Your
great grandmother, a nice motherly woman, very kind to Willie’s bairns as she
called my father. She died suddenly
after a brief illness. My mother went
when she heard she was ill. In (the) course of conversation she said I was
left at home on Sabbath last and was wonderfully strengthened to commend you all to god. I felt my end near. When she died her hair was as black as a
Raven’s wing, not a grey hair seen.
James(4)
HOPKIRK & Anne WRIGHT had the following children, but they did not follow the normal naming pattern:
Agnes(5) HOPKIRK, 21 Apr 1778 in Melrose. Agnes died 6 days after she was born. This daughter should have been named after Anne's mother, as the first daughter is named after the mother's mother.
Anne(5) HOPKIRK, 25 Apr 1779 in Melrose. The second daughter should be named after the father's mother. (Probably deceased as of 1841 since she is not mentioned in James(1756-1841) will, per June 30, 1841 letter written by Isabella Home Hopkirk)
William(5) HOPKIRK, born 25 Dec 1780, in Jedburgh, mariried Isabelle
Home (Named after fathers' father) (Christened 7 January
1781 in Jedburgh) (USA
& New Zealand Hopkirks descend from this couple) William was a
shoemaker and as of 1841 census he was living in Gattonside with his
wife Isabella and his son Robert, age 20, is a shoemaker Journeyman,
and son Alex, 15, is an Apprentice Wright.
From the will William received the "under part of the house he was
living in, in Gattonside, along with a closet upstairs. His sister
Mary(Molly) was left the other part of the house. But sister Mary
remained in the other half of the house with Robert, and Walter
remained in St. Cuthbert, but Walter's son was working for Robert in
1851. So the family must have made some trades among themselves after
the will was read.
James(5) HOPKIRK, christened 14 January 1783 in Jedburgh, married Jean
Turnbull, 21 Jun 1804.
(Named after father, or possibly mother's father) Per 1841 census James is a shoemaker in Jedbugh.
His son James is a painter. Per the 1841 letter James was unable to come, but his son James was there for the reading of the will. James received ten pounds)
David(5) HOPKIRK, christened 21 Jun 1787 in Melrose, married Margeret
Greive,
11 May 1811(South African & some London Hopkirks) (David received
ten punds from his father's will)
From the 1841 census David is a Hand Loom Weaver at 8 Earl Grey St., St Cuthburt's
John(5) HOPKIRK, 5 Jul 1789(Not mentioned in June 30, 1841 letter, so John must be deceased as of 1841) John joined the Melrose Masonic Lodge in 1835.
Margeret(5) HOPKIRK, 22 May 1791. (Named after father's mother, so one of the earlier daughter's must have been named after a recently deceased relative) (Not mentioned in 1841 letter, so Margaret must be deceased as of 1841)
Alexander(5) HOPKIRK, christened 2 Jun 1793. Died 27 September 1793, age 5 months of chincough.(Whooping cough)
Walter(5) HOPKIRK, born 26 Oct 1794, married Janet
PEASTON
(from his father's will, Walter received 1/2 of the house Robert is living in)(Walter is living in St. Cuthbert's)
Robert(5) HOPKIRK, 30 Apr 1797, unmarried, a Bootmaker(From 1851 census he is a "boot and shoemaker", employing 4 men, including his 22 year old nephew William Hopkirk, Walter's son) (From the 1841 will Robert received 1/2 of the house he was living in, in Melrose on Main Street. Main Street is now High Street.)
Mary(5)(Molly) HOPKIRK, 4 Aug 1799. , unmarried. Mary was still living as of the 1881
census.
She was listed as living at "High Street" in
Melrose
and being age 80, unmarried, and born in Melrose. From her father's
will she recieved the other part of the house in Gattonside. But she
remained living with her brother Robert in the house on Main
Street(High Street) in Melrose until she died 4 November 1889. Mary's
will tells us the location of the family home. See Mary's page for more
details.
Thomas
HOPKIRK, born 21 January 1803 and christened 10 April 1803, both at
Melrose. From father James' will, Thomas got some money from the "other
house."
(We have been unable to find Thomas in the 1841 census.) Thomas passed
away 27 February 1850 at age 47. Like most of his brothers, Thomas was
also shoemaker. Since Thomas was not mentioned in his sister Mary's
will in the 1889 reading, we believe Thomas had no issue.
Below is the Hopkirk residence in Melrose, that is still standing, and in use,
to this day. The picture was taken on 29 May 2017. That is James
Hopkirk and Anne Wright's great great great great grandson John Kent
Hopkirk standing in front of 16 High Street, Melrose. From Mary(Molly)
Hopkirk's will we know that the building directly to the East is the Melrose Masonic Lodge, which, per the Lodge website,
has been in its current location since 1791. If you look closely at the
picture of the lodge on their website, you can see a sliver of the
James Hiopkirk/Anne Wright building on the far left, or west side. The
address of the Lodge is "1 Market Square." The address of the Hopkirk
building is 16 High Street. If you look at the upper right hand corner
of the Hopkirk building, pictured below, you will notice that "High
Street" is on the Hopkirk building, and "Market Square" is on the
Masonic Lodge building.This is the point where the names of the streets
change in Melrose. Mary Hopkirk's will also states that "High Street"
itself is the southern boundry for the Hopkirk building.
We do not yet know when James and Anne began occupying this
building, but it could have been as early as about 1787. Their first
two children were born in Melrose in the late 1770's. Then James moved
the family to Jedburgh where his sons William and James were born in
1780 and 1783. He probably moved to Jedburgh to be an apprentice
shoemaker. He returned around 1785 and in 1787 his son David was born
in Melrose and James joined the Masonic Lodge in that year. See the email from the Melrose Masonic Lodge
confirming his membership. The building below remained in Hopkirk
hands until the passing of James' daughter Mary(Molly)
Hopkirk(1799-1889) in November of 1889. It is not known if the building
passed into the hands of her nephew, her sister Margeret's son,
Alexander Monard, or if the building was sold.
Anne Wright Hopkirk died on 19 March 1833, at age 72. Here is the link to Anne's parish death record, along with that of Elizabeth Hopkirk of Newstead, aged 111 years, two weeks earlier!!!.
James Hopkirk died in June 1841, age 86 years. Here is the link to James' parish death record,
along with that of his grandson James Hopkirk, age 34 , of
Gattonside. (This is confirmation that the William
Hopkirk(1780-1854) family was already in Gattonside at this time.)
At this link you can find information about James Hopkirk's will written on 21 January 1836 and finalized on 6 August 1842 in Jedburgh.
Father
James (1756-1841) HOPKIRK had five sons who were shoemakers like
himself, plus many grandsons who were also shoemakers. The total number
of shoemakers is probably at least ten.
This page was last updated on 17 June 2017