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Martin Wilkin and Mary Morriss had the following children:-
| Martin | 1781-1782 |
| Thomas | 1783-???? |
| Martin | 1784-1810 |
| Elizabeth | 1788-1881 |
| John | 1790-1866 |
| Sarah | 1792-???? |
| Mary | 1795-???? |
| Josiah | 1799-???? |
| Alice | 1801-???? |
It appears that Martin and Mary are not the parents of Martin Wilkin who was my Great Grandad and it not known at the moment who were his parents. In correspondence written by the subject Martin to his daughter in New Zealand, he indicated that he was related to the family of Martin and Mary in Wilburton. It therefore seems logical to me that he was the son of one of the daughters of Martin and Mary because he is shown as illegitimate on his marriage certificate.
The major question I have in the Genealogical search for my "roots" are the names of the parents of my Great Grandfather. The following is a little on the descendants of him who were certainly related to the Pymoor area.
MARTIN WILKIN was born of an unmarried woman on 25 April 1815 in Wilburton near Ely, and died 25 June 1886 in Aldreth a part of Haddenham. He married ELIZABETH COCKLE on 28 February 1835 in Haddenham and had to have a Special Licence because she was only 16 years old. Witnessing the wedding were William Cockle and Rebecca Waller, the brother of Elizabeth and his future wife.
Land tax assessments show that Martin Wilkin came to the parish of Little Downham in 1839 and in 1847 first occupied the property owned by Thomas Vipan and known as Primrose Hill Farm.
The farm was purchased from Miss Emily Preston and "others" by James Cockle Wilkin, the son of Martin,and his son James Martin Wilkin in 1922 and consisted of 154 acres 3 rood and 37 perches. It remained in the Wilkin family until 25 August 1938 when my father James Martin Wilkin sold it to Mr Claud Starling.
In about 1840 a Doctor who lived nearby painted a picture of Primrose Hill farmhouse showing Elizabeth feeding the poultry. This picture still exists and is owned by my brother Roger James Wilkin who I presume will pass it on to his son. Roger lives in Little Clacton, Essex.
Martin married Elizabeth Cockle at Haddenham on 28 February 1835. They had thirteen children. Martin died on 25 June 1886 and was buried at Haddenham. Elizabeth died on 27 April 1915 at the age of 97 and was buried next to her husband.
The following is some of the information relative to the children of Martin Wilkin and Elizabeth Cockle.
Elizabeth Wilkin was born on 15 September 1835 in the Haddenham area and died on 16 August 1928 also in Haddenham. There is no mention of her in any of the documents that I have other than her death at the age of 93. Susan Cockle Wilkin was born 5 October 1838 and died in the London area in January 1929. She married Albert Hastings Skully who was a in the Provisions business.
Eliza Wilkin was born on May 12 1841 in Pymoor and died in the Liverpool area in 1925. She married a man named Jackson and had four children.
Hannah Wilkin was born 22 March 1844 in Pymoor and married a man named Blakey. Mary Ann Wilkin in New Zealand kept a copy of a letter written by her sister Hannah which indicates that she was well educated and very well able to express herself. The letter was published in THIS LOVE OF THE LAND by the Wilkin and Neal descendants, chaired by Roger Neal in 1985. The letter as printed in New Zealand was as follows
Primrose Hill
June 12 1866
My ever very dear Pollie,
You will be somewhat surprised that I should write a letter to you on this, the long to be remembered and most important occasion -- "Your Wedding" but the fact that my heart is so full that that I cannot give utterance to the feelings of my mind. You have today, Darling Sister, entered into quite a new course of life -- you have been united to one in whom we all have the greatest confidence and I feel assured that he will be to you a most devoted, loving and kind hearted husband. It would have been impossible for you to have had one to whom we could so willingly have entrusted our dear, dear sister such a distance, as to him. Accept then a sister's best wishes on your marriage. I sincerely hope you may both long enjoy uninterrupted happiness that your lives may be long spared and that you may prosper in that land wither you are going. Dear Pollie, rest assured we shall not forget to pray daily that God be pleased to grant you a safe voyage and we must all look forward with the pleasant hope that at some future period in our life we may share the unspeakable pleasure of meeting again. I consider you very fortunate having a husband when you have so many old maiden sisters. Just fancy you being the fifth and the second one that is married. We must be the queer ones, I think. Do not think it strange that I should give you this for I thought and should like you to have a lasting momentum of my sincere affection for you and as before stated was fully aware I could not express in another way the sentiments of my heart. Again wishing you and yours every blessing. Believe me dearest Pollie,
Ever to remain,
Your devotedly attached sister,
HANNAH WILKIN
Tuesday morning
My cousin Margaret Bruce (Granddaughter of Maria Wilkin, sister of Mary Ann) told me that Hannah is buried in Northwold near her sister Agnes Helen who was married to John Hopkin. There is no record that I know of that links Hannah to that area.
Mary Ann Wilkin was born on 20 June 1846 in Pymoor and married a man named Alfred Neal and they left for New Zealand where there are now a great number of Wilkin descendants. She died in 1922 after having 14 children. Sarah Jane Wilkin was born in 1848 and died in 1882. No records are available.
Maria Wilkin was born in 1850 and died in 1936 in the London area. She married Arthur John Harris and they had a large family.
Martin Wilkin was born 20 November 1852 and was the first son of Martin and Elizabeth Wilkin. When Martin died on Oct 17th 1917 he was buried in Aldreth, part of Haddenham. It is known that he was an Accountant in London and we think he was a bachelor. In referring to the funeral notice it states that he had come from London because of the air-raids and died at his brother's Aldreth home a short time after. The obituary notes that "he was widely known and much esteemed and will be greatly missed for his benevolence by a large circle of friends".
It is noted that his sisters Elizabeth, Mrs Skully, Mrs Blakey, Mrs Harris and Mrs Hopkins were there together with his two brothers James and Henry. There were a lot of notables also there and I feel that this was the result of his associates in the accounting field.
In Martin's Will his London address was noted as 107 Farleigh Road, London, Middlesex which I suspect was not to far from Worship Street where he had his business. In his will Martin also notes that Sarah Jane Wilkin had three sons namely Thomas Henry Jackson, Fred Percy Jackson and Ernest Martin Jackson. She also had a daughter named Flora Beatrice Jackson who had married a Mr Williamson.
James Cockle Wilkin, my Grandfather, was born on 28 December 1854 at Primrose Hill farm, Pymoor. He died 5 December 1928.
Agnes Helen Wilkin was born in 1857 and married a man named John Hopkin and they lived in Northwold. She died in 1932.
Emily Wilkin born in 1859 died an infant.
Henry Martin Wilkin was born in 1860 in Pymore and died in 1935 in Aldreth. He was married to Emily Sutton and they had no Children. Emily died in 1958.
They were farmers in Aldreth and I remember visiting Aunt Emily many times in the early nineteen forties. My father then owned the Aldreth Frog Hall farm mentioned in many of the Wills back into the seventeen hundreds and farmed it until it was sold in 1944 to a Mr Haylock from Sutton who was a relative of Fred Darby.
Bertrand Harris (son of Maria ) used to stay with Henry when he was very young and at one time he cycled to Aldreth from London. He also named the home he built in London "ALDRETH" which is an indication that he enjoyed his stays there. Henry was very adept at being able to repair many mechanical items and his ability to make repairs when no one else could is a well known legacy he has in the Haddenham area.
Emily Wilkin born in 1862 died as an infant.
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