The Hoather and Spencer Connections
It was rumoured within the family that Aunt Frances (Waddell) kyboshed the first stirrings of romance between her brother Sandy and Helen Hoather (the two nicest people on the planet as far as I was concerned as a teenager, and indeed ever since) on the basis that Helen's father, who had worked in a bank, was insufficiently grand. But Frances' father had worked at a steel-mill – how much grander was that?
Fortunately, the Spinners of Fate had arranged a Plan B, whereby Sandy and Helen were brought together again at a bus-stop in Chichester, and somehow, under the radar so to speak, everything worked out as Destiny had intended all along.
But Lo, to switch from one religious tradition to another, Allah The Dispenser of Events had already arranged a more than suitably prestigious ancestor for Helen, as I shall now endeavour to outline. The details given in the following Generation Table are almost entirely derived from the ancestry.co.uk website, the SMay family tree (for the Trill entries below) being particularly amazing in its range and depth of detail.
The name of Hoather was frequently encountered in Sussex and Kent in those days, but this narrative focuses particularly upon Lewes, the county town of East Sussex, renowned for its antique charm and the grimness of its gaol. Thomas Hoather (of unknown trade or profession) seems to have been the Abraham of the Hoather line in which we're particularly interested, though he can be traced back§ in the male line to the mid 16th century, over 200 years earlier.
| # | Individual | Spouse / Partner | Family |
| ‑5 | Thomas Hoather (20 Nov 1773 – 22 Nov 1857) |
Elizabeth Holden (1777 – 1806) (m 1803) |
George Hoather (25 Mar 1803 – 1913+ sic) Elizabeth Hoather (28 Feb 1805 – 1913 sic) John Hoather (1806 – 1871) |
| Phil(l)adelphia Philips (1771 – 14 Mar 1856) (m 6 Oct 1810) |
William (3 Aug 1812 – 1916 sic) Emma (1817 – ca Mar 1917) | ||
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| ‑4 | George Hoather (25 Mar 1803 – 1913+ sic) builder, Lewes |
Mary Hoare (1806 – 1844) (m 1827) married in Kingston, Jamaica |
William Holden Hoather (x 11 May 1828 – 27 Oct 1913) Elizabeth Hoather (1833 – 1913) =William Nurse Mary Jane Hoather (1835 – 29 Jun 1889) = Thomas James Jenner (m Jan 1869) |
| ‑4 | John Hoather1, 2, 3 (1806 – 1871) master bricklayer, Lewes (NB inconsistency of age between 1841 & 1851 Censuses) |
Mary Carter (b 14 Nov 1811) (m 6 Jun 1829) |
Thomas Hoather (1829 – 17 Nov 1905) Joseph Holden Hoather (x 9 Oct 1831 – 11 Sep 1915) (emigrated to Australia) Alfred Hoather (b 1835) John Hoather (1838 – 1894) George Hoather (b 1841) Eliza Hoather (b 1844) Elizabeth Hoather (b 1847) Susanna Carter Hoather (b 1851) |
| ‑4 | Charles Spencer (ca 1800 – 1891 Census+) shoe-maker |
Sarah Saunders (ca 1805 – 1881 Census-) (m 27 Feb 1823) |
Charlotte Spencer (b ca 1826) George Spencer (b ca 1830) John Spencer (ca 1832 – 11 Apr 1917) Charles Spencer (b ca 1838) Sanders Spencer (ca 1841 – 5 Feb 1931) |
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| ‑3 | William Holden Hoather (ca 1828 – 27 Oct 1913) bank-manager Probate |
Louisa Ann Trill (b ca 1830 – 1859) (m 27 May 1856) |
Arthur W[illiam] Hoather (Q2 1857 – Q2 1897) |
| Charlott[e] Ann[e] Trill (27 Mar 1833 – 23 Dec 1915) (m 29 Jan 1871) |
William Harrie (or Harry) Hoather ( Q2 1871 – 12 Nov 1951) Richard George Norman Hoather (1875 – 5 Jun 1939) | ||
| ‑3 | Sanders Spencer1, 2 (ca 1841 – 5 Feb 1931) farmer, stock-breeder Probate  |
Mary Susan Cross (b ca 1853) (m 1873) eldest daughter of Jeremiah Cross |
Sanders Spencer Jr (ca 1875 – 14 Dec 1909 Otorohanga, Waikato, New Zealand) Charles Spencer (b ca 1877) Spencer (sic) Spencer (ca 1878 – 17 Feb 1951 Durban, Natal, South Africa) Douglas Spencer (b ca 1880) Susan M Spencer (b ca 1883) Philip Spencer (b ca 1886) Margery Victoria Spencer (21 Jun 1887 – 4 Jul 1977) |
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| ‑2 | William Harrie (or Harry) Hoather (Q2 1871 – 12 Nov 1951) (m 3 Apr 1911) Probate |
Margery Victoria Spencer (21 Jun 1887 – 4 Jul 1977) |
William (Bill) Edward Spencer Hoather (18 Feb 1912 – 16 Aug 1997) Margaret Laing Hoather (28 Apr 1917 – 24 Mar 2001) Helen Mary Hoather (4 Jan 1920 – 2 Dec 1980) |
| ‑2 | Richard George Norman Hoather (1875 – 5 Jun 1939) Probate |
Jessie Marion Trill (1882 – 1964) (m 25 Feb 1905) daughter of Richard Augustus Trill (9 Oct 1831 – Sep 1916), and niece of Louisa and Charlotte Trill! |
Barbara Jessie Hoather (1907 – 22 Apr 1950) |
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| ‑1 | Helen Mary Hoather (4 Jan 1920 – 2 Dec 1980) |
Maj Alexander (Sandy) Wingate Waddell (23 Mar 1919 – 6 May 2001) (m 5 Sep 1951) |
James Wingate Waddell = Claude Jalet |
| ‑1 | Maj William (Bill) Edward Spencer Hoather OBE (18 Feb 1912 – 16 Aug 1997) |
Ursula Mary Reader (19 Apr 1917 – 20 Dec 1997) (m 4 Jul 1936) |
Susan Hoather (23 Oct 1936 – 4 Aug 2009) = John Rowat Alayne Mary Hoather (b 5 Mar 1943) = Colin J Anstey William Reader Hoather (b 16 Nov 1950) = Teresa (Tess) M Holt (m 1978) Katharine Jane Hoather (b 26 May 1953) |
| 0 | Katharine Jane Hoather (b 26 May 1953) |
Alan Peter Myles (m 7 Jul 1971) |
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| Lionel (Lee) Ernest Harper (17 Nov 1937 – 5 Apr 1992) (m 28 Mar 1981) |
Mark Andrew Harper (b 24 Feb 1982) Neil Stanley Harper (b 17 Nov 1984) | ||
§The Rude Forefathers
As mentioned above, the Hoather family can be traced further back, to the reign of the infamous Queen Mary I, justly prefixed as Bloody, though not to be confused with the agreeable concoction of vodka and chilled tomato juice, plus a vigorous shake of Tabasco sauce. Note the evolution of the surname, however, from Hover via Hoder. And indeed, Thomas, the first Hoather in the present line, only just made it into this vale of sorrows, his father having died at some point between Thomas's conception and birth.
The following information is reproduced from the excellent Hoather-Mercer-Burkes family tree in ancestry.co.uk
| # | Individual | Spouse / Partner | Family |
| ‑11 | William Hover (b 1555) |
Anne Foull (1570 – 1619) |
William Hover (1607 – 1678) |
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| ‑10 | William Hover (1607 – 1678) |
Margaret Gillam (1604 – 1666) |
William Hoder (1651 – 1708) |
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| ‑9 | William Hoder (1651 – 1708) | Susan Bollard (1655 – 1714) | William Hoder (1676 – 1725) |
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| ‑8 | William Hoder (1676 – 1725) | Elizabeth Burtenshaw (1689 – 1734) | Thomas Hoather (1726 – 1804) |
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| ‑7 | Thomas Hoather (1726 – 1804) | Ruth Dobson (1728 – 1784) | John Hoather (1748 – 1811) |
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| ‑6 | John Hoather (1748 – 1811) | Mary Piggott (1749 – 1833) | Thomas Hoather (20 Nov 1773 – 22 Nov 1857) |