Whiskin Notes

Whiskin

Nearly all the work for this branch of Inga`s ancestry had been carried out over the last 30 years or so by David Whiskin of Hatfield, who generously sent a copy of his resulting tree early on in my own researches. The charts accompanying this show only an abbreviated selection of his own; the main one tracing the connection down to Inga`s grandfather. Subsidiary tables show the further connection between the Whiskins and Inga`s uncle George, and incidentally the distant relationship with Gladys Aylward - of "The Inn of Sixth Happiness"; and some further descendants of other siblings.

The earliest certain parish entry is of John and Susannah in the first half of the 18th century, in Borley, Essex. Borley is only 4 miles distant from Great Henny, and 16 miles from Ashdon, where other Whiskins are to be found; but there is no recorded connection between them.

The earliest census record for any of the family, however, finds William Walter, at age 55, and son John, age 20, in Islington. Both have their occupations shown as shoemakers, as is John`s wife also. Walter John, the other son, is also described as a cordwainer. Great Great Grandfather William Walter, however, was a bricklayer in 1861; and his eldest surviving son was also a bricklayer in 1881. A younger son, William, was a plumber; and the youngest son James became a self-employed fishmonger.

There appear to be no Whiskins living in Borley, nor in Great Henny, in 1841 or later census returns.

Great Grandmother Alice Sarah`s parents had died before she was 10; so she and three of her siblings went to a Shoreditch orphanage in Brentwood, later to become St. Faith`s Hospital and more recently a large BT establishment. She had 7 brothers and 2 sisters: three brothers died in infancy, three others living only to their thirties. One brother survived to his eighties, while all three girls survived to `old age`.

Return to List of Names that have Notes or Open Whiskin Brief Chart A