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The name “Hooper” is common in the UK, presumably deriving from the trade of hoop maker which would have been found in every community. My own line comes from the small town of Mere in Wiltshire. The parish registers of Mere are in good condition (and transcribed) so that it has been possible to build a family tree with few ambiguities going back to George Hooper who married Alice Glover in 1610. About 250 Hooper children were baptised between 1611 and 1955
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Going back even further, the line of Mary Cowley, who married William Hooper in 1803, can be traced back to Leonard Cowley, b about 1555.In more recent times my ancestor Sarah Hooper (1812-1882) had four base-born children, Sarah, Henry, Thomas & William. Census records suggest that she did not need to work to support her family although she is recorded as a pauper in 1881. It has been suggested that the putative father was in a position to give her support. Her son Thomas Hooper became a shopkeeper and carrier.
Several of Thomas's children left Mere. Bessie Alice for example went into service in Suffolk where she met her husband Herbert Lambert. Thomas emigrated, temporarily, to Canada. Jack however remained in Mere and became the town crier.
Nellie became a children's nurse and went to India with the Royal Artillery where she was murdered after rejecting the advances of a native servant. The officers and men of the Jujogh garrison erected this memorial; it no longer exists but in Mere there is a plaque with the same inscription .
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