COOK family from Sussex - no idea where to look

[sillgen]

If you join Sussex FHG then you have access to their online baptism and burial records.   Not absolutely full coverage but it is getting better all the time and is very useful.   It is only c£12 a year.   Cook/Cooke is such a common name that it could take ages to search all the possible church registers so the SFHG index could really help.

[artifis]

I'd also recommend joining the SFHG, the annual membership is significantly less than a single cd covering six or eight parishes only as charged by some other counties FHGs.  Using my membership access I was able to trace several ancestors to their previous parishes working outwards from the known marriage/baptism information.  Their Sussex Marriage Index cd is also an invaluable tool if you've lots of Sussex ancestors.

Looking at the Westbourne baptisms I found one more for Thomas and Jane - Amelia on 18 November 1787, no qualifier note as previous and subsequent entries regarding the child's age so likely to be soon after birth.

No Marriage for Thomas and Jane found in the SFHG Marriage Index so likely they married outside Sussex maybe just over the border in Hampshire as Freespirit1 suggested.

I am intrigued as to why Henry apparently moved from one side of Sussex to the other, probably for work but if an agricultural labourer that's some distance to go when there would have been employment opportunities nearer to Westbourne.  I wonder if the Westbourne Henry is the right one and that your Henry was actually born/baptised in Kent which is nearer to Westfield than Westbourne - just a thought.

[janan]

There seems to be a Westbourne area of Hove - so maybe Henry was born there.

Jan

[JohninSussex]

There is a Westbourne area of Hove (it includes Westbourne Street, Gardens, Villas and an area called Poets Corner) but it is a 20th century development: the parish is Aldrington and there was never a Westbourne parish. 

I was also struck by the large distances between Westbourne (far west of West Sussex), Westfield and Sedlescombe (near Hastings way over east) and Brighton being midway.  It's not very likely the same family moved between these places.  Most of these are probably not related.

[artifis]

Looking at the 1875 Ordnance Survey 1:2500 scale map of the area comprising the four Westbourne roads - Gardens, Place, Street and Villas, it was still undeveloped countryside and no indication of a 'lost' village/settlement so I agree with JohninSussex and also agree that the baptism at Westbourne is probably for another family. 

Looking on Anc..... I found a baptism for a Mercy Whiting on Dec 1778 at Catsfield which is very near Westfield.  Looking on SFHG I found the following:

Mercy Whiting ba 27 Dec 1778, d/o Samuel & Mary Whiting.

The SFHG Marriage Index has a Samuel Whiting and a Mary Stephens marrying on 26 Aug 1772 at Catsfield.  Checking the Catsfield baptisms again these must be Mercy's parents as probable siblings for her are listed as follows:

Robert ba 18 Jun 1773, s/o Samuel & Mercy (Mercy/Mary - I have found these interchangeable at this period)
Mary ba 9 Oct 1774, d/o ditto
Samuel ba 11 Jun 1776, s/o ditto
Ann ba 12 Dec 1777, d/o ditto
Mercy as above, d/o Samuel & Mary
Richard ba 27 Dec 1778, s/o ditto - twin of Mercy?
Sarah ba 20 Aug 1780, d/o ditto
John ba 9 Jun 1782, s/o Samuel & Mercy

A possible problem regarding Mercy ba 1778 is that there is a burial for a Mercy Whiting on 23 Jun 1782, no age /relationship given, but this could John's mother as soon after his baptism so possibly complications from his birth?  A Richard Whiting was buried 25 Jan 1783 and a Mary Whiting on 26 Oct 1783 who are likely to be connected with the above siblings/mother. 

There isn't a Henry Cook listed at Catsfield but a John Cooke is listed ba 9 Jan 1763, s/o Felix & Mary.  It would be worth trawling through records for other parishes in the area to see if Henry can be tracked down - Battle, Crowhurst, Sedlescombe etc.

[artifis]

Hmm, Henry's proving to be an enigma.  Out of curiosity I checked the following parishes to no avail, no mention of a Henry Cook/Cooke in the right time frame, either much too early or too late.

Ashburnham, Battle, Bexhill, Bodium, Brightling, Burwash, Crowhurst, Dallington, Etchingham, Ewhurst, Fairlight, Guestling, Hastings, Heathfield, Hurst Green, Hurstmonceaux (Herstmonceaux), Icklesham, Mayfield, Mountfield, Netherfield, Ninfield, Northiam, Rotherfield, Rye, Salehurst, Sedlescombe, St Leonards, Ticehurst, Wadhurst, Warbleton, Whatlington and Winchelsea.

This covers quite a large area around Watersfield but the area starts to go over into Kent for which I don't have access to records on-line.  Anc..... only comes up with the Henry baptised at Westbourne but I don't believe that there are no other Henry's in the right time frame nearer than that.

There's also the possibility that he wasn't baptised or his baptism occurred in one of the few churches not yet transcribed on the SFHG site.  Another possibility is that Henry wasn't the name he was baptised with or the first Christian name he was given, I've had numerous ancestors who've used another of their baptism names other than the first one.

[janan]

Westbourne, Hove is a non-starter then  

I wouldn't rule out the Westbourne Henry, people were often more mobile than might be expected. One of my ancestors was born near Southampton but married in London in 1810. Mackaa do you have an occupation for Henry? It might indicate an increased likelihood of him moving from one end of Sussex to the other.

Jan

[Gms51]

Hi Mackka
Interested in your post as I am researching the same Henry Cook.
I have had no luck in locating Henry and his family.
Have you been able to access his death info? As there are two possibilities according to the WA BDM's I have not purchased them.
Found the school record for Phillip Augustus stating he was born in Kent. I even tried to locate info on Mrs Cook's burial in Clarence with the WA Cemetery Board. But No Luck there either.
Have just joined the Chatroom so will be interested in any findings.
My mother is daughter of Thomas William Cook and Anne Hyde Bassett.
Regards
Gms51

[mackaa]

I am very sorry people for not replying to your great information sooner - but due to my mother being very ill I have simply had to drop some balls.  Thanks for all the suggestions - I will follow up on them as soon as I can.
Gms51 - I have messaged you.

Thanks everyone and kind regards