Hopkins of Powerscourt

Hi,

In Ireland, it was very common to have two children of the same name. If one child died young, it was very common to give a subsequent child with the same name. I know one family where there were 6 children but only 3 names. Three children died young and the subsequent children were given the same names. Have a look at the death records for around that time (freely available at irishgenealogy.ie) and you might find a death of Edward at a young age.

Best wishes, Kieran

Thank you very much for your efforts, but I am still confused...

Edward Hopkins of Edenderry died 1931 at 82.  He was therefore born CIRCA 1850.

In 1887 he married Ellen Magill and they had 3 sons.

In 1894 Ellen died.

In 1901, 2 of their sons were living with their grandmother Sarah (b Smyth), widow of Powerscourt Gatekeeper John Hopkins.

John Hopkins, gatekeeper had married Sarah Smyth in 1848 so c1850 would be about right foe a son's birth.

This all makes sense BUT 

In 1864 John of Powerscourt, gatekeeper and Sarah Hopkins, formerly Smyth  had registered a son Edward Sydenham, born on Sydenham Road Dundrum.   He was baptized at Taney Parish (Dundrum)  Who was he?  Was this a different John and Sarah Hopkins???  Is there an error in his name?

Hi,

First of all, apologies for not reading your message carefully enough; I just answered the question.

I guess the bit with Edward Smyth being the father of Ellen Magill is a typo? From the record, her father seems to be William Magill? Therefore, I presume they didn't live at Glasnamullen?

I think it is possible that you could be dealing with one Edward Hopkins. Birth years calculated from death records are not very reliable. Unless you have some other evidence for the birth of Edward in 1850? If Edward was born in 1864, he could still have been married in 1887 and be the father of John Edward and Richard George. I do realise that 14 years of a difference is a good bit between an actual age and a recorded age, but I have seen that before.

It seems like George went to live with his grandmother as he was recorded with her in 1911 also.

Best wishes, Kieran