The Stokers of Dublin

The earliest family member we can document is Bram Stoker’s grandfather William Coates Stoker born ca. 1754, possibly the son of Richard Stoker Quartermaster in the 2nd Regiment of Horse.

William Coates Stoker (Bram Stoker’s grandfather)

In 1780 William Coates Stoker married Frances Smyth, joined the Guild of Tailors and became a Freeman of the City of Dublin. He had earned the right to be a Freeman after completing a 7 year apprenticeship, during which he learned the trade of a corset-maker.
Being a Freeman meant that he could participate in business in Dublin City and could represent his guild by election to Dublin City Council. We can see William Coates Stoker’s entry in the Freemen of Dublin City 1774-1824, available on findmypast.ie, below (click for full image):

Another potentially momentous event in William C. Stoker’s life that year was the death of his father. We can’t pin the father-son relationship down beyond all reasonable doubt, but the circumstantial evidence indicates it. Richard Stoker - the Quartermaster in the 2nd Regiment of Horse – died in January 1780 and was buried in St. Paul’s parish, Dublin. This is the same parish where William Coates Stoker’s own family were baptised, married and buried in the next generation.

William Coates Stoker and his wife appear to have had a sizeable family, of which up to 6 children died in infancy. At least four sons survived:

- Richard & Peter Stoker (possibly twins) born prior to 1783
- William Stoker born ca. 1788, died 1833
- Abraham Stoker born ca. 1799 died 1876
Although William Coates Stoker was a stay-maker by trade, changing fashions meant that by the late 1790s the bottom fell out of the stay-market. He looked around for other ways of earning money:
- In 1805 he was appointed Keeper of the Smithfield Bridewell
- In December 1809 he was appointed Keeper of the Adult Female Penitentiary Dublin. We can see William Coates Stoker’s death notice in the Treble Almanac 1812, available on findmypast.ie, below (click to enlarge), where he is listed in his position in the penitentiary:

On 25th December 1827 William Coates Stoker died in Lower Sackville Street (now O’Connell Street) aged 72 years. He was buried in St. Pauls. We can see William Coates Stoker's entry in the Tipperary Clans Archive, available on findmypast.ie, below (click to enlarge):

The Sons of William Coates Stoker

Richard and Peter Stoker (Bram's Uncles)

In 1804 Richard Stoker and Peter Stoker were admitted to the Guild of Tailors and made Freemen of the city of Dublin by birth. We can see Richard and Peter Stoker’s entries as Freemen of Dublin City 1774-1824 below (click to enlarge):

It's possible that these two were twins and were born before 1784. We found no further mention of Peter Stoker but in 1813 we found a marriage license for Richard Stoker and Olivia Carroll in the Dublin Diocesan court.

William Stoker (Bram’s Uncle)

William was born ca. 1788. He is often mistaken for Dr. William Stoker M.D. who worked in Cork Street Fever Hospital. In Easter 1809 William Stoker was admitted to the Guild of Tailors, and given Freeman status by birth. We can see William’s entry in the Freemen of Dublin City 1774-1824 below (click to enlarge):

He never worked as a tailor but he was an accountant for a rich businessman, Sir Abraham Bradley King, a merchant prince in the city of Dublin. In the 1820s Bradley King was empanelled before a Court and examined over weeks on a charge that he had tried to pack juries with Orangemen. William Stoker appeared before the court and admitted to being a member of an Orange Lodge. Bradley King was eventually bankrupted.

In 1824 William Stoker was elected to the Guild of Tailors to represent them at City Council level but a legal challenge was made to his election on the basis that he did not practise the trade of a tailor. He was eventually excluded. During the trial evidence was presented that William Stoker was the son of William Coates Stoker the ‘stay-maker’. William Stoker himself said that he was a gentleman, had never practised as a tailor, and had a position in the General Post Office. If we accept him at his own word, then it’s probable that he only joined the Tailor’s Guild to get the vote in Municipal Elections and to be able to participate in the business of the city. William Stoker died in late November, buried 29th Nov. 1833 in St. Paul’s.

Abraham Stoker Snr. (Bram’s Father)

Bram Stoker’s father Abraham Stoker was born March 1799 and died 1876. In 1815 at the age of 16 years his father secured him a place as a junior clerk in Dublin Castle. In Michaelmas term 1822, Abraham Stoker was made a member of the Guild of Tailors and became a Freeman on the basis that he was the son of William Coates Stoker. He never practised as a tailor, but continued as a junior clerk in Dublin Castle. In January 1844, Abraham Stoker married Charlotte Maria Blake Thornley in Coleraine. The couple moved to Marino Crescent in Clontarf. We can see their entry in Griffith’s Valuation, available on findmypast.ie, below (click to enlarge):

They had 7 children, the third child, born in 1847, was named Abraham Stoker after his father - this is the author Bram Stoker. In popular memory in Ireland, 1847 was known as ‘Black 47’ and is said to have been the worst year of the Famine.

George Stoker (b. 1854)

In Thom’s Almanac 1880, available on findmypast.ie, we can see a record for George Stoker as a registered practitioner: