Corney/Godley

[spower]

Hi Maureen
I'm very pleased to make your aquaintance . I'm a decendent of one Elizabeth's brothers so we must be related in a distant way!

I don't know if the gravestone is still in place. After the message below I contacted the museum and they sent me an excellent photo and I got all of the information that I needed from that. I probably just missed it when I was there (it was pouring with rain!).I  must go back sometime and have another look because it's a very good memorial and also because I like sitting in the Bull Inn absorbing the family vibes (and the ale).

Does your research extend as far as three of Elizabeths nephews (via James - Walter John, Frederick & Richard) who I believe may have emmigrated to the USA.
Regards Sean

[spower]

and...... something else that you may have come across that is intriguing me. At the inquest for James's death it was mentioned that one of his sisters was found dead on a railway line. I can't find any mention of who or when. Can you shed any light on that?

S

[mbjjones]

I'm not sure who you're talking about, lol. Is it a James Godley? I really have to get out all my papers and refer to the family tree again. I have never heard of the railway line story!

I'm guessing you know of the Godley connection to the various pubs, the location of George and Elizabeth's grave in Clayton, that sort of thing. In 2002 we rented a cottage near Ditchling and visited the various places. Someone from the Wivelsfield History Group showed us where Lunce's House was. We also have a family tree for the Farncombes that they provided.

I was sorting through some papers today and found the will of Elizabeth Godley, 1846. I think she was born Carter. I don't really have any information on the Carter or Barber family.

[spower]

Hi Maureen

Yes she was born Carter and was the teacher at the village school in Portslade when it was just a tiny downland village (it's spread a bit in recent years and doesn't look so attractive). She was an interesting character, her grave is in the churchyard at Portslade church and is very impressive with a lot of information (but difficult to read). She married William a member of the Godley family from Edburton on the other side of the downs but his family seem to have originally come from Pyecombe where a lot of the Godleys originate from. There was an outbreak of plague in Pyecombe around then so maybe that's why they moved west.

The number of pubs that the Godley descendants of George & Elizabeth have had a hand in is pretty impressive. I keep finding more and more and have counted over 35 so far. They got as far as Hastings (your Elizabeth's second husband Henry Hard ran The Roebuck in Hastings) but are mostly in the Brighton area and north into mid Sussex. I'm not sure why they started in the pub trade, I'm sure there was some kind of a connection with Pyecombe and the Friars Oak but I've not found it yet. I have got a bit of information on the Carters and Barbers, I live locally so it's much easier for me. In the 1860's the Friars Oak was being run by George's son Henry. He went bunkrupt in 1874 so presumably that's when it left the family and he went on to another pub in Brighton.

James Godley (Elizabeth's brother) became bankrupt after his father George died and committed suicide in 1889 by drowning himself in the pond at Ote Hall near Burgess Hill. There was an inquest at which his wife (Hepzibah) said '....some years ago his sister was found dead on the line, but there was nothing to show whether she committed suicide or not.' I keep looking but I can't find what she was referring to.

I'm just looking through my Farncombe family stuff at the moment. There's some quite wealthy members locally although we're not decended from that branch unfortunately. However they are an important family historically and it's more than likely that there's a connection to the lord of the manor in Patcham. That means that they are mentioned in a lot more records (court rolls etc) and because of those I think the Farncombes are going to be the family line that can be traced back the furthest. There are a lot of records available from before the 1500's and I've got a 'pencilled in' connection that I'm trying to confirm.
S

[mbjjones]

Wow, that is a lot to take in! I believe I have a print-out about the teacher but probably didn't realize it was Elizabeth Carter/Godley.

I came across a beautifully drawn Godley family tree on the internet recently, but they had our George Godley (who married Elizabeth Farncombe) as being the son of Susanna Beard and born in Pyecome, but I believe that is an error. We ordered the parish records for Portslade several years ago and found his birth and confirmed he was from Portslade via the census.

I think Elizabeth had about four sisters? Sarah married Ledbetter but I don't know what became of the others. I will have to do some digging now.

On the Ditchliing history group's website there is a pic of an Amos Godley, shepherd, so some kind of relative I suppose.

The pond story is so sad. We saw the little Ote Hall church, as Philip Corney was christened there. We also met a couple of Godley relatives and had a drink at the Bull and also met one who lived in mid Wales.

I found the photo of the Friar's Oak from around 1860. Is there a way to post photos here?

[sillgen]

Click reply and you will see an Attachments button under the box.  That gives you the option to attach a file.

[spower]

Yes I've seen that tree as well, Mayhew or somebody I think. It's a shame because it is beautifully drawn, but wrong. Oh well, a lot of it is correct though and I think that our family does connect to that line eventually - I think that they have John Godley m. Sarah Steele in 1724 and James Godley is the son who marries Susanna Beard. Our line goes another way, John's brother was James, he married Hannah Haylor in 1726, their son was James who married Mary Winter in 1753, and William Godley who married Elizabeth Carter was their son.

James had seven sisters I think - it was a big family! (your) Elizabeth 1825 m. Philip Corney, Sarah 1828 m. John Lidbetter, Mary Anne 1834 died age 1, Jane 1836 m. Alfred Dennard, Harriet 1838 m. Thomas Marchant, Esther 1844 m. Thomas Heasman (& moved to Winnipeg) & Mary 1848 married George Davidson.

I'd love to see any photos. I hardly have any old photos and keep looking through old collections here hoping to find some Godleys standing outside a pub or something. No luck yet though. I'm interested in the history of the Friars Oak as well. The current pub website has a sad little piece on it's history saying that it was probably built when the railway was constucted. That's rubbish because it was a coaching Inn when George & Elizabeth took it over in 1835 and had been since at least 1800, the railway wasn't opened until 1841. Friars Oak is a very ancient piece of Sussex, the road past the pub is Roman and it crosses the prehistoric south downs way only a couple of hundred yards on so there's a good chance that the site is extremely old. I've heard that the current building is new but I haven't really looked into that yet.

I'm going to have a go at sending you an attachment and see how it works. They are transcriptions of some of the grave memorials.
S
Can't seem to attach a word document so I've stuck it on a Notepad and it's lost all of the formatting!

[mbjjones]

I think I may have the inscription for the Elizabeth Carter/Godley grave. We found a lot of stuff about 8 years ago and I've forgotten what we have.

I have a picture we printed off the internet years ago so it's not good quality but it of The Plough pub and I think it says R. Godley on the sign. I'll try scan it in or something. I tried to post a pic here of the Friar's Oak but it said it was too big. I'll try on the weekend. I also found mention of the Friar's Oak in a story by Conan Doyle called Rodney Stone. We went into the new pub...too bad the old one was torn down.

The Winnipeg connection is intriguing!

[mbjjones]

I found the old photo of The Plough

http://pubshistory.com/SussexPubs/Pyecombe/Plough.shtml