Charles Codrington Pressick HOBKIRK was a son of David Thomas HOBKIRK and Elizabeth CURRY
Charles Codrington Pressick HOBKIRK was born 13 January 1837. Charles was a bank manager at Huddersfield and Dewsbury, Yorkshire and also was a reknown Bryologist (Mosses). See notes below.
From the birth certificate of Percy HOBKIRK we find he was born 12 September 1866 at Eastparade, Huddersfield , York, to Charles Codrington Pressick HOBKIRK, bank cashier, and Kate Amelia BARWICK
From the 1881 census we know Charles was married to Kate A. and the family was residing at Market Place Huddersfield, York.
Following are the residents:
Chas. C. P. HOBKIRK, age 44, born Huddfd, York, occupation Bank Cashier
Kate A. HOBKIRK, age 44, born Doncaster, York
Percy HOBKIRK, age 14, born Huddfd, York
Charles H. HOBKIRK, age 12, born Huddfd, York
Edgar W. HOBKIRK, age 10, born Huddfd, York
Alfred H. HOBKIRK, age 8, Huddfd, York
Ethel M. HOBKIRK, age 5, Huddfd, York
Eva A. HOBKIRK, age 4, Huddfd, York
Emily JAGGER, age 24, Huddfd, York, occupation Domestic Nurse and Housemaid
Clara ILES, age 20, Deepcar, York, General Servant
From "A Social and Biographical History of British and Irish Field-Bryologists" by Professor Ralph Martin, is this passage:
Charles Codrington Pressick Hobkirk (1837-1902) was a son of David Thomas Hobkirk, who was engaged in the woolen trade at Huddersfield, Yorkshire. The Hobkirks were merchants; David Hobkirk's elder brother (also Charles Codrington Pressick Hobkirk) was a seed-merchant. The names of Codrington and Pressick had been perpetuated through five previous generations, from the time of Christopher Prissick (died 1718), who was a merchant of Carlton, Cleveland, Yorkshire and London. He married Sarah Codrington in Barbados in 1699, she probably being the daughter of Christopher Codrington (1639/40-1698), who was Deputy Governor of the island.
Hobkirk the bryologist became a bank-manager at Huddersfield and Dewsbury. Yorkshire, and wrote a Synopsis of British Mosses (1873), with a second edition in 1884. With Boswell he also prepared the first edition of the London Catalogue of British Mosses (1877).
Thanks to info supplied by Glenys Bolland we have the following excerpt from "PROCEEDINGS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON"
"Charles Codrington Prissick Hobkirk, a prominent Yorkshire naturalist, was born on 13th January, 1837, at Huddersfield, the only son of his father, David T. Hobkirk, who was engaged in the woollen trade. He entered the West Riding Union Bank in 1852, when 15 years of age, and rose to the position of Manager of the Dewsbury Branch of that bank in January 1884 ; in 1892 he quitted this position, but two years later he came back to Dewsbury as manager for the Dewsbury branch of the Huddersfield Banking Company ; in 1897 he retired from business-life, and lived at first at Horsforth and finally at Ilkley, where he died on 29th July, 1902, after a long and painful illness.
It was in his own time, in the intervals of business, that he acquired his extensive knowledge of the natural history of his native county. In 1859 he brought out a volume, ' Huddersfield : its History and Natural History,' embodyitig in it a wealth of information on the fauna and flora of the district ; it reached a second and amplified edition in 1868. Erom 1864 to 1867 a series of ' The Naturalist ' came out at Huddersfield, having papers on British mosses from his pen ; in it he also described the forms of Crataegus oxyacantlia, and translated a paper by Deseglise on the Tomentosce section of Hosa. This venture ceased in the year last mentioned, but was revived in 1875, Hobkirk being one of the editors till 1884, when the Yorkshire Naturahsts' Union took over the magazine. During part of this period he was President of the Huddersfield Naturalists' Society, and actively pushed the interest of more than one other local association. In the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union Mr. Hobkirk was especially active and untiring in the cause he had at heart, and he was its President in 1892.
Although he thus showed his catholicity of taste, he was essentially a bryologist. The volume by which he is best known, is his book ' Synopsis of British Mosses,' which came out in 1873, reaching a second edition in 1884 ; this was a most useful book to the British student, for whom Wilson's ' Bryologia ' was unobtainable, and Dr. Braithwaite's 'Moss Flora' was not even begun. He was responsible, with Henry Boswell, for the ' London Catalogue of British Mosses,' published for the then active Botanical Locality Record Club ; the second issue of this came out in 1881.
We do not believe Charles was the only son of David T HOBKIRK. It is fairly certain he had two older brothers.
This page was last updated on November 7, 2010
