Family Folklore

Most families tell stories of ancestors long gone who were rich, evil, criminal, strange…and you can probably fill in the blanks with your family names and folk stories. My experience, both personal and from discussing with other family history researchers, is that there is usually some truth to these stories. My objective on this page is to share some of my family's more interesting folk lore and try to establish how much truth is really involved. Since truth, especially truth from 150 to 250 years ago, is a rare commodity, this page is by definition, subject to change at any time.

Comments are welcome and can be sent via email.

Jacob Peter Cornelius KOCK (aka KOOK) born Helsingør, Denmark 1858

• Folklore
1. Jacob's father, Emil Lauritz Frederik KOCK was a lawyer to the royal family of Denmark and a governor of the Faeroe Islands
2. Jacob left Denmark for Australia in 1883, aged 25, because he did not live up to the family's expectations and they paid him to leave the country so as not to further shame the family. Jacob, as the only son and heir was expected to follow in his father's footsteps studying law, however he chose to pursue a career as a photographer. Photography, like any other art form in Victorian times, was not considered to be a respectable profession (unless you happened to be very successful or independently wealthy).
3. Jacob had a sister but to date no records have been found. The sister's existence is presumed, based on a photo held by a close relative, of a woman and a man and produced by the studio of "Georg Hansen, Ostergade 54, 2den Sa, Kobenhaven". The photo has a handwritten inscription on the back in Gladys (Jacob's daughter) Kook's writing stating " Father's sister and her husband, their descendants would be the only ones left. Berenson I think was their name". The photo appears to be of a married couple in their late 20s and possibly taken in the 1880's.
4. Jacob regularly sent money back to Denmark for most of his life. Since his father was reasonably wealthy he didn’t need it so it is assumed that Jacob left a secret behind (pregnant girlfriend? Bankrupt? Embezzlement?)
• Fact
1. Emil Lauritz Frederik KOCK was a lawyer. On Jacob's birth record from Sankt Olai Kirk, Helsingor, there is a note that his father was a "sorenscriver" from/for the Faeroe Islands. Sorenscriver means probate judge or in this context, governor. In fact the practice of law by Kock family descendants continues to this day in Denmark
2. The reason for Jacob's departure from Denmark is still unclear. It is known that he worked for a photographic studio in Copenhagen G.W. Alexandersen (studio name), Fotografisk Atelier (proprietor), 43 Vesterbrogade, Kjobenhavn (Copenhagen). It is also known that when he registered with the Danish police to emigrate to Melbourne, Australia in 1883 he registered his profession as a "restratauer". On arrival in Australia and for the remainder of his life he was a professional photographer.
3. Jacob Peter had a younger brother who died before his second birthday. His mother died soon after she gave birth to his brother (Henrik). His father Emil Kock remarried and his new wife produced three daughters in quick succession. We now have photographs of all three sisters.

Theresa WATTS born 1841, London, England

• Folklore
1. Theresa is related to the famous English inventor, James Watt (1736-1819), inventor of the steam engine.
2. Theresa is related to Emma Hart, the infamous mistress of the famous British naval admiral, Lord Nelson. (Hart was also married to a British knight, Sir William Hamilton)
• Fact
1. No substance other than a similar family name but not disproved either.
2. Theresa's parents were John Watts (printer) and Margaret Nelson according to her marriage certificate. Also present at her marriage were William Harrison and Jane Elizabeth Tozer. Her death certificate states that her parents are William Watts (stonemason) and Margaret Hamilton. Is this a coincidence that her name fluctuates between Hamilton and Nelson? Much more investigation is required but it certainly does seem possible.
3. Margaret Nelson’s husband died in London days before he and his family were to depart for Australia. His wife still departed even though she was alone with a child under one year.