Oliver was born to John and Julia on 22 Oct 1877 at 62 Macdonald Street. He married Birmingham born Nanetta Lena Weil (known as Nonetta and Netta) in her home city on 16 January 1897. Nanetta was of part German extraction. Her father, Victor Weil, who was a commercial traveller selling hardware and fancy goods, was born in Darmstadt. Following their marriage Oliver and Nanetta lived in Holborn, London then Harringay, where Oliver worked in a furniture warehouse. After six years they moved back to Birmingham. By 1906 Oliver was the proprietor of coffee rooms at 242 Bearwood Lane, Smethwick, some two miles due west of Birmingham City centre. In 1908 he moved to his business to the Victoria Coffee Rooms on Cape Hill. This latter address must have been a prime site for such a business, for Cape Hill was the main thoroughfare to Birmingham from Smethwick, and was near to Victoria Park with its lake, tree lined walks and bandstand.

The union of Oliver and Nanetta Lena produced only four children, all born in London, before things went wrong. In 1910 Oliver had an affair with a sixteen-year-old waitress at the coffee rooms, which resulted in a pregnancy and the birth of a girl, Rosa. Nanetta Lena immediately left Oliver and set up a dining rooms business of her own at 5-7 Saltley High Street, on the opposite side of the city to her estranged husband. At the outbreak of war Oliver enlisted in to the army, where he served as sapper i.e. engineer in Egypt. On return from the army he became a barman, succumbing to the occupational hazard of alcoholism. Before the Second World War Oliver, his partner and daughter moved to Bideford in North Devon. Here he worked as an upholsterer’s warehouseman, living at Westcroft Terrace before moving to Hillside on Mines Road during 1942. He died shortly after moving. Oliver's left a modest estate.

In 1911 Nanetta Lena gave up her business in Saltley to emigrate to Canada, where her brother was already living. She first stayed with her brother at James Street, Hamilton, Ontario, before set up her own grocery store nearby. Before leaving England, Nanetta had filed for divorce. In the United Kingdom during the period 1857 to 1936 divorce was still very rare, with the only ground for divorce being adultery, which was known as marital crime. After she had left for Canada the solicitors office was severely damaged by a fire, during which the divorce papers were destroyed. As a result the divorce was never finalised and so Oliver's subsequent marriage to the mother of his illegitimate daughter was de facto bigamous.

Nanetta took her four children to Canada with her. Canada in the early years of the twentieth century was thriving. The Liberals, led by the French-Canadian lawyer Wilfrid Laurier won the election of 1896. A period of prosperity ensued as he carried forward his predecessor’s national policy. Protective tariffs supported rapid industrial expansion. A host of emigrants was attracted from Britain and central and eastern Europe and from the United States, where available land was running out. Thus Nanetta and her family flourished in their new home.

All four of Nanetta’s offspring married in their new homeland. They were Nonetta Lina (known as Nettie of St. Louis, Missouri, USA), Oliver, Muriel Gertrude (known as "Mu") and Ernest (known as Ernie). Before marrying, Nonetta Lina travelled back to England to visit her home country. She returned across the Atlantic on the Mauretania, which sailed from Southampton, docking in New York on 28 November 1924. Built for Cunard Line, the Mauretania was launched in 1907 to ply the Liverpool-New York route. She was used as a troop carrier during the First World War and primarily as a cruise-ship between 1930 and 1934, after which she was scrapped in Scotland.

Nonetta Lina married Waldemar Palm and had single child, William Hugo Palm who was born in St Louis, Montreal. William Hugo married and has two daughters. Muriel Gertrude married Cyril Cleverley who died in 1961. As a widow she married Jack Pearson. She had no children. Ernest married and had one daughter, who in turn married and had four children, all born in Hamilton.

Oliver, a baker, married twice. His marriage to Margaret Moore resulted in two sons, Oliver George and Derwyn Richard. Margaret died in 1964. The following year Oliver married Elisabeth Sprengel. Oliver himself died in Grimsby, Toronto on 25 May 1994. Oliver George still writes on an occasional basis for trade journals. He is also working as a personal assistant to a well-known motivational speaker (Peter Urs Bender), and running a retail postal outlet, a post office located in a retail store. His wife Elizabeth Johnson (know as Libby) is a full-time at genealogical researcher who is currently publishing marriage, will, and census indexes for Ontario. She recently won an Award of Merit from the Ontario Genealogical Society for needlework presentation of her own family history from 1649 New York, to Canada 1999.

Oliver George and Elizabeth have three children, Seaghan, Shannon and Casey. Seaghan is a television producer with YTV (Youth Television), Canada's young persons' network. His wife, Sandi, works for Sears Canada and has recently been promoted head of the graphic computing department for the store's widely known catalogue. Their three children, Cristiona (known as Crissy), Mike, and Stephan are in various stages of school. Shannon married Arastou (short for Aristotle in Persian) Rafizadeh, an Iranian--Persian immigrant to Canada who's parents still live in Iran. They have a growing family. Casey, along with his wife Kim and daughter Coral live with Oliver George and Elizabeth. Casey works at Shoppers Drug Mart, a large Canadian drugstore chain, as assistant merchandising manager.

Derwyn Richard married Eleanor Anne Armstrong. Eleanor died in 2007. The couple resided in Mississauga, Ontario where their two sons, Darren Moore and Dale Richard were born. Derwyn retired after a successful career as a human resources executive. He then wrote several business books on the subject of human resources in Canadian business. The books are kept current by Derwyn and are published and sold throughout Canada.

Darren Moore married Michele Sharon Glassford in Burlington, Ontario, where they presently reside. Darren is a Golf Course Project Manager and manages the construction and renovation of championship golf courses throughout southern Ontario. Michele is a lawyer who practices law related to women’s issues. She is currently on leave from her profession to raise Keah.

Dale Richard married Anne Shirley Eichenberg and resided in Toronto, Ontario where Dale practiced law in the field of intellectual property. Dale is now Managing Director, Nelvana International Inc. and presently resides with Anne in Limerick, Ireland. Anne is also a lawyer and prior to her relocation to Ireland was the Editor, Legal Case Law for Butterworths Canada Inc. in Toronto. Their twin sons, Rowan Oliver Holland Hancocks and Alexander Liam Lowrie Hancocks were born in Limerick, Ireland.

OLIVER HANCOCKS b.1877 d.1942 m.#1 NANETTA LENA WEIL:#2 - -

…..NONETTA LINA HANCOCKS (#1) b1899 d.1982 m.WALDEMAR PALM

……….WILLIAM HUGO PALM m.WANDA WHITTINGTON

……………PAMELA HANCOCKS

……………MICHELLE HANCOCKS m.WILLIAM H. CRABBIN

…..OLIVER HANCOCKS (#1) b.1901 d.1994 m.#1 MARG. A. MOORE #2 ELISA. SPRENGEL

……….OLIVER GEORGE HANCOCKS m.ELIZABETH JOHNSON

……………SEAGHAN OLIVER HANCOCKS m.#1 RUTH CUNNINGHAM #2 SANDI -

………………..CRISTIONA HANCOCKS

………………..MICHELE HANCOCKS

………………..STEPHAN HANCOCKS

……………SHANNON ELIZABETH HANCOCKS m.ARASTOU RAFIZADEH

………………..ROYA ELIZABETH RAFIZADEH

……………CASEY EVAN MOORE HANCOCKS m.KIM THIBEAULT

………………..CORAL HANCOCKS

……….DERWYN RICHARD HANCOCKS m.ELEANOR ARMSTRONG

……………DARREN MOORE HANCOCKS m. MICHELE SHARON GLASSFORD

………………..KEAH RAE GLASSFORD HANCOCKS

……………DALE RICHARD HANCOCKS m. ANNE SHIRLEY EICHENBERG

………………..ROWAN OLIVER HOLLAND HANCOCKS

………………..ALEXANDER LIAM LOWRIE HANCOCKS

………………..NOEL HANCOCKS

………………..ASTRID HANCOCKS

…..MURIEL GERTRUDE HANCOCKS (#1)b.1904 d.1988 m.#1 CYRIL CLEVERLEY:#2 JACK PEARSON

…..ERNEST HANCOCKS (#1) b.1907 d.1974 m.ISABEL JORDAN

……….LENORE NONETTA HANCOCKS m.JAMES(JIM) WILLIAMSON

……………WILLIAM JAMES WILLIAMSON

……………JOHN DAVID WILLIAMSON

……………MICHAEL GLENDON WILLIAMSON

……………CATHERINE M WILLIAMSON

…..ROSA HANCOCKS (#2)

 

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