Researching the origins and genealogy of the surname worldwide
On 28th October 1858 Ellen Wells of Tattershall, Lincolnshire married James Andrew Raithby Hoodless of North Somercotes, Lincolnshire. James was the cousin of Gerrit L Hoodless, their father’s were brothers. The newly wed couple lived the ag-lab rural life in North Somercotes, on the Lincolnshire coast, a little south of the Humber estuary. On the…
Gerrit’s name was spelled multiple ways throughout his life. Gerritt, Gerrit, Garrett, Gerrett. His initial “L” I have never seen documented but there are some who anecdotally state the “L” was for Lansing, but without an official record to back it up. His name and initials “G L” were passed to a son and a…
While in the midst of researching the Canadian emigration of the Hoodlesses via John Hoodless and his family, I discovered that his older sister Sarah has a memorial in St Mary’s Church, Wigton stating that she died in Canada on 30th August 1856 at the age of 82. Sarah married Thomas Jacques who died after…
I’m not sure who originally shared this photograph on Ancestry but I would like to thank them, because it is supposedly a picture of John Hoodless, purportedly known by the nickname “Squire”. Born in August 1786 in Sebergham, Cumberland, he is the sixth child of William Hoodless and Isabella Atkinson of the fascinating Parkhead/Caldbeck branch….
United States Federal Census taking began in 1790 a few years after the American Revolutionary War. The earliest record of a Hoodless to appear in a US Census is one Adaline Hoodless, a woman in her thirties with two teenage males in the residence aged between 15 and 20 years old. She resides in Portsmouth,…
I’ve long understood that the county of Lincolnshire on the east coast of England was a hotbed of Hoodlesses from my searches through documents and registers. However, I had no idea where to start researching them since there was no obvious connection to my Cumbrian Hoodless clan. From the review of the 1841 England Census…
Searching the 1841 England Census for occurrences of the “Hoodless” name reveals 186 results with a variety of similar spellings (Hoodlass, Headless, Hudlass, Hadless, Hoadless). Across England, these 186 individuals are found in only nine counties. By far the highest concentration is in Lincolnshire, followed by Cumberland. This indicates that the oldest Hoodless roots lie…
William Hoodless (1776-1855) saw three of his sons join the merchant navy and become master mariners, masters of their own vessels they sailed to far flung destinations in the service of trade and commerce for the British Empire. William the eldest (1804-1876) made a good living for himself and retired in comfort, although childless. Robert…
William Hoodless land surveyor (1776-1855) had four sons. Three of those sons chose to take up the high risk occupation of merchant seaman and travelled the world, sailing the high seas, shipping a variety of cargo from ports around the world. No doubt they were raised to be ambitious, improve their prospects and go out…
This is the face of the man who saw something in William Hoodless (1776-1855) and enable him to transition from the rural grind of a life of farming to the professional status of a man about town. John Christian Curwen was born John Christian on 12 July 1756 to John Christian of Ewanrigg and Jane…