Hooky People
How can we discover and make sense of the stories of the many, often unusual, characters who have populated Hook Norton?
In this section we first establish the basic facts about the parish’s population, as numbered first in spasmodic and erratic official counts between 1086 and 1800 and then in formal ten-yearly censuses since 1801. We look closely at the most recent survey carried out in 2011.
Then we try to enable those interested researching their family history to start on their trail, and we offer guidance on locally available sources to both them and those from elsewhere whose researches have brought them to search for ancestors in Hook Norton.
Thirdly, we begin our account of individual families by focussing on those who chose to leave the village in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These are extraordinary stories of emigration, revealing courage, tragedy, success and murder. The stories of the many more who remained here for most of their lives will be found scattered through other sections of the website.
05/03/15
