Chapter 8: JOB HANCOCKS (1831-1868), VICTUALLER

Public House on the Corner of George Street and Parade 1988

Job married twice, his first wife, Elizabeth Brereton, died in about 1859. Elizabeth had been born in Weston, Cheshire in about 1835. She was the daughter of blacksmith. Her father's family ran the Weston smithy throughout most of the nineteenth century. Elizabeth bore three children, John James, Oliver and Job Edward. The former was born in Cheshire, the latter two in Birmingham. It was possibly the birth of the latter that caused Elizabeth's untimely death. Job Edward appears to have been baptised twice; firstly in St Judes, the local church to Suffolk Street, on 21 May 1859 and secondly in St Martins, the Hancocks' family church, on 24 October of the same year.

Following his mother's death John James went to stay with his grandmother, Ann Brereton back in Weston, Cheshire. He later became a railway clerk and had at six children in Haslington, Cheshire, by his wife, Martha Cooper. Haslington is near to Crewe, at town which, during the latter part of the nineteenth century, grew rapidly with the success of the railways. In addition to his own employment, at least two of John James' four sons were employed as railway clerks. The family must have been of greater than average literacy capability for the time, as a daughter became a school mistress. Following John James' death in Crewe Memorial Hospital on 4 February 1938, his son James Edward, a retired railway store superintendent, acted as Administrator to his father's estate.

John James Hancocks

James Edward (known as Ted) was married to Florence Grace Woodcock. The couple lived in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) during the early part of the twentieth century. They lived on Government Road in Columbo and James Edward managed a tea plantation, possibly had a role in the diplomatic service and served in the army during the First World War. On their return to the United Kingdom James Edward took the rather 'ordinary' job of railway store superintendent. The colonial years left their mark however, as in her widowhood Florence Grace is remembered as living a rather grand lifestyle in Colwyn Bay.

James Edward (seated left) and Florence Grace in Ceylon

Of James Edward's brothers; Thomas was a railway clerk then draughtsman, Harry, became an electrical engineer and Frank George a professional soldier serving as an officer with the 5th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade). Before the First World War the Regiment formed part of the 56th (London) Division. Many of the Division's original units were detached for garrison duties overseas or as reinforcements for other Divisions in the field from late 1914 onward. The complete Division was reformed in France from 5th January 1916, and served with distinction on the Western Front throughout the rest of the war.

As a 2nd Lieutenant it was one of Frank's duties to reply to letters from the relatives of missing soldiers who were asking for information about their loved ones. In a long letter to his sister Beatrice written on 15 April 1918, Frank touchingly described that heartache he felt in having no information to pass on in response to these 'awfully pathetic' appeals. He refers to the effects of coming under shell fire, with rounds either falling short, passing over head or landing so close that 'you get covered in dirt and “awky” (awkward) bits fly about. From that you may get wounded or even killed'. Frank described three scenarios when a shell landed particularly near at hand; being 'picked up in small pieces or not at all', 'real shell shock' or coming through untouched. The former probably being the fate of his missing men, the loved ones of whom he found it so hard to respond to. Frank himself had experienced a near-miss and crawled out of a shell crater with his throat full of the fumes of high explosive.

Frank reveals that although he was fully recovered from the effects of a gas attack, he had a secret wish for another dose of gas that might see him invalided back to England. He also responds to the news of a family friend's death thus 'the news of Joe Bostock’s death is very saddening, the more so as he had only just been married. This war gets “wussen and wussen” doesn't it'. (Joseph Bostock married Olive May Lakin in 1917. He was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Cheshire Regiment when he was killed in action on 24 March 1918. He is buried in Vaulx Hill Cemetery, Pas de Calais)

Frank George's movements through the ranks are recorded in entries in the London Gazette. On 22 April 1918, a week after writing the letter referred to above, he was promoted to Lieutenant. On 24 September 1918 he was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during a daylight raid on enemy outposts during which heavy losses were inflicted on the enemy, and one trench mortar was captured, two others destroyed. This result was largely due to the daring and thorough reconnaissance carried out previously by Lieutenant Hancocks. This action probably occurred during the Battle of Albert (21st - 23rd August 1918) or the Battle of the Scarpe (26th - 30th August 1918). Both were part of the general advance in Picardy during the Second Battle of the Somme, as a result of which the German advances of the earlier part of the year were pushed back; leading ultimately to the Armistice of 11 November 1918. A soldier writing home at the time described trench mortars thus - 'The Hun has been throwing a lot of trench-mortar bombs at us lately. Some of these are enormous things over two feet long and six and half inches in diameter. When they burst they make a hole as big as your dining room at Newlands. They are much worse than the "sausages" which they also send. They also have a nasty little fish-tailed bomb which you can't always see coming.'

During the First World War the Division spent 330 days at rest, 195 in quiet sectors, 385 in active sectors and 100 days in battle. Initially selected to join the Army of Occupation on the Rhine, the orders were eventually cancelled and the Division was demobilised. The final cadre returned to England in May 1919. Just before his return, by then, Acting Captain Hancocks reverted to the rank of Lieutenant as he ceased to command a Company. Twelve months later he resigned his commission at his own request, becoming instead a Colour Sergeant and then a Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant (RQMS). In 1926 however he again took up a commission and assumed his previous rank of Lieutenant. Within twelve months he was promoted to Captain, then in 1932 to Major. Two years later he was awarded the Territorial Efficiency Decoration. In October 1937 he won promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. Throughout this time Frank George had been serving with the 5th City of London Regiment, however in 1937 the battalion left the London Regiment and was designated as The London Rifle Brigade, The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own). From then Frank George then served with the Middlesex Regiment. At the outbreak of the Second World War, and at his won request, he reverted to the rank of Major, perhaps to take a more active part in the proceedings. Soon after the end of the War he was restored to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, in which position he retired on 1 September 1948. In October 1950 he was awarded three bars (one for each six years above 12 years service) to his Territorial Efficiency Decoration.

Lieutenant Colonel Frank George Hancocks

As a result of Scarlet Fever, Frank George's sister, Beatrice, became profoundly deaf at 18, however she was still a very accomplished pianist and an excellent club tennis player for the Permanent Way (Railway) Tennis Club in Crewe, she often made the local paper and played matches until her first stroke at age 72. She Died in 1982 in Barton on Sea, Hampshire from a further stroke, but is fondly remembered by her granddaughter Cecilia in particular.

Beatrice had seven children by her husband, John Cragg Dutton. These were Florence Ann who became a governess (including to the king of Belgium's children for a time), Edward a chemist, Jessie a children's nurse, Peter John (aka Jackie), Frank, Sidney who worked for the General Post Office (GPO) and Winifred. Florence Ann was engaged to an RAF man who was killed in the Quetta (now in Pakistan) earthquake of 30 May 1935. Nearly 35,000 people are believed to have been killed in the earthquake. At the local Royal Air Force base, the hangars at the airfield were all that were left standing though they were badly damaged. Every aircraft was rendered unsafe to fly. After her fiancé's death, Florence Ann married the fiancé of her sister Jessie. Jessie had died of an insect bite sustained in Belgium. Peter John (aka Jackie) died as a child in a terrible accident after when he was started by a cat and fell in to fire below the 'copper'. Due to her deafness his mother couldn't hear his cries.

(photo after one in the possession of Liam Nugent who is invited to contact Peter Hancocks)

Oliver, John James brother, became a brass caster. He spent his early years living in what were probably very poor conditions in tenements off Edward Street, before moving to Ford Street. He married Birmingham born Emily Crump in 1884 and had at least four children by her. In 1901 the family were living next door to Oliver's brother, Job Edward. Emily was working as ironmonger's shopkeeper at the time. Her eldest son was jewellery ring maker who married in the West Bromwich area and later moved to Manchester. Emily's eldest daughter was a milliner. She married Ernest Cattell and had at least one child of her own. Another daughter, Charlotte also married and had at least one child.

Oliver Hancocks

John James and Oliver's other full sibling, Job Edward, joined the Royal Navy, probably as a Royal Marine. In April 1881 he was at sea aboard a training ship, HMS 'Northampton', one of a working complement of 560. The 'Northampton' was one of two Nelson class Armoured Cruisers (HMS Nelson was the other). She sailed under steam and sail. The Nelson class were the last Royal Navy warships built with full sailings rigs. They were reasonable sea boats but poor sailing ships. Northampton was built in 1875 and sold in April 1905. It is not known when Job joined the 'Northampton', but in January 1880, Bermudans saw electric light for the first time when the ship arrived at their islands. In September of the same year she was accompanying HMS Phoenix in the western North Atlantic when the latter foundered off Prince Edward Island. The Northampton was one of the flagships of the North American and West Indies Squadron, hence her presence in the western Atlantic.

HMS 'Northampton'

Whilst ashore Job Edward was based in Walmer in Kent. At that time there were important Naval dockyards and Royal Marine barracks in both Walmer and neighouring Deal. Job Edward married Louisa Maria Spain, probably in Walmer, in 1890. Four of his five children were born in Walmer before Job Edward and his family moved back to Birmingham in the late 1890's. In Birmingham Job Edward became a clerk in a Birmingham gun factory and lived, next door to his brother Oliver, at 25 Ford Street. He died in Aston in 1910.

Job Edward Hancocks

In the census of 1861, taken on 8 April, widower Job is noted as having a housekeeper named Beatrice Price, a general servant and his niece Charlotte Darwin living in. Eight days later Job married Beatrice in St Thomas's, off Bath Row! Whether Beatrice was really his housekeeper or this was a euphemism for cohabiting with her fiancée immediately before their marriage is not known.

Job died on 24 January 1868 at the relatively young age of 37. He did not prepare a will so letters of Administration were granted to his widow for his modest estate, which was valued at less than £200.

Five children were born to Job and his second wife Beatrice.

Following Job's death a strange quirk of fate or the use of similar euphemism to that previously contrived by Job and Beatrice occurred. In 1871 Widow Beatrice with her two stepsons by Job's first wife and her own four surviving children by Job, had a lodger, Charles Edward Lane. She married Charles Edward soon afterwards! At least three children were born to Beatrice and Charles. Charles was born in about 1841 in the parish of Grosmont in the northeast corner of Monmouthshire. Beatrice was born in the neighbouring county of Herefordshire. Following his move to Birmingham, Charles became a clerk in a leather works.

The oldest son of Job and Beatrice was Mortimer William. He worked as a jeweller's clerk then traveller before setting up in business with Roland James Taylor as Taylor & Hancocks - Wholesale and Manufacturing Jewellers, at 31, Northampton Street, Birmingham. The partnership was dissolved in 1931. He died, intestate, the following year, at which time he was resident at Broomdean in Silhill Hall Road, Solihull. His estate was valued at £3772, for which a local jeweller and a bank clerk guaranteed surety. Mortimer William was married to Olive Maud Nugent, who bore him two children, a son and a daughter. The daughter, Olive Rita, married Leslie Corbett Fletcher and was living at 45 Reservoir Rd; Olton in Warwickshire in the 1930's.

Mortimer William's son, Mortimer Nugent, joined the Reserve Air Force in the early 1920s, being confirmed in his rank of Flying Officer in February 1924. He kept his up voluntary aviation, being promoted to Flight Lieutenant on 3 September 1939, the same day as Britain and France declared war of Germany. It is not clear what role Mortimer William served in, but he does not appear to have been a fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain, 10 July to 31 October 1940. In June 1941 he was temporarily promoted to Squadron Leader, a rank that was fully granted in October 1942. The following summer he was promoted to temporary Wing Commander, which was later fully granted and with which he retired from the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in July 1954.

It has been suggested that Mortimer William's family founded the renowned London jewellery company, Hancocks and Co. This is certainly not the case, for Hancocks of London was founded on 1st January 1849 by Charles Frederick Hancock (sic), formerly a partner in the renowned firm of Storr and Mortimer. His success was such that on 13th August 1849, after only eight months in business, he received the Royal Appointment of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. The company took the name Hancock Son and Co in 1866, then Hancocks & Co in 1870. Ever since its institution in 1856 the Victoria Cross has been supplied solely by Hancocks and Co. The company is now of Burlington Gardens London W1.

Of Job and Beatrice's other children; Ernest Montague appears to have died as a child, Lucy Beatrice stayed with her uncle and aunt, William and Ann Price at Kingsland, Hereford, for a while before marrying in that area in 1883, Clara Ann was a dressmaker before marrying in 1899 and Elizabeth Charlotte appears to have married two years earlier in Llenelly, Carmarthenshire.

JOB HANCOCKS b.1831 d.1868 m.#1 ELIZABETH BRERETON #2 BEATRICE PRICE
. . #1 JOHN JAMES HANCOCKS b.c1855 d.1938 m.MARTHA COOPER
. . . JAMES EDWARD (aka TED) HANCOCKS b.1876 d.1959 m.FLORENCE (FLORRIE) GRACE WOODCOCK
. . . . .GRACE (aka GRECIE) HANCOCKS m.WILLIAM JAMES HAY
. . . . . . issue HAY
. . . . .HARRY HANCOCKS b.1904 d.1991 m.PHYLLIS MARION SCRAGG
. . . . . . EDWARD S. HANCOCKS m.KATHLEEN BIGGS
. . . . . . . DAVID HANCOCKS
. . . . . . . PHILIP HANCOCKS
. . . ELIZABETH ANN (aka CIS) HANCOCKS b.1878 d.1922 m.WILLIAM THOMAS. BENNETT
. . . . .MOLLY BENNETT m. John KNAPMAN
. . . . . .ROGER J. KNAPMAN
. . . . . .JEREMY T. KNAPMAN
. . . . .TOM BERNNET
. . . THOMAS LITTON HANCOCKS b.1885 d.1968 m.ELIZABETH DOBSON
. . . HARRY HANCOCKS b.1887 d.1953 m.JESSIE ASTLES
. . . . .GERALD MACLEOD (aka GERRY) HANCOCKS m.HAZEL ELIZABETH FLORENCE CLEGG
. . . . . . SIMON JAMES HANCOCKS m.EVELYN MARGARETE GABLER
. . . . . . . MARK JAMES HANCOCKS
. . . . . . . BENJAMIN SIMON HANCOCKS
. . . . . . LESLEY SUSAN HANCOCKS m.#1 DAVID JOHN WESLEY, #2 GRAEME WILLIAM MORTON, #3 DAVID EASON
. . . . . . . #2 CHRISTOPHER KENNETH MORTON m.CHANTELLE JENNINGS
. . . . . . . #2 STEPHEN NICHOLAS MORTON
. . . . . . . #2 MICHAEL JAMES MORTON
. . . . . . . #2 JENNIFER ERIN MORTON
. . . . .EDWARD (aka TEDDY) BRERETON HANCOCKS b.1924 d.2001 m.NESTA ELSIE SALTER
. . . . . . STEPHEN ANDREW HANCOCKS
. . . . . . VALERIE JANE HANCOCKS m.GEORGE LEES
. . . . . . . HARRY LEES
. . . . . . . ARCHIE LEES
. . . . . . . GRANT LEES
. . . . .JOHN DEREK HANCOCKS b.1915 d.1990 m.DORA KATHLEEN (aka KATH & KAY) WRAGG
. . . . . . PETER J. HANCOCKS m.SUSAN -
. . . . . . . VICTORIA SEPTEMBER HANCOCKS m.MICHAEL J. DENTON
. . . . . . . JASON CHRISTIAN HANCOCKS
. . . . . . ROBERT ROSS HANCOCKS m.CHRISTINE LINFORD
. . . . . . . PENNI LEE HANCOCKS
. . . . . . . ROSS LINFORD HANCOCKS
. . . BEATRICE HANCOCKS b.1889 d.1982 m.JOHN CRAGG DUTTON
. . . . .EDWARD (aka TEDDY) HANCOCKS DUTTON
. . . . .FLORENCE ANN (KNOWN AS ANNIE) DUTTON b.1908 d.1987 m.FREDERICK ELSON
. . . . . . TERENCE ELSON m.JUDITH -
. . . . . . . CAROLINE ELSON
. . . . . . GORDON ELSON
. . . . .JESSIE DUTTON b.c1912 d.1933
. . . . .PETER JOHN (aka JACKIE) c1912 d.1915
. . . . .FRANK DUTTON b.1916 d.1990 m.ELLEN -
. . . . . . ROBIN DUTTON m.MARGARET GIBSON
. . . . . . . ANDREW DUTTON m.KAREN HARDISTY
. . . . . . BRIAN DUTTON m.#1 MARIE CZERSKI #2 JAQUELINE HOARE #3 PHYLLIS - #4 KATHY -
. . . . . . . #1 MARK DUTTON
. . . . . . . #2 KIMBERLEY DUTTON
. . . . . . CECELIA (KNOWN AS CELIA) DUTTON m.MICHAEL BUTTERS
. . . . . . . PHILIP BUTTERS
. . . . . . . AMELIA BUTTERS
. . . . .SIDNEY DUTTON b.c1920 d.1963
. . . . .WINIFRED DUTTON b.c1920 d.1920
. . . FRANK GEORGE HANCOCKS b.1893 d.1976 m.CHRISTINA HORTON
. . #1 OLIVER HANCOCKS b.1857 d.>1901 m.EMILY CRUMP
. . . OLIVER HENRY HANCOCKS b.c1886 d.1939 m.- -.
. . . ETHEL LOUISA HANCOCKS b.1887 m.ERNEST CATTELL
. . . . .MURIEL CATTELL m.DONALD HARRIS
. . . . . . STEWART HARRIS m.- -
. . . . . . . STEPHANIE HARRIS
. . . CHARLOTTE E. HANCOCKS b.c1890 d.1914 m.SIDNEY WILLIAMS
. . . . .MADELINE E. WILLIAMS m.ERNEST A. BARTLETT
. . . WALTER JOHN HANCOCKS b.1897 d.1976 m.FANNY REES
. . #1 JOB EDWARD HANCOCKS b.1859 d.<1910 m.LOUISA MARIA SPAIN
. . . FANNY LOUISA QUEENIE HANCOCKS b.1893 d.>1901
. . . ELIZA BEATRICE HANCOCKS b.1895 d.>1901
. . . FLORENCE EDITH HANCOCKS b.1897 d.>1901
. . . ELIZABETH HANCOCKS b.1900 d.>1901
. . . JOB EDWARD HANCOCKS b.1891 d.1895
. . #2 MORTIMER WILLIAM HANCOCKS b.1861 d.1932 m.OLIVE MAUD NUGENT WELLS
. . . MORTIMER NUGENT HANCOCKS b.1899 d.>1934
. . . OLIVE RITA HANCOCKS b.1897 d.>1934 m.LESLIE CORBETT FLETCHER
. . . . .female m.- -
. . . . . . (ANGIE) - m. (CHRIS) WRIGHT
. . #2 ERNEST MONTAGUE HANCOCKS b.1863 d.<1871
. . #2 LUCY BEATRICE HANCOCKS b.1864 d.>1883 m.- -
. . #2 CLARA ANN HANCOCKS b.c1866 d.>1899 m.- -
. . #2 ELIZABETH CHARLOTTE\CHARLOTTE ELIZABETH HANCOCKS b.1868 d.>1897 m.- -

Acknowledgement: Writing the above essay would not have been possible without the generous contribution of information by Cecilia Dutton and Simon James Hancocks

This page last updated on 6 January 2007