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My great-great-grandfather was Joseph Lonsdale Hopwood (I). Born in 1812, he was a well-known clay tobacco-pipe maker in the seaside fishing town of Scarborough, Yorkshire, on the east coast of England. In 1833 he married Christiana Elizabeth Cowley, daughter of a London Grocer & Cheesemaker, and together they brought up seven sons. The last of the seven was my great-grandfather Joseph Lonsdale Hopwood (II).
Born in 1853, Joseph Lonsdale Hopwood (II) was an industrious and public-spirited person. He undertook an apprenticeship to become a master grocer and opened his own shop whilst still a young man. He was a leading member of the Scarborough Methodist Church and served on the town council as both a councillor and alderman. In 1875 he married Caroline Varey, daughter of a Scarborough fishing smack owner, and they had four children. Their second child, the only boy, was my grandfather, Joseph Lonsdale Hopwood (III).
Born in 1878, Joseph Lonsdale Hopwood (III) joined the family business at the age of 14. After two years training in Hull he returned to Scarborough to work with his father. In 1901 he married Amy Cockerill, daughter of a Scarborough butcher and they had one daughter and three sons. The eldest son, Joseph Lonsdale Hopwood (IV), was my uncle. He migrated to South Africa in his early twenties and had no children.
The youngest son, David Hopwood, born in 1916, was my father. In 1939, he married Kathleen Constance Parr, daughter of a painter & decorator, and they had two sons, my elder brother Michael and me. In 1952, my father and his elder brother William Edward became part owners of the business “JL Hopwood & Sons” of Queen Street, Scarborough. The business closed in 1959 and in the same year the property was sold.
In 1963, David and his family migrated to Australia.
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