For more about this family and the Hopkirk's in general, See
"The Hopkirk Family of Melrose, Roxburghshire",
by Mary PERKINS Hopkirk. located in the Family Histories
Section of this site. See this letter written in 1841 by James Hopkirk's aunt Isabella Home Hopkirk in
Gattonside, Scotland to her children John and William in the USA,
mentioning that their cousin James is in the military in Toronto.
James was the oldest son of David HOPKIRK and Margaret GRIEVE
James(6) HOPKIRK was born 20 Aug 1814 in Melrose, Scotland.
James joined the English military and early in his career he was stationed in Canada.
On 31 January 1844 James married Catherine MORRISON at St. Catherines, Montreal. They had the following children:
John(7) HOPKIRK, born in October 1844, and died in 1845.
Catherine(7) HOPKIRK, born 19 May 1846, in Woolwich, Kent and was baptized 7 June 1846 at St. Mary Magdalene, Woolwich, Kent, England. She became Mrs. Kate Graham, and Kate help raise her step-brothers and sisters after the death of James' second wife Emma Alder.
James(7) William HOPKIRK, born July 1847 Portsea Island, Hampshire and baptized 29 August 1847 at St. Thomas, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. He died in infancy.
David (7)HOPKIRK,
born on 10 April 1849 and baptised
on 29 April 1849 at Woolwich, Kent County, St. Mary Magdalene. (note: in 1889
Woolwich became part of London County)
James'(6) wife Catherine MORRISON died in August 1849, at Woolwich.
James(6) second marriage was to Emma Elizabeth ALDER. She was born in 1831,
and they were married 30 September 1855 at Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
Emma died on 28 Oct 1867 and James died on 25 Aug 1875 in South Africa.
At this link is the page recording the marriage of James Hopkirk and Emma Adler. At this link is an enlarged view
of just the part part pertaining to James Hopkirk and Emma Adler. If
you look close at the page, you will notice James is a widower and
Sergeant in the Royal Artillery at Fort Napier. They were married in
the Government School Room in the Parish. The service was performed by
John D. Jenkins, M.A. Witnesses were D. Little and Elizabeth
Tunnicliffe. If you look at the very next listing, you will notice that
on 27 December1855 David Little marries Elizabeth Tunnicliffe and the
witnesses are James Hopkirk and Emma Hopkirk. For them to witness each
others weddings, they must have been very good friends, if not related
to each other some how. Our
thanks goes to Stacy Garcia of Capetown, SA, a descendant of David Little and Elizabeth Tunnicliffe, for pointing out the
contection between these two couples and supplying the copies of their
marriage record.
It is believed James Hopkirk and Emma Adler had six children:
Unknown(7) HOPKIRK, born about 1857
Margaret(7) HOPKIRK, born in 1859. Margaret married a Mr. Love. Margaret died in 1920.
Frank(7) Tyson HOPKIRK, born in 1860 and died in
1920. He married Emma Jessie Merrington. From 1882 voter index we find
Frank is living at 5 Orange Street, Cape Town and he is a clerk. From
1891 Directory, F. T. Hopkirk is a bookeeper livig in Cape Town at
"Retreat, off Camp Street, Cape Town. In 1896 a child was born to this
couple.
Unknown(7) HOPKIRK
George(7) Howard HOPKIRK,
born 25 Jan 1865, St John's, Capetown, South Africa George married Mary
Phemister KIRKMAN on 15 Jan 1888,
at St Luke's. George died in June 1906 and is buried at East London
Cemetery.
Emma Hopkirk, born 11 October 1866, and baptised 2 November 1866 at St. John's the Evangelist Church, Cape Town, South Africa. Parents are James Hopkirk and Emma Elisabeth Hopkirk. Witnesses were James Hopkirk, Emma E Hopkirk, and Elizabeth Martin.
Memo: Could "Tyson" be Emma Adler's
mother's maiden name? Frank's middle name is Tyson and the witness to
his brother George's baptism was John J. Tyson.
This page was last updated on 18 January 2015
