Charles Allen Du Val

Martha Brown 1840-1922

Martha Brown was born in 1840 at Moreton near Thame in Oxfordshire, the daughter of David Brown and his first wife nee Jane Hunt.

In 1860 she was married to Joseph Hopkins at Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, and they lived at Flamstead also in Hertfordshire. Martha Hopkins was a lace maker and her husband an agricultural labourer. He was born in 1833, the son of Thomas Hopkins 1795-1856 and his wife nee Sarah Todd 1795-1885.

They had the following children, all born in Flamstead:

Joseph Thomas Hopkins. He was born in 1861. When the 1881 Census was taken he was recorded as being an agricultural labourer. He married Hannah Hill on 24 April 1883 at Flamstead, and they had the following children: Jane Hopkins (born 1885), Edith Hopkins (born 1890), Owen Hopkins (1892-1977), and Ethel Hopkins (born 1898). Their father Joseph Thomas Hopkins died on 3 May 1936.

Benjamin Hopkins. He was born in 1863. In 1881 he was working as a straw cutter. He married Elizabeth Harris 1858-1913 on 12 April 1883 at Flamstead, and they had the following children: Albert Edward Hopkins (1884-1913), Kate Hopkins (born 1889), and Daisy Elizabeth (born 1891). Their father Benjamin Hopkins died in 1955 at Luton in Bedfordshire.

Walter William Hopkins. He was born in 1865. In 1881 he was working as a straw cutter. He married Anne Bonnick 1866-1895, and secondly Rosa Jane Roberts 1865-1949. He had six children: Benjamin Hopkins (born 1885), Walter Hopkins (born 1890), Lizzie Hopkins (born 1892), Jesse Hopkins (born 1894), William Hopkins (born 1899), and Rosa Hopkins (born 1900).

David Hopkins. He was born in 1867. In 1881 he was working as a horse keeper, an agricultural labourer. He married Harriet Belshaw on 20 December 1891 at Redbourn. They had seven children: Ellen Beatrice Belshaw (born 1887), Alfred James Hopkins (born 1891), Amelia Hopkins (born 1893), Florence Elizabeth Hopkins (1895-1992), Katie Hopkins (born 1897), Bertie Jesse Hopkins (born 1900), and Cyril Hopkins (born 1902). Their father David Hopkins died in 1909 at Watford in Hertfordshire aged only 43 years.

King's South Africa Medal

Sarah Hopkins. Born in 1869 she was married on 22 May 1899 to Private Walter Greenbrook of the 2nd Middlesex Regiment at St Paul's church in Hounslow, Middlesex. He was born in 1869, the son of Harry Greenbrook (1). He served as a Corporal in the Boer War from 1899 to 1902, and was awarded the King's South Africa Medal (2).

In 1901 Sarah Greenbrook was living at 36 Cannon Street, St Albans in Hertfordshire with her sister-in-law Eliza Ann Hopkins, also a soldier's wife, the wife of her brother Jesse Hopkins. When the 1911 Census was taken she and her husband were living at 58 Brettenham Road, Walthamstow in London. Her husband was then an army pensioner working as timekeeper at an electrical battery works. He also served in the First World War from 1916 in the 3rd West Yorkshire Regiment and later the 7th Labour Battalion at Ripon and Beeston in Leeds.

They had two children: May Greenbrook (born in 1900 at St Albans) and Ernest Greenbrook (born in 1904 at Hounslow in Middlesex). Sarah Greenbrook died in 1950 at St Albans.

Jesse Hopkins. He was born in 1870. In 1899 he married Eliza Ann Maddox at St Albans, the daughter of James and Susan Maddox of Verulam Street in St Albans. He served in the army in South Africa. In 1911 he was a drayman employed by the Midland Railway. They had the following children: Arthur Jesse Hopkins 1900-1964, Grace Hilda Hopkins(born 3 October 1905 died unmarried in 1988 at St Albans), and Doris Eleanor Hopkins (born 9 August 1905, married to Charles E. Crouch in 1930 and died in 1983 at St Albans). Their mother Eliza Ann Hopkins died in 1933 at St Albans. Jesse Hopkins died there in 1941.

Julia Hopkins. She was born in 1871.

Their father Joseph Hopkins died in 1881.

Their mother was married to William Reed on 23 June 1883, and they lived at Redbourn in Hertfordshire. When the 1891 Census was taken they were at North Place, but by 1901 they were living at Shepherd's Row also in Redbourn.

Signature on 1911 Census Return

William and Martha Reed had a son Charles Edward Reed, born in Redbourn in 1885. He was baptised there on 15 November 1885. By 1901 he was apprenticed to a harness maker, but when the 1911 Census was taken William Reed had died, and their son Charles Edward Reed was employed as a vulcaniser of motor tyres (3).

Martha Reed died in 1922 at Brentford in Middlesex.

(1) Her father Joseph Hopkins was stated in the register entry to be then deceased (he died in 1881). Sarah Hopkins was then resident in Harlesden, London. Her husband was a private in the Middlesex Regiment then living in barracks. The witnesses were David Hopkins and Annie Reed. David Hopkins would be her brother, who would have given her away. Annie Reed was probably a relative of the bride's stepfather William Reed.
(2) The King's South Africa Medal was awarded only to those soldiers who served in South Africa for eighteen months from December 1900 until the war ended in May 1902, and who had commenced serving before the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901. They were also awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal. Fewer soldiers received the King's and Queen's Medals than were awarded only the Queen's Medal.
(3) Martha Reed declared on the 1911 Census Return that she had had seven children of which six were then living and one had died. But in fact she appears to have had eight children altogether, including the son by her second marriage.