The certified copy of the entry: William Hancock and Evelyn Beckett, the Parish Church of Fenton, 12 February 1933 (General Register Office, MXK 449200). Click to see it full size.
Document: Certified copy of an entry of marriage, General Register Office (England & Wales).
Certificate serial: MXK 449200 · GRO application number: 18144369-1
Issued: 20 July 2026 (ordered by Will Hancock, Tony’s son).
Full transcription
Field
Entry
Year
1933
Registration district
Stoke & Wolstanton
Marriage solemnized at
The Parish Church of Fenton
County
Stoke on Trent
Entry no.
465
When married
12th February 1933
Column 2–5 — the parties
Groom
Bride
Name and surname
William Hancock
Evelyn Beckett
Age
25
20
Condition
Bachelor
Spinster
Rank or profession
Tailor’s Traveller
(blank)
Residence at time of marriage
47 Meir Lane, Meir
Timbrow House, Kent Road, Fenton
Column 7–8 — the fathers (the new information)
Father’s name and surname
Rank or profession of father
Groom’s father
James Hancock(dec[eas]d)
Potter
Bride’s father
Albert Beckett
Retired
Rites, officiant, witnesses
Married in the Parish Church according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, after Banns.
Officiant: A. Dyck, Curate.
Signatures of the parties: William Hancock · Evelyn Beckett.
Witnesses: Joseph Vincent Holland · Phyllis Warrington.
What this establishes
A new generation on the paternal Hancock line. Will’s great-great-grandfather is named for the first time: James Hancock, a potter, already dead by February 1933. This is the furthest back the paternal Hancock line has been carried by record evidence.
William Hancock Snr’s age at marriage was 25 on 12 Feb 1933 → born c. Feb 1907 – Feb 1908. This confirms the 1939 Register inference of b.1907 (previously the only source) and narrows it.
Evelyn Beckett was 20 → born c. Feb 1912 – Feb 1913.
Both families were in Fenton/Meir, Stoke-on-Trent at the time — not merely “Staffordshire”. Groom at 47 Meir Lane, Meir; bride at Timbrow House, Kent Road, Fenton.
Occupations. The groom was a tailor’s traveller (a commercial traveller/salesman for a tailoring firm), not a pottery worker — a small step off the family trade. His father James was a potter, the classic Six Towns occupation. Albert Beckett was already retired by 1933, suggesting a birth well before 1875.
Marriage was by banns, in church — so banns were read in Fenton parish on three Sundays before 12 Feb 1933. Those banns are a separate, findable record.
Reading confidence
Reading
Confidence
Note
James Hancock (dec’d)
High
Clear “James”; “(Dec)” bracketed after surname
Potter
High
Letterforms are cramped; the writer’s capital P resembles their J/F. “Potter” is the only real word fitting ?otter, and Meir/Fenton is the heart of the Potteries
Tailor’s Traveller
High
Two lines in one cell: “Tailors” / “Traveller”
Albert Beckett / Retired
High
12th February 1933
High
Consistent with GRO index Q1 1933
Timbrow House
Medium
Bride’s house name is the least legible word on the certificate; could be “Timbrow”/”Tinbrow”/”Tunbrow”. Kent Road, Fenton is clear
Joseph Vincent Holland
High
Phyllis Warrington
High
A. Dyck, Curate
Medium-High
Surname could be “Dyck”/”Dyek”
Reconciles against prior record
GRO marriage index vol 6b p.120, Stoke on Trent, Q1 1933 — ✅ confirmed, entry no. 465, district Stoke & Wolstanton.
1939 Register “Eveleen Hancock, Staffordshire”, husband b.1907 — ✅ consistent (age 25 in Feb 1933).
The colourised wedding photograph (photos/hancock_wedding_c1933_colourised.jpg) — ✅ consistent with a February 1933 church wedding by banns.
Next steps (open)
[ ] Find James Hancock’s death, before Feb 1933, Stoke-on-Trent district — will give his age and so his birth year, and his address.
[ ] Order William Hancock Snr’s birth certificate (b. c.1907, Stoke-on-Trent) — will name James Hancock and his wife’s maiden name, opening the next female line.
[ ] Trace James Hancock in the 1911 and 1901 censuses at/near Meir Lane, Meir — should give wife, children, birthplace.
[ ] Albert Beckett — retired by 1933; find in 1911/1921 census at Kent Road, Fenton.
[ ] Check the Fenton parish banns register (Jan–Feb 1933), Staffordshire Record Office.
[ ] Confirm “Timbrow House”, Kent Road, Fenton against a 1930s street directory / OS map.
