The Thorps of Sculcoates Parish

Sculcoates is or was a village to the west of the River Hull and predates the Old Town of Kingston upon Hull, being located north of the town walls but is now indistinguishable from its neighbour. St Mary’s old church was the parish church in the 1800s. East Yorkshire Family History Society have painstakingly transcribed the registers and made them available as a series of booklets. Duly purchased they do show a number of Thorps were resident in the parish and registering baptisms, marriages and burials.

Year/Date	Names	Occupation	Birth	Marriage	Death
26 Sep 1763	Michael Thorp Bch, Jane Purvis spn			botp
19 Apr 1772	James Walker wdr, Jane Thorp wd			botp
22 Nov 1787	William Piercy Bch, Elizabeth Thorp Spr			p of St Mary Hull, otp
4 Nov 1792	Robert, Eleanor	Shoemaker	Elizabeth d.
3 Nov 1794	Robert	Shoemaker			Elizabeth
2 Mar 1796	Robert Bch, Elizabeth Burton Spr			botp
5 Jun 1797	Thomas Bch, Jane Coulson Spr	Leicester Militia		botp
19 Mar 1800	Robert				Eleanor w. (49) “Evil”
22 Apr 1802	Joshua Ecles Bch, Sarah Thorp wd			botp
20 Mar 1803	John, Jane	Taylor	Ann d.
7 Feb 1805	John, Jane		John s.
11 Nov 1805	Jno, Ann	Labourer	Sarah d.
5 Feb 1807	John	Boatman			Jane d.
6 May 1807	John, Hannah	North Lincoln Militia	Hannah d. 6 May 1811

Robert Thorp Shoemaker is clearly not the sailor as they have different wives. Remarkably Robert the shoemaker’s wife Eleanor gives birth to a daughter when she is 41, which seems late. Tragically, Elizabeth dies the day before her second birthday in 1794 and Eleanor herself passes in 1800 of something described as “evil”. This may refer to “King’s Evil” or scrofula – swelling of the lymph nodes – a kind of tuberculosis. The only other Robert marries Elizabeth Burton and can, therefore, also be ruled out. John Thorp the boatman is intriguing! Could this be Robert’s brother or other relative? Do they share a water bourn family connection?

It is interesting to note two Thorps popping up and shown as serving with Leicester and North Lincoln militias – illustrating the potential for Thorps to be drawn in to Hull from further afield.