Who was William Cooksey?
Christmas is a time for family games and puzzles. Mine centred on William Cooksey, the second husband of Hannah Miller (nee Mallin), who was himself a widower. Having trawled trade directories for Staffordshire (concentrating on West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Tipton), I had begun to develop a theory about William’s business activity as, at first, a Nail Ironmonger and, later, a Grocer and Tea Dealer. There were other Cooksey businesses, too: Samuel Cooksey and Joseph Cooksey. Were they all three related? Read more 
William Cooksey’s first family
Tidying the desk for Christmas, I came upon a folder of miscellaneous documents. One of the these was a record of the Monumental Inscription on a headstone in the graveyard of Christchurch, West Bromwich, Staffordshire. Listed are Sarah (died 1836 aged 45), wife of William Cooksey, their son, William Mallin (died 1845 aged 30) and a daughter, Marie Louisa (died 1850 aged 35). Read more