Helping my (second) cousin Andrew Hallam to sort his family photos and memorabilia whilst I was in the UK this year, was what encouraged me to tidy up the family tree and initiate this blog. But it is also thanks to his dear late mother May that I was able to start unravelling many family mysteries with additional help from her cousin Arthur Hollingbery back in the 1980s and early 90s. At the same time, I’m indebted to all the previous research done by another cousin Andrew, Andy Hollingbery which can be found hereThe online family tree I’ve put together via Ancestry, now contains over 3000 names, although it is still very much a work in progress.  It has many branches, not just Cockrills but also principally Hollingberys, Pursells and Wests on my father’s side and Bettses, Brunnings and Kimmises on my mother’s side, as well as many more offshoots!

So I hope to uncover for you our Cockrill roots in Lincolnshire and how we ended up in the East End of London, and the complex connection with the Pursells and Hollingberys. I’ll show you how we made our money: you’ll find butchers, bakers and bootmakers but beer also plays a major part!  And I’d love to take you on a virtual pub crawl of the public houses managed by Hollingberys in London and home counties.Like all family histories, there’s tragic but also inspirational stories to tell. Which Cockrill was a London bobby in the very early days of the police force and had all his teeth knocked out in the line of duty? Which Pursell was among the over 400 men and boys on the HMS Captain who drowned when the ship capsized during a storm in the Bay of Biscay on 7 September 1870? And which direct member of our family ended her days in the Banstead Asylum in the late 19th century? 

I was particularly excited to learn of the number of family members on both sides who started new lives in far flung places in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – in Canada, the USA, Australia and Africa.

And what’s our connection with Maria Dickin, the animal welfare pioneer who founded the PDSA in 1917 and who lent her name to the Dickin Medal, the highest British honour awarded for animal displays of bravery in battle.

This blog also gives me an opportunity to share some of our great family photos from the past, and try to explain relationships and stories. I’m looking forward to this blog perhaps helping to identify some of the mystery faces and make new family online connections.