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Beachy Head Chalk Cliffs, Eastbourne
(Dover ain't got nothin' on Eastbourne except a ferry to France, and who in the world wants to go there?)

NOTE:  This individual, or perhaps individuals, is the likely progenitor(s) of thousands of Sinnocks and related persons. He does not apprear in any record I am aware of, except perhaps as death entries for Christofer Senoke, 24 Nov 1559 and Robert Senocke, 20 Apr 1569 in the Eastbourne, St. Mary's Parish Register. I assume these are his children that died young to keep it "all in the (his) family". His presence is inferred from several families of Senocke's having children in Eastbourne at the time. I assume heads of these individual Senocke families (Mathew, John, and William) were siblings, which may not be true, and this individual is the assumed father of these families heads. They appear as parents, sometimes with spouses, often without, in the first family birth entries in the Eastbourne Parish Register in the 1560's - 1580's. I also assume this person is the parent of Senocke participants in marriages in Eastbourne in the 1570's: Thomas and Jane; and parent of persons who died at about the same time (Christofer and Robert). As mentioned above Chrisofer or Robert may be this individual rather than his sons. Through 11 generations, this person's or persons' descendants lead to me and at least 6300 others. But with this person the ancestry trail grows cold, and enters the period before parish registers when only money matters were recorded, and those usually for only the upper classes. So our search for direct lineage ends here in the Weald of the southern English coast in the early 1500's. Sinnocks and their ancestors are indeed an ancient family, tracing to the very origins of commoner's genealogical records. The trail back to this person is relatively clear except for a few bumps along the way. Some of the branches of his descendants are a little more speculative than others and based on many inputs from official records to personal letters from many people who shared their family knowledge. I'm sure other interpretations of the Sinnock ancestry in Sussex, England are possible even true in part; but based on careful examination of the record I propose this individual (or several with the same or similar names) from the Eastbourne area along the southern coast of England is (are) common ancestors of many Sinnocks in England, the United States, a few in Canada, New Zealand, and one, it seems, in Australia. Perhaps, this person is the father of John Senocke who married Margarett Meriall in Goudhurst, Kent. Goudhurst is near a likely family of Senocke's in neaby Lamberhurst, Kent and Ticehurst, East Sussex about twenty miles inland from Eastbourne. These two families may be related. So much conjecture from so little fact -- and anything further back is pure conjecture. Names in the Eastbourne Parish Register from 1570 to 1690 associated with the first four generations descended from this assumed individual are (see tree): Senoke (10 instances), Senocke (8), Sinnock (8), Sevenocke (7), Zenoke (6), two each Sennock and Sennocke, and once each for Sennocke, Senock, Sevenock, Synnocke, Sinnocke, and Senock. I use "Senoke" for the family name as the most abundantly used.