Absalom Rookes b. 31 Oct 1852 Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, England d. 1924 New Zealand

1852 - 1924 (71 years)

Name	Absalom Rookes [1, 2]
Birth	31 Oct 1852	Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, England [3, 4]
	Born in England and aged 38 in the 1891 Scotland census.
Gender	Male
Occupation	Apr 1891	Dundee, Scotland [1]
	Yarn Beamer (a Beamer watched over a weaving machine)
	In the 1901 census: a Jute Yarn Beamer.
Residence	Apr 1891	Dundee, Scotland [5]
	Address: 1 Millers Lane, Lochee, Dundee, Scotland
Residence	1 Apr 1901	Dundee, Scotland [6]
	Address: 30 Liff Road, Dundee, Scotland
	In the 1901 census the surname is recorded as "Rookas".
Residence	1911	Taranaki, New Zealand [7]
	Address: Ngariki Road, Oaonui, Egmont, Taranaki, New Zealand
	In the 1911 Electoral Rolls Absalom is a "Farmer". Absalom Absalom and Mary Ann also appear in the 1919 Electoral Rolls.
Death	1924	New Zealand
Person ID	I465	Hannaway
Last Modified	21 Nov 2023

Father	Joseph Rooks, b. 20 Feb 1819, Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, England
Mother	Jane Taylor, b. 30 Apr 1820, Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, England
Marriage	22 Mar 1845	Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, England [4]
	Address: Castle Camps-All Saints church, Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, En
Family ID	F274	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Mary Ann Stewart, b. 1854, Angus, Scotland d. 22 Mar 1931, New Zealand (Age 77 years)

Marriage 13 Jul 1877 Dundee, Scotland [8]

Children

	1. Alfred Rookes, b. 1879, Dundee, Scotland
	2. Jeannie Rookes, b. 8 Dec 1880, Dundee, Scotland d. 7 Mar 1963, Auckland, New Zealand (Age 82 years)
	3. William Rookes, b. 1883, Dundee, Scotland
	4. Robert Stewart Rookes, b. 24 Sep 1885, Dundee, Scotland d. 4 Nov 1972, Taranaki, New Zealand (Age 87 years)
	5. Alex Rookes, b. 1888, Dundee, Scotland
	6. Joseph Rookes, b. 1890, Dundee, Scotland
	7. Elizabeth Rookes, b. Abt 1892, Dundee, Scotland
	8. Annie Rookes, b. Abt 1894, Dundee, Scotland
	9. David Rookes, b. Abt 1897

Family ID F170 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 10 Jun 2019

Event Map

	Birth - 31 Oct 1852 - Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, England
	Marriage - 13 Jul 1877 - Dundee, Scotland
	Occupation - Yarn Beamer (a Beamer watched over a weaving machine) - Apr 1891 - Dundee, Scotland
	Residence - Address: 1 Millers Lane, Lochee, Dundee, Scotland - Apr 1891 - Dundee, Scotland
	Residence - Address: 30 Liff Road, Dundee, Scotland - 1 Apr 1901 - Dundee, Scotland
	Residence - Address: Ngariki Road, Oaonui, Egmont, Taranaki, New Zealand - 1911 - Taranaki, New Zealand
	Death - 1924 - New Zealand

Photos » Slide Show		Rookes,Absl'm & Mary_1877Wedding Absalom Rookes from Cambridgeshire, England and Mary Ann Stewart from Angus, Scotland. Photograph celebrating their wedding in 1877. Keywords: Picture
		Rookes,Absl'm & Mary_1877Wedding Absalom Rookes from Cambridgeshire, England and Mary Ann Stewart from Angus, Scotland. Photograph celebrating their wedding in 1877. Keywords: Picture
		Rookes,Absalom family_1894c Absalom Rookes, Mary Ann Stewart & family ca1894 - probably in Dundee, Scotland. Keywords: Picture
		RookesJeannie_Lochee,Dundee_1900Map Lochee - 1900 map showing on the far right the Jute & Hemp works where Jeannie's parents (Absalom Rookes & Mary Ann) worked (1891 census). © National Library of Scotland Keywords: Picture
		RookesAbsalom_1907_ship toNZ Absalom Rookes and family - passengers to New Zealand in May 1907. (Zoom in for details). Journey duration-70 days. © Ancestry.com. UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960. Keywords: Picture

Notes

Born 1850 in Castle Camps, served in the Army for six years and settled in Dundee, Scotland where he married Mary Ann STEWART in 1877. Emigrated to New Zealand in 1907 where he died aged 74 in 1924.
Marlene Williamson's website includes the following introduction to Absalom Rookes: "When he was 18 (June 1871) he joined the Royal Scots Guards at Warley and moved to Aldershot in 1872. From there it was Edinburgh in 1874, and then to Fort George by January 1875. in January 1877 they went to Mullingar in Ireland. He was made a Lance Corporal in March 1877, promoted to Corporal about two weeks later in April 1877.
In July of that year he married Mary Ann Stewart (he was 24, she aged 21) in Dundee, which was close to Mary's birthplace of Auchterhouse. About this time the surname seems to have changed to RookEs, which descendants have borne ever since. He left the army later the same year, being discharged to the Army Reserve at the Curragh in Ireland on 12 October, intending to live in Dundee. Ab and Mary spent the next 30 years in Dundee raising their family of six sons and three daughters. Sadly Annie Matilda died in 1907 when aged 7 years. It seems that they both worked in the jute mills and joined the Episcopalian Church in Lochee where their children were baptised."
The story of the Rooks/Rookes family is on Marlene Williamson's website: https://www.rd29.net/cc/people/absjhnrks.html

[S80] 1891 Census - Scotland (Reliability: 3).
[S55] Bruce Watt, New Zealand.
[S80] 1891 Census - Scotland (Reliability: 2).
Aged 38 in 1891 Scotland census.
[S67] Ancestry.com. UK Family website, Moss Family tree-a public web site. (Reliability: 3).
[S80] 1891 Census - Scotland, Ancestry.com. 1891 Scotland Census. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland (Reliability: 3).
[S81] 1901 Census - Scotland, (Ancestry.com. 1901 Scotland Census), Ancestry.com. 1901 Scotland Census (Reliability: 3).
[S182] Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 (Reliability: 3).
[S67] Ancestry.com. UK Family website (Reliability: 2).

Family of Peter Hannaway & Sarah Byrnes