The Hapgood families of Lymington

The town of Lymington in Hampshire was home to several generations of Hapgood families between the end of the eighteenth century and the middle of the twentieth. The first record of the name in Lymington is the marriage of James and Ann Hapgood in 1791. They had a large family from whom many current Hapgood families in Britain and Australia are descended. Their last Hapgood descendant to live in Lymington was their grandson, Edward Hapgood, who died in 1950. They played an active role in local business life with involvement in transport services and a fruiterer's shop.

There were also several other Hapgood families in Lymington during this period - but no known relationship to the family of James and Ann:

• George and Sarah Hapgood married in Lymington in 1827 and ran an ironmongers shop in Lymington. This shop seems to have passed down through the family to their grandson, Arthur Henry Hapgood. After his death in 1951 the shop passed out of family ownership but continued to trade as Hapgoods until the 1980s. George was born in 1805, much the same time as the birth of James and Ann's son John. Thus it is possible that George was their nephew - but again no concrete evidence exists. But it is perhaps noteworthy that George and Sarah named one of their sons James - born in 1835, shortly after the death of James senior.
• Thomas and Sarah Hapgood had four children in Lymington in the period 1808 to 1813. It is interesting to speculate that Thomas was the brother of James. But no concrete evidence exists. But it is worth noting that one of James and Ann's later sons (born 1815) was named Thomas. It is also possible that Thomas could have been the father of George Hapgood. There is no record of George's birth in Lymington in 1805, but that may just mean that Thomas moved to Lymington between 1805 and 1808.

Last updated 08 May 2005 by Mike Hapgood (a great-great-great-great grandson of James and Ann).