Like the others, I can’t find anything which clarifies who the “Irish clergyman” father of Robert was. The only candidate I can find is Rev Dr Ralph Cocking who died in 1773, three years before Robert was born. However, if 1776 is Robert’s correct year of birth that would mean he was only 18 when his first child was born (Richard Percy Cocking, born 1794 in Dublin & my great-great-great grandfather). There
is a baptism record for a Robert Cocking in Aug 1767 at St Catherines Dublin, parents unknown. Is it possible that Robert was actually born in 1767? However, that would mean he was 70 when he made his fateful descent. Why would he want to put his age down by 9 years? But, it becomes possible for him to be the child of Ralph Cocking. What do we know of Ralph Cocking’s history, family, etc?
Robert’s first marriage to Jane produced Richard Percy Cocking (1794-1842) and Rebecca Cocking (born 1796). It appears there were no children from his second marriage to Anna Maria Hooke who would have been about 42 at the time of their marriage.
Richard Percy Cocking married a Swedish woman Caroline Sophia Tornquist in 1816 and they appear to have had three children, Henry Percy William Cocking (1816-1840), Robert Cocking (1822-1863) and Harriet Cocking (1826, fl.1901), Mrs Hobson.
Robert (1822-1863) almost certainly was my great-great grandfather. He married in 1844 Mary Ann Hobson and their children appear to have been Caroline Ann (1845, fl.1851), Richard Percy (1847-1848), Mary Ann Elizabeth (1850-1854), Charles Robert (1851-1865) and Benjamin John (Jan 1853-1936). Not certain of the last one since on 18 April 1854 Robert was in Melbourne Australia marrying Isabella Sharp (nee Murray), my great-great grandmother.
As Robert was marrying bigamously it appears he deliberately falsified some of his details on his marriage certificate which has caused no end of confusion in piecing together his family. He claimed he was born in Exeter. On the 1841 census he says he was born in Pimlico, a suburb of London. His death certificate also shows he was born in London. A possible explanation. In 1822, when Robert Cocking was born, there was an Exeter Street on the west side of Pimlico, although more in Knightsbridge or Brompton than in Pimlico (it’s no longer there now). It’s on this map,
http://mapco.net/smith/smith17.htm May be an explanation.
Robert’s first wife, Mary Ann, must have met someone else as she produced four more children, Havelock Cocking (1857-1859), William Broadbent Cocking (1859, fl.1871), Albert Cocking (1864, fl.1881) and Arthur Cocking (1867, fl.1881).
Interestingly, on the 1871 census Mary Ann Cocking states she was a widow (her husband Robert had died in 1863 in Melbourne). How did she know this? Did someone in Melbourne know of her existence and how to contact her?