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John Hawkins and Elizabeth Sherry © To-date very limited information or documentation has been found for this couple. However, it is believed John was born around 1670, probably in or around Burwash or Ticehurst in East Sussex. Ticehurst lies 5.6km north of Burwash. The first mention of the area was in 1018, when King Cnut granted the lands of Haeselerc, now known as Hazelhurst, which was a part of the Parish of Ticehurst, to the Archbishop of Canterbury. A document from the Priory of Hastings, dated 1197, shows that the church at Ticehurst was controlled by the Priory, and in 1248 was known as Tycheherst. The village's name is said to derive from Old English, and there are two possible derivations. The most plausible one is that it means wood on the Teise from the nearby river of the same name; the second roughly translates as 'the wooded hill where young goats graze', from ticce(n) +hyrst. The first documentation we have for John is when he married Elizabeth Sherry in Burwash1 on the 23th April, 1693. This document has John recorded as Johannes Hogins and Elizabeth (nee Sherry) of Salehurst. Situated in the north of East Sussex, Burwash overlooks widespread and magnificent views of the surrounding countryside, and is within a Conservation area with many beautiful period houses and buildings1. Although the recorded origins of this charming village date back to Norman times, when the Manor was given to the Count of Eu, by William the Conqueror, in 1096, it is said this charming village possibly dates back to early Roman times as there are some ruins of an old Roman ironworks nearby. The name is believed to have originated from Burh aesc ‘the ash fortress’, but a more likely explanation is beorg aesc ‘ashes hill’, with its name changing several times over the years to: Burherce, 12th Century; Burgasshe, 13th Century; Burgherssh, 15th Century; Burrishe, 16th Century, and finally the modern Burwash in the 17th Century. Elizabeth is also thought to have been born around 1670, and it is possible Elizabeth was baptized in Salehurst, but no references have yet been found to support this theory. Salehurst is approximately 5km east-south-east of Burwash. The original settlement at Salehurst was described in the Domesday Book of 1086 as having ‘7villagers and 8cottagers, with 6ploughs, a church and 16acres’, and it appears it is not much bigger now! The present church dates, in part, from the 12th Century, with a 12th Century font carved with salamanders, which is said to have been given by King Richard I, as thanks for the Abbott helping to raise his ransom when he was captured on his way home from the Crusades, the church also contains some rare 14th Century glass etched with drawings of birds. Sometime in the 12th Century a Cistercian Abbey was founded within the parish of Salehurst on a site believed to be somewhere close to the present George Inn. At that time the usual method of crossing the river was by ford or ferry somewhere close to the church. However the Abbott built a bridge over the Rother about a half mile west of the church. With most of the traffic by-passing the old village in order to use the new bridge, the centres of growth occurred around the northern and southern ends of the bridge and by the 16th Century the basic layout of the village had evolved, and this can be clearly seen in the many timber-framed buildings lining both sides of the High Street, which date from that period. Weald Area Recordss2 indicate John and Elizabeth may have had had at least seven children2: Sara c1694; John 1696, he married Mercy Toye 1718; Thomas 1698-1753; Joseph 1701; Elizabeth 1703; Alice 1706; and Hannah 1709. John Hoggins Snr was buried in the Parish Churchyard, Burwash, on the 26th January, 1744, he was approximately 70years old3. Just over 2years later, on the 6th March, 1746, Elizabeth, a widow, was buried in the Burwash Parish Churchyard, it is estimated she was also around 70years old3. References: 1. Parish Marriage Record via LDS Film 2. Burwash - Weald Area Records http://theweald.org/area.asp?Pid=P80.1.1&t=2&y=7&p=0 3. Parish Burial Record via LDS Film
Other Sources: Ancestry.co.uk https://www.ancestry.co.uk FindMyPast https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ Open Domesday Book http://domesdaymap.co.uk/ Owen Gibbins http://www.gibbins.gen.nz/ Sussex Village Net http://sussex.villagenet.co.uk/
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