, Deputy Ulster King of Arms and Principal Herald of Ireland, survives and names several relatives, allowing us to connect some of them genealogically to the Hinksons of Bunn. The relatives named in Thomas’s will were his wife FRANCES; two married brothers, 5. Robert and 3. John (wives unnamed); a grandson John and granddaughter Elizabeth; brother Robert’s son Hugh; and brother John’s children Thomas and Anne. The abstract also has a cryptic note that appears to read “Anne wife of Moors niece to TH __ Jane”. Longford must have consulted this manuscript because his 1942 genealogical query notes that Thomas had a brother and grandson named John [Query submitted to The Irish Genealogist, 1, 11 (Apr 1842), p. 351].
An article about HK#1. John Hinkson (1729-1789), based on information from his son and his half-brother William McCune, shows that John had a father, also John, who married Agnes, and that he had a sister Elizabeth. But John the father died fairly young: Agnes remarried and in 1751 gave birth to William McCune. It is also stated that HK#1. John returned from America to Ireland in 1763 to claim some money from an inheritance. This information matches what we know about 4. Thomas' will. John the father would have been Thomas' unknown son, and the reason he was not listed in the will is that he had already died. This document follows that logic with 24. John as the unnamed son of 8. Thomas. One corollary is that there must be three complete generations between Capt John and John the frontiersman: (2. Capt John, born c. 1660; 8. Thomas, ~1683; 24. John, ~1706; HK#1. John, 1729), which allows only 23 years between generations, which probably means they are all the first-born in each generation.
The son of Thomas Hinkson and Frances was:-
3. JOHN HINKSON, son of 2. Capt. John Hinkson. His existence is known from the will of his brother, 4. Thomas. Nothing more is known about the family.
John's children probably include:-
5. ROBERT HINKSON, son of 2. Capt. John Hinkson. His existence is known from the will of his brother, 4. Thomas.
He could be the Robert who died in 1762 and whose will was written in 1756. He was described as Robert Hingston of Hackilltehole [sic – probably should be Hackelty (map)]
The only thing known about him is that he probably had at least one son:-
19. (unknown) HINKSON, son of 2. Capt. John Hinkson. His existence is inferred from Longford's query (see 8. Hugh below). He was presumably born about 1700.
It is believed that he had a son:-
MATHEW HINKIN (who may have nothing to do with this family) married MARY BOND on 4 Dec 1713 in Derry Cathedral [Colin Thomas with Aubrey Fielding, eds. Register of the Cathedral Church of St. Columb, Derry, 1703-1732 (Dublin: Representative Church Body, c. 1997), p. 91]. We do not know whether Mathew’s surname is a variant of Hinkson. As readers will soon discern, the Hinksons documented herein had a strong tendency to repeat personal names over the generations, with John recurring with great frequently. There are none named Mathew, so we are inclined to regard this one’s surname as something other than a Hinkson variant.
6.. JOHN HINKSON is believed to be the son of 4. Thomas Hinkson; he must have been born around 1705/6. He married AGNES and had two children, both probably born in Ireland, and the family then emigrated to Pennsylvania but there seem to be few difficulties. John died but it is not known when, but Agnes married secondly John McCune (1712-1766) and they had a son William McCune in 1751 in Hopewell Township, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania.
The children on John Hinkson and Agnes were:-
We know of two other John Hinksons born about the same time, and probably from the same area. They are possibly the sons of the brothers, 3. John and 5. Robert from the generation above, and that both were named in honour of their grandfather 2. Capt John Hinkson. But there is no evidence of which John was descended from which brother.
20. JOHN HINKSON of Drumgorry, Co. Cavan, is believed to be the son either of 3. John or of 5. Robert, and he married JANE MORROW (possibly MURRAY) of Tamnificarbet (map), in the Parish
of Sego(e), Co. Armagh, in the Quaker Meeting House, Lurgan, Co. Armagh, on the 26th day of the Third Month, 1747 (26 May 1747); another John Hinkson and Thomas Hinkson were among the witnesses to this marriage. These Quaker Hinksons and Morrows are direct ancestors of Judy Smaldone. John and
Jane apparently lived in Co. Cavan after their marriage, and in the mid-1760s emigrated to
Pennsylvania, USA, where their many descendants included a number of prominent local figures [see Quaker Hinksons from Ulster to Pennsylvania]. Unfortunately, the early records of the Cootehill Meeting House, Co. Cavan, which provided a transfer certificate for Jane to America, have been lost,
and a review of its sole surviving records, sparse meeting minutes covering about 30 years after 1766,
found no reference to Hinksons. Only one other Hinkson is recorded in the Irish Quaker records that have been reviewed to date – Henry Hinkson, mentioned in the “sufferings” experienced by Quakers in Co.
Tipperary in 1694.
7. JOHN HINKSON is assumed to be the John Hinkson of May(ne)field, Co. Monaghan (which we cannot locate), whose will was dated 6 Oct 1787 and proven 13 Nov 1787. He is included here on the basis of chronology but unknown genealogical connections to the other Hinksons in the area. The will names his wife MARY, three children, and a grandson. According to Longford he was probably related to the other Hinksons in the Cavan area. The original handwritten will indexes spell the location as Mayfield and Maynfield, but no such location has been identified in Co. Monaghan or anywhere else in the vicinity. This is one of only two Hinksons known to have lived in Co. Monaghan, the other being another John Hinkson of Maynefield whose will was dated 1813, possibly a son?
21. (unknown) HINKSON would be the son of 19. (unknown) Hinkson. (He would have been born about 1750)
There is some uncertainty about whether this person existed. Joe Smaldone interprets Longfords documents as saying that 8. John was the son of 19. (unknown) but I think the generational gaps are too large, so I have inserted 21. (unkown here). The records may not exist to be certain.
Longford believed that he had a son:-
HK#1. Col. JOHN HINKSON (1729-1789), probably the son of 24. John Hingston and his wife Agnes and been born in Ireland. John is described as a Pennsylvania and Kentucky Frontiersman. His interesting life is described in an article in The Ruddlesforter by Bob Francis. He emigrated with his parents to Pennsylvania but returned to Ireland in 1763, apparently to collect some money owed to him in a will (probably his grandfather's), and while there he married MARGARET McCRACKEN. After two years they returned to Pennsylvania, living at Fairfield Township, Westmoreland Co (~40.3858N, 79.1034W). In May 1774 John Hinkson and his friend James Cooper killed an old Delaware Indian called Joseph Wipey who was fishing near the confluence of a small stream (still) known as Hinckstons Run and the Conemaugh River (at 40.3405N, 78.9251W). This led to warrants being issued for Hinkson's arrest and he volunteered as a soldier in Dunmore's War between the State of Virginia and the local Indians. He later became a frontiersman in Kentucky, fighting the British soldiers and their Indian allies, and founding Hinkston's Fort on the Licking River at 38.3340N, 84.2766W, and taking part in the Revolutionary War. For full details of his life see the Ruddlesforter article. The descendants of John and Margaret are listed in Tree HK.
8. JOHN HINKSON, who, according to Longford, was descended from 2. Capt. John Hinkson who had a son Charles Hinkson, who in turn had a son John Hinkson (1820-1887) These dates must be wrong if he is to fit into this generation and to be the father of 9. Hugh. One would expect at least 3 generations between the Captain (who we believe must have been born about 1660) and this John (born c. 1755). Between 1660 and 1820 one would expect 5. [Longford, Query No. 8, The Irish Genealogist, 1, 11 (Apr 1942), p. 351] It is presumed that Dr. Longford obtained this information from Hinkson descendants whom he interviewed rather than official records. Drawing on Dr. Longford’s research and the Smaldones' review of the Church of Ireland Parish of Annagh/Belturbet registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, supplemented by some of the foregoing material as well as other accessible records including civil registration and other church records, we can now lay out with confidence the subsequent generational succession of Hinksons who lived in and dispersed from the townland of Bunn, Parish of Urney, Co. Cavan.
It is believed that 8. John Hinkson is the John Hingston who was born c. 1755, lived in Bunn at the time of his death in 1836 at the age of 81, and was buried in the Belturbet churchyard on 24 Jul 1836 [Annagh/Beltubet burial register]. This estimated birth date is also consistent with estimated birth dates and recorded baptisms of his children beginning in 1790s. If the identification is correct, his wife was recorded in the baptism registers of their children as ANNE/ANNIE […?…], who married John probably in the early-mid 1790s. She is probably the Anne Hinkson of Bunn who died in late 1851 at the age of 82 and was buried in the Belturbet churchyard on 25 Dec 1851. [Annagh/Belturbet burial register].
John and Annie had at least 9 children:-
9. HUGH HINCSTON, born c. 1795. He is believed to be the son of 8. John Hinkson and Annie, which agrees with Longford. His 1881 burial record correctly states his age as 86. Although Hugh was born before Belturbet registers begin, Longford shows him as a son of John.
Hugh was a farmer, and at least briefly a weaver, in Bunn, Parish of Urney, Diocese of Kilmore, Co. Cavan when he married JANE FLEMING of Bleanish Island, Parish of Galloon, Co. Fermanagh by license on 2 Jun 1823. On 26 Apr 1830 Hugh was a witness to the marriage of Elizabeth Fleming [perhaps Jane’s sister?] of Derrymacrow, Parish of Galloon, Newtownbutler and John Irwin of Clineer, Parish of Clones. It has not been possible to identify Clineer, which may be a transcription error for Cleenish, a parish in the Diocese of Clogher and the name of an island in the River Erne.
In the 1850s Hugh and his brother Robert owned or rented five pieces of land totaling more than 90 acres. Three of the parcels were on the edge of Belturbet town owned by the Belturbet Corporation,
where Hugh was a tenant on a 17-acre farm for which Robert was the “intermediate lessor.” The other
two properties were in Bunn, where Robert occupied 34 acres and Hugh 20, both as tenants of the Earl
of Lanesborough. Hugh’s parcel included a house and “offices.”
Hugh outlived Jane by six years, died at age 86 on 4 Feb 1881, and was buried in the Belturbet churchyard on 6 Feb 1881. A Jane Fleming, daughter of Hugh Fleming and Mary Courtney of Dermacrow [sic – Derrymacrow] who was baptized in the Galloon parish church on 6 Sep 1801, could be Hugh’s future wife. Jane died at the age of 75 and was buried in the Belturbet churchyard on 3 Mar 1875.
There is some uncertainty about the number and names of the children of Hugh and Jane. The Belturbet baptism register lists 9 children, as does Longford. However, their first-born, Jane, died as a child and the couple named their next-born daughter Jane as well. It may be that Longford was unaware of the first deceased child. He also included a daughter Anne, who married Thomas Hewitt, but no relevant baptism or marriage record for an Anne Hinkson has been found. Finally, Longford includes among their children a son John who married Ann Rutledge. According to the baptism records, Hugh and Jane did have a son John born in Apr 1836, but he died 9 months later. These records also show that a John was born in 1852 to 11. James and Elizabeth Hinkson, and we believe it is he who married Ann Rutledge. The following list of children of Hugh and Jane is derived from the baptism register, but includes Longford’s Anne Hinkson who is subject to further research.
Children of Hugh Hincston and Jane Fleming are:
10. CHARLES HINKSON, son of 8. John Hinkson and Anne, probably born during the 1780s-90s, estimated on the basis of his reported death by drowning in Derrymacrow Lough at age 43. It is not known when he drowned but it must have been some time after 1823. [Query submitted by Longford to The Irish Genealogist in Apr 1842] and the baptism of his third and last child was recorded in 1823. Longford identifies his wife as ELLEN […?…]. It is now believed that Charles
Hinkson of the Diocese of Kilmore married ELINOR FLEMING of “D’y” [Drummully] of the
Diocese of Clogher, Co. Fermanagh, on 30 Jun 1819 by license.
It is tempting to identify Charles as the 25-year old Charles Hincston whose burial was recorded in Belturbet in Jan 1824, especially since his death might explain why there are no further baptisms of his children in the Galloon Parish register after 1823. However, if he was 25 years old in 1824, it is probable that he would have been too young to marry in 1819, and Longford stated that Charles of Derrymacrow drowned at age 43. Lastly, Charles of Derrymacrow would is likely to have been buried in Galloon Parish, not Belurbet. Pending any additional evidence coming to light, they are treated here as distinct people. It is not known where Charles or Elinor lived in the Diocese of Kilmore and Parish of Drummully respectively when they marrried, but during the early 1820s they resided in Derrymacrow, Parish of Galloon, Co. Fermanagh. As noted below, they had three sons in succession within the first four years of their marriage, but there are no futher baptisms of this couple's children in the Galloon Parish registers. One possibility is that either Charles or Elinor died; however, there are no recorded burials in that parish through 1848 for either of them. Perhaps they had no other children, or they moved elsewhere in Ireland, but we have not found them or their children in civil registration indexes; if they emigrated, their destination remains unknown.
Children of Charles Hinkson and Elinor/Ellen Fleming are:
22. JOHN HINGSTON, baptized 4 Mar 1804, the son of 8. John Hinkson and Anne. Longford believed that John died in the West Indies. The will of John’s older brother Hugh, dated
1878, mentions “his deceased brother John Hinkson of the Island of St. Croix of the West
Indies”. John appears in Danish census records and transcriptions for 1841, 1846,
1850, 1855, 1857, 1860, and 1870 as a manager or owner of plantations near Frederiksted on
the West End Quarter of St. Croix. The 1841 census shows that in 1834 he had received a
“Burgherbrief,” which various sources describe as a citizenship status and/or business license,
so he probably had emigrated to the island some years earlier. At that time John was manager
of the Carlton estate, which was owned by Dr. William Stevens, and was a private in the Invalid
Corps militia. He was still manager of the Carlton estate in 1846, but was now exempt from
militia service. By 1850 ownership of this estate had passed to the King of Denmark. Five
years later John was both owner and manager of the Two Brothers estate, which positions he
continued to hold into the 1870s. In 1870 his title or office was given as “Planter,” and he was
“on a voyage to Europe” (perhaps visiting family in Ireland?). According to these census
records, John remained unmarried.
John may have traveled to New York in Sep 1869, as evidenced by the John Hinkson,
born about 1807, who arrived in the Port of New York from St. Croix. He had died before Jan 1878, the date of Hugh’s will.
St Croix still had slaves throughout John's time there. In 1803 the King of Denmark decreed that St Croix should no longer import slaves, but emancipation of existing slaves did not occur until 1848 and even then the former slaves were made to sign contracts with their former owners, which effectively kept them in servitude. Labour reform did not occur until after the 1878 Labour Riots, which caused great destruction.
While the above identifications of John Hinkson in St. Croix seem straightforward, there were other John Hinksons on the island. The 1857
census enumerates an unmarried 29-year old woman named Emily, described as a 3rd class
laborer, with three children – 8-year old John Hinkson and his two younger sisters Evilina (6)
and Mary Elizabeth (4). They were living on Rose Hill estate in Northside Quarter; all were
Roman Catholics born in St. Croix. A surname is recorded only for John. The same John Hinkson seems to have been enumerated in the 1880 census as an unmarried and unemployed 26-year old living in Annaly with a 53-year old unemployed widow, Emily Barry and two teenage Barry boys. The 1901 census shows John still unmarried and living with his mother Emily Barry and three other relatives. Emily was an invalid whose age had accelerated to 85, and John was now a carpenter but suffering from elephantiasis, which may have been a common disease judging from the fact that occupants of the next two households enumerated had the same condition. It was not unknown for masters and overseers to take mistresses from amongst the slave or servant workforce, so it possible that this John was the son of 22. John.
The 1870 St. Croix census reveals another John Hinkson, Episcopalian, born about 1835 in Barbados, living in Contentment and Catherine’s Hope estate property in Company’s Quarter. It is known that there were Hingstons living in Barbados, but no research has yet been carried out on them.
Yet another John Hinkson is listed in the Christiansted probate records index for 1882, which date obviously distinguishes him from both John Hinkson of Bunn and the Roman Catholic John.
The 1901 census lists a 23-year old unmarried Episcopal tailor, John W. Hinkson, living in Frederiksted. Born in St. Croix, he was living with his 60-year old unmarried mother, Annie
Simpson. She too was born on the island, and her religion was Lutheran.
Finally, a John Hinkson family with roots in St. Croix was living in New York City in the early
1900s. In Jul 1907 his wife and two children, one of whom was a one-year old son named
John, arrived in the Port of New York from the West Indies, en route to join Mr. Hinkson who
lived on West 134th St. Mrs. Hinkson and the children were from Frederiksted, St. Croix.
11. JAMES HINCSTON, born 23 Sep 1818, bapt. 27 Sep 1818, son of 8. John Hingston and Anne. On 3 Dec 1850 he married ELIZABETH MOORE in the Church of Ireland parish church of Aghabog, Co. Monaghan. Elizabeth, born about 1829, was the daughter of Robert Moore and Eliza Jane Spear, a farming family living in Drumhirk, parish of Aghabog [information from Karen Hinkson Stanton, Australia, a descendant of James and Elizabeth]. In early 1852 the couple was living in Bunn, where James was a farmer.
Within a year or two he and his family emigrated to Australia, where they lived in various districts of the Colony of Victoria, which had been created in 1851 as a separate jurisdiction out of New South Wales in the extreme southeast. In Australia James made his living as a contractor, selector, and for awhile as a miner – probably a gold miner since gold was discovered there in 1851, spawning one of the world’s biggest gold rushes. At some point Elizabeth petitioned for divorce from James, but apparently they remained married.
When James died intestate on 13 Jan 1879 of heart disease, his widow Elizabeth was granted probate jurisdiction. However, she died on 23 Aug 1895 of brain hemorrhage and heart failure without having fully administered her husband’s estate. It is fairly certain that this is the same family that originated in Bunn: a “missing friends” notice placed by Thomas Wynne, husband of Sarah Hinckston, in the Argus (Melbourne, Australia), 30 Jan 1874, sought information about “JAMES HINKSON, from Bun, near Belturbet, County Cavan, Ireland, last heard of on Donnelly’s Creek, Victoria …” At the time, Thomas was living at Toowoomba, Queensland.. Longford also showed that James went to Australia. James and Elizabeth had at least seven children referenced in probate papers, newspaper notices/articles, copies of some birth records kindly supplied by Karen Hinkson Stanton, and online indexes to historical births, deaths, and marriages in Victoria. 13. John’s status remains uncertain.
Children of James Hinkston and Elizabeth Moore are, tentatively:
12. JOHN HINKSON. Is believed to be the son of 10. Charles Hinkson and Elinor Fleming. It is clear from online transcriptions of the Galloon Parish registers that John was born in Dermacrow [sic – Derrymacrow] and baptized on 10 Jun 1820. However, the transcription identifies his parents as John Hinkson and Elinor Fleming, but this is believed to be a transcription error since the child and father in the transcribed entry immediately above were both named John. Longford said that he was a grandson of a first cousin of 2. Captain John Hinkson, and was born 6 Jun 1820 at Crom, Co. Fermanagh, and baptized in the Church of Ireland [Galloon] parish church in Newtownbutler, Co. Fermanagh but it is not clear where he obtained this information.
He moved to Dublin as a teenager, and in Apr 1840, at the age of 19, announced to the public that he had opened a saddlery and harness business at No. 14 Mary St. For decades thereafter, he advertised his wares in the newspapers of Dublin and beyond, boasting that their quality and price were at least as good as those available in London and other world capitals. In 1841 he was recorded as a witness to the marriage of William Mealy and Eliza Hall in St. Werburgh Church in that city. In Dec 1843 he married JANE SARAH FAWCETT, daughter of William Fawcett of Glenealy, Co. Wicklow and had 12 children (Longford). He died in Dublin on 11 Apr 1887, and was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery. Jane had been born 4 Oct 1818 in Ballygannon, Co. Wicklow. She died in Dublin of acute cystitis at age 86 on 23 Feb 1905 and was buried with her husband and other family members in Mount Jerome.
The children of John
Hinkson and Jane Sarah Fawcett were:
13. JOHN HINKSTON, born “about” 19 Jan 1852 in Bunn and bapt. 19 May 1852, is believed to have been the son of 11. James Hincston and Elizabeth Moore. The Belturbet baptism register shows James and Elizabeth as his parents but there are no baptisms recorded for any other children with the same parents and there is evidence that he was living in Bunn as an adult.
There is unreconcilable conflicting information about John’s parentage. It is known that James and Elizabeth went to Australia. Neither Elizabeth’s will (1890) nor the 1911 affidavit by her son James, which lists her surviving children, includes John, whose 1852 baptism record shows his parents as James and Elizabeth, and who was still alive in 1911. It is unlikely that the minister recorded the wrong parents for John, especially since there were no other Hinkson couples in the parish having children between 1845 and 1878: the last recorded baptism of a child of Hugh and Jane was 1844, and the first recorded baptism of children of John and Anne Rutledge was 1879. It is thought unlikely that James and Elizabeth would have left an infant child behind when they went to Australia. Information from Karen Hinkson Stanton sheds further light. One of the outstanding features of Victoria birth records is that they also list the parents’ “issue living and deceased.” Such information is of great genealogical value, especially since most Victorian census records were destroyed in 1892. The birth registration form for their son Samuel, born in 1859, lists their “issue living and deceased” as John (7), Robert (5½), and James (2¾). Son Hugh’s 1872 birth record shows the couple’s marriage date as Sep 1851 and lists their offspring as John (22), Robert (19), James (16), Samuel (13), Thomas (11), and Ann (5). However, in 1873 Hugh’s birth record was altered by “PJK,” presumably a registration officer, by crossing out John’s name among his parents’ “issue living and deceased,” and writing “illegitimate & should not appear.” It is uncertain why this was done or who authorized or requested this alteration. PJK placed a cross symbol adjacent to all alterations, including one adding the name “Hinkson” in clear handwriting next to the name of the informant, James Hinkson, whose surname was signed or written less clearly. Was the latter alteration solely for the purpose of clarifying the name of the informant, or could it imply that James himself returned to the registration office a year later to have the record altered? This unexpected finding probably explains why John is not listed among Elizabeth’s children in her will or in her son James’s 1911 affidavit in her probate file, but it does not clarify his parentage. James and Elizabeth were married in Dec 1850, so if John was born “about” 19 Jan 1852 as shown in the Belturbet baptism register, his birth occurred about 13 months after their marriage and would not raise questions about “legitimacy” if he was their child. However, since he was declared “illegitimate,” notwithstanding that he was baptized as their child, there are three possibilities that could explain this extraordinary if belated declaration: James fathered John with another woman, Elizabeth conceived him by another man, or John is the offspring of another couple as yet unknown but was “adopted” by James and Elizabeth. On the other hand, if John’s age was accurately stated as 22 on Hugh’s Aug 1872 birth record, that would place John’s birth earlier than Aug 1850 and thus prior to James’s and Elizabeth’s marriage in Dec 1850. Of course, if James was concerned about the implications of stating John’s age as 22 when he registered Hugh’s birth, he could have reported him as younger, or he could have corrected his marriage date. Adding to the puzzle are the inaccuracies that appear on both Samuel’s and Hugh’s birth records about the birthplaces and marriage date of James and Elizabeth, even though James was the informant at the registration of both births. Samuel’s 1859 birth record shows James’s and Elizabeth’s birthplaces correctly as Co. Cavan and Monahan [sic] respectively, but gives a marriage date of 20 Dec 1851, whereas Hugh’s birth record shows both James and Elizabeth as having been born and married in Limerick, and their marriage date as 14 [day unclear] Sep 1851! None of this serves to clarify whether John went to Australia with James and Elizabeth. Initial research did not uncover evidence of his emigration or residence there. True, John’s name appears on at least the two birth records discussed above, but that does not necessarily mean that he was in Australia. If John had been left behind in Bunn, it is likely that he was raised by one of the two Hinkson families residing there: Robert (1806-1883) and his wife Eliza (c. 1811-1878), or his brother 9. Hugh Hinkson and Jane Fleming. The latter was the only Hinkson family there with documented children at the time, which might explain why Longford showed John as a son of Hugh and Jane rather than James and Elizabeth. This conundrum remains to be resolved.
Like his Hinkson relatives, he was a farmer residing in Bunn. In 1878 he married ANNE/ANNIE RUTLEDGE who was born about 1851. John lived to age 80 and died of “senile decay” on 7 Aug 1932, being buried in the churchyard on 9 Aug 1932. His death was registered by his son John, who gave his father’s age as 85, which would imply that he had been born c. 1847. Anne died of valvular heart disease at age 83 on 7 Apr 1934.
Children of John Hinkston and Anne Rutledge are:
23. ROBERT WILLIAM HINKSON, born about 1853, the son of 11. James Hincston and Elizabeth Moore, presumably in Australia; no
record was found for him in Belturbet, and there is no entry for him in the Victoria birth index. He married MARIA WARD, third daughter of Thomas Ward of
O’Halloran Hill, South Australia, at the residence of the bride’s mother and brothers in Victoria
on 5 Oct 1882. Robert William died in
Geelong, Victoria in Aug 1927 at age 73.
Children of Robert William Hinkson and Maria Ward were at least these two:
14. SAMUEL HINKSON, born 6 Feb 1859, the son of 11. James Hincston and Elizabeth Moore, in Sandy Creek, Victoria, a gold miners’ settlement. At age 53 he married 18-year old MAUD PERRY on 13 Feb 1911 at Holy Trinity Church, Bowen, a town on the northeast coast of Queensland. Maude was born 1892 in Gilberton, a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, daughter of Harry Perry (a grazier, born 1852) and Elizabeth Mary Marten [or Martell?] (born 1868). Samuel died on 31 Mar 1941 in Home Hill, Quuensland; Maud died there on 3 Jun 1949 and both are buried in Home Hill Cemetery.
Children of Samuel Hinkson and Maud Perry are:
15. THOMAS HINKSON, born 1864 in Tarnagulla, the son of 11. James Hincston and Elizabeth Moore. married MARGARET SHELDON CHALMERS in 1894. Thomas died on 9 Nov 1929 in Bendigo, Victoria
Children of Thomas Hinkson and Margaret Sheldon Chalmers are, tentatively, at least these
three:
16. CHARLES JAMES HINKSON, born 2 Apr 1849, baptized 10 Jun 1849 in St Peter’s, Dublin, the son of 12. John Hinson and Jane Sarah Fawcett. He married JANE MACDONALD, daughter of civil engineer John MacDonald, on 1 May 1872 in the Parish of Grangegorman Church, Dublin, in the presence of M. MacDonald and Ellen Stephenson. He served as vicar of the Church of Ireland church in Ballinaclash and Ballinatone, Co. Wicklow, but in 1896 he was an inmate in a Dublin Workhouse as a “removal case”, which implies he was being sent from Dublin to a different Poor Law Union because of poverty or inability to work. Perhaps the fact that in 1901 he was in the Church of England’s Hancox Home for Inebriates in East Sussex, England. After living for an extended period in England, he died in London on 31 Mar 1913. Jane MacDonald was born in Londonderry about 1848. She died in Rathmines, Dublin at 87 of myocardial generation and heart failure, on 2 Mar 1935. According to the 1911 Census of Ireland, Jane had given birth to four children, all of whom were still alive.
Children of Charles James Hinkson and Jane MacDonald are:
17. HENRY ALBERT HINKSON, born 18 Apr 1865 in South Dublin, the son of 12. John Hinkson and Jane Sarah Fawcett. In 1893 he married KATHARINE TYNAN, daughter of Andrew Cullen Tynan (1829- 1905) and Elizabeth Reilly Tynan (1831-1881[?]). Katharine was born 23 Jan 1859 at Whitehall dairy farm, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin. One of 12 children, she became an internationally-renowned writer and poet. See further information here. She died on 3 Apr 1931, at age 72, in Wimbledon, London, England. Henry, a writer and barrister, died on 11 Jan 1919 of acute cholecystitis and intestinal stasis, after having been ill only six days, in Brookhill, Crossboyne Civil Parish, Co. Mayo, where he was the Resident Magistrate.
Children of Henry Albert Hinkson and Katharine Tynan are:
The Thomas Hinkson of Drumgury [Drumgorry] whose 1733 will was proved in late 1754 [see above] could be the Thomas Hinkson who witnessed the 1747 Quaker marriage of John Hinkson and Jane Morrow. John and Jane named their first son Thomas, likely following the custom of naming the first born son after his paternal grandfather. Hence, the Thomas and John who attended the marriage may have been John’s father and uncle respectively.
1752 – Thomas Hinkson of Drumgorry, Co. Cavan, entered into a Deed of Lease with Robert Ferguson
of Aghadrinagh, Co. Cavan, on 29-30 Jun 1752.
1770 – John Hinkson of Ardamagh, Parish of Annagh, Co. Cavan witnessed an agreement involving property in Ballyhaise, Parish of Castleterra, Co. Cavan, 19 Sep 1770.
1772 – John Hinkson and Elizabeth Moore marriage license bond, Church of Ireland, Diocese of
Kilmore and Ardagh.
1804 – Henery [sic], son of […?...] & [Willson – Hingston?] was baptized on 20 Feb 1804. The
handwriting in this entry in the Annagh/Belturbet baptism register is difficult to read; it is unclear if
the name is Hingston. No marriage or death record was found for a Henry Hinkson in later Belturbet
records or civil records, which adds weight to the judgment that this birth record was for someone other
than a Hinkson.
1812 – John Hinskton died 29 Nov 1812 [NB: recorded in Belturbet register as a death, not
burial; no other information].
Family relationships have not been determined for the following Hinksons found in the course of the Smaldones'
research:
Charles Hinkson, born in Ireland about 1831, was living in Trafalgar, Ontario, Canada, in 1891, with his wife Matilda; both were Disciples of Christ.
Hugh Hinkson, born in Ireland about 1834, departed Liverpool, England aboard the steamer Anglo Saxon and arrived at New York in Jan 1854. The passenger list described him as a 20-year old laborer. The only Hugh Hinkson in this study whose date of birth is close to 1834 is the son of Hugh and Jane Fleming who was born in 1829. However, as documented above, it is believed that Hugh went to St. Croix, West Indies, and remained there.
James Hinkston of Bunn, age 9, was buried 6 Dec 1855 in the Belturbet churchyard; registered by William Wallace. James would have been born c. 1846, but there is no baptism record for him. As noted above, baptisms of the children of Hugh Hincston and Jane Fleming are recorded between 1825 and 1844; they were the only Hinkson couple from Bunn having children during that 20-year period. Then, with the single exception of the 1852 baptism of John Hinkson, registered by James Hinkson and Elizabeth Moore, there follows a 35-year gap in Hinkson baptisms until 1879, when John Hinkson and Anne Rutledge began having children. Since the marriage of James Hinkson and Elizabeth occurred in 1850, the James born c. 1846 is not likely to have been their child. Is it possible that the deceased child was the last one born to Hugh and Jane, and that he was either unbaptized or the minister neglected to register the event? Or, was James possibly illegitimate?
John Hinkson, born c. 1858, a clerk, Protestant, married, was in the Dublin Workhouse during 1896-1898.
Julia Hinkson, born c. 1865, Roman Catholic, widowed, and her three young daughters Anne, Eliza, and Julia, were discharged from the Dublin Workhouse in 1899. There are no civil birth records in Ireland for any of her three children; perhaps they immigrated to Ireland.
Another Julia Hinkson, married, laborer, also Roman Catholic, was discharged from the same
workhouse in 1902. This second Julia was recorded as being several years younger than the
widowed Julia above, and no children were with her. Presumably Hinkson was the married name of
both women.
Return to Hingston One-Name Study
Added 28th January 2017. C J Burgoyne