More Clues on the Brooker line

New College Chapel Interior 2 Oxford UK - Diliff 
New College, Oxford, by Diliff (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Following advice on the Berks & Bucks Ancestry & Genealogy Group on Facebook, I commissioned fresh searches county indexes by the Oxfordshire FHS (Family History Society).  It hasn't done anything to confirm my Hagbourne hypothesis.  However, it did uncover my 6xgreat grandparents Brooker's marriage, and it wasn't somewhere that I would have looked.  They were married 1st November 1746 at New College, Oxford.  Both bride and groom recorded Long Wittenham as their parish.  I would not have expected such a grand wedding venue for my ancestors.  It turns out that it was quite common for people, even poor people, from parishes in the surrounding countryside, to be married in Oxford, as many of the clerics were also academics within the colleges.  The entry also gives me Mary's maiden surname - GARDINER.

I now have TWO suspects for 6xgreat grandfather John Brooker's origins.

  1. The Hagbourne John Brooker, son of John and Ursula.  Baptised 1723.
  2. An Oxford St Mary John Brooker, son of a John.  Baptised 1723.

The agent for the Oxfordshire FHS search, did warn that he felt it a little unlikely that my John was the son of John and Ursula Brooker of Hagbourne.  The reason being, that other than "John", there is little evidence of other family forenames such as Ursula or Elizabeth.  However ... it looks as though Mary Gardiner herself was baptised in 1717 at East Hagbourne.  If she hailed from there, then that provides a strong correlation.  If I do eventually tie my John Brooker to the Hagbourne Brookers, then I have a fair chance of extending the line back to 1642.

Another interesting thought, is that Hagbourne if accepted, does take us in the right direction for a piece of DNA evidence.  We know that in the 1740's, a Thomas Chandler lived at Basingstoke, Hampshire, that shared our Y-DNA.  At some point, our Brooker line and that Chandler line must have had a common paternal ancestor.  Hagbourne is taking us in that diection.  Only 28 miles by road from Basingstoke.  A massive assumption here.  Chase our paternal Y-DNA line back further, we KNOW that it arrived in Southern England, from Asia, most likely during the Medieval period.  Basingstoke is on a direct trajectory between Hagbourne and Southampton docks.

The search goes on.

Additional News

The marriage certificate of George Barber and Maria Ellis at St Michael, South Elmham, Suffolk, turned up in the post this morning.  No nasty surprises.  It utterly confirmed that my George Barber, was the son of Robert Barber, etc.  Another marriage date added to the tree.  This couple were ancestors of my grandmother Doris Brooker.