HI again ScallyW. To start at the end first ! Edward Hodgkins, shown here with his 2nd wife Hannah, is my 4Xgreat-grandfather & as I believe, the father of said Benjamin Hodgkins. I have the death record of bothe Edward & Penelope & I have the marriage record in Tanworth, Warwickshire of Edward & Hannah.
By the way, do you or anyone know of any Romany / traveller connection with the area of Tanworth, Warwickshire ? It seems to be a place our Hodgkins gravitated around, coming back to all the time. It is actually a series of hamlets based around Tanworth, including Warings Green, Earlswood, Hillshaw Heath & Tanworth itself. I'd love to know the significance & possible connection of the lane where the Hodgkins & other related families are often show in censuses : Tinkers Lane. Could it be named after the tinker families who frequented this area ?
For the children in the 1841 census, I have solid evidence of baptism records for all of them & I'll show them as follows :
Penelope Hodgkins chr 23 Jan 1825 St Mary Magdalenes Tanworth dau of Henry & Elizabeth Hodgkins (Henry a Hawker of Salter St, Tanworth)
Elizabeth Hodgkins chr 26 May 1826 Evesham dau of Benjamin & Anne Hodgkins
Maria Hodgkins chr 23 Dec 1827 Tanworth dau of Henry & Elizabeth Hodgkins
Esther Hodgkins chr 25 Feb 1829 Evesham dau of Benjamin & Anne Hodgkins
Solomon Hodgkins born c.1832 (he is a mystery still, no christening record so far & no census record after 1841) - my bet is he is a son of Benjamin & Anne Hodgkins
Emmanuel Hodgkins - born c.1833 probably in Evesham - he appears in 1871, 1891 & 1901 census, but also known as Manuel Hoskins & Emmanuel Hoskins - my bet is he is a son of Benjamin & Anne Hodgkins; mainly because we have records of all of Henry & Elizabeths' children right up to Henrys' death in 1835 & there is no Solomon or Emmanuel.
Harriet Hodgkins chr 21 Jan 1838 Salford, Warwickshire dau of Benjamin & Elizabeth Hodgkins
Eliza Hodgkins chr 24 Jan 1841 Wootton Wawen, Warwickshire dau of Benjamin & Elizabeth Hodgkins
There was also a son of Benjamin & Elizabeth named William Hodgkins, also known as William Hoskins born in 1845. So you're right in my opinion, the children in the census are made up of Benjamin & Elizabeths from each of their first marriages & the final two Harriet & Eliza are their shared daughters.
I believe that Harriet married Henry Loveridge & had some 8 children, however many of the children seem to disappear from census records & BDM records after 1881. Harriet & Henry died in Pontypool, Wales in the 1880s. Eliza married Henry Boswell & seems to have had just one daughter Harriet, of whom there is no record after a marriage record in 1879/1880.
Hope this is soemthing to go on & I hope all the other readers of this topic find something in it & if anyone has any info they'd like to share, particularly about Tanworth or Hodgkins Romanies further back, please join in,