Gould's gone missin'

[dragonlady403]

Hi - if anyone could provide assistance in terms of how to access this info I would be very appreciative. 

I am trying to track down ancestors from the Stroud area.  I seem to have hit a stonewall in terms of moving backwards from the ancestors I have:

Godfrey Reece Gould - b 1856 in Stroud.  He emigrated to New Zealand.  His parents are listed as Godfry Gould and Mary Reece, but I am not sure how to access more info about them?

If anyone could source a marriage certificate or any other documentation on them it would be most helpful.   TX

[Mabel Bagshawe]

the only info I can find that is clearly him is the 1861 census, but it's not much help for parents

Maria Parstoe    64 - widow, pauper
Anne Parstoe    19 - daughter
George Parstoe    16 - son
George Hemnings    22 - boarder
Godfrey Gould    5 - lodger

Ref RG 9, 1775, 30, 17

Being a lodger at age 5 suggest he's either with family, or is being fostered either in an agreement with the mother (often unmarried) or perhaps via the Poor Law guardians. I have suspicions as I cannot see a Godfrey who could be his father - the only other Godfrey Gould around the area was b 1860 in South Wales.

[dragonlady403]

Thanks very much for that Mabel.  Figures with this family.  Nothing comes easy. I will see if I can build on what you have provided. 

Can't understand how a 5 year old could be a lodger?  That seems to imply someone is paying rent or costs for him. Also, surely, if he was in that area, his family was from there.

Also, by backtracking the NZ record and his info on the death certificate - he went to NZ around the age of 8!

Regards, Carol

[Mabel Bagshawe]

His mother could have been working there and found a foster home for him nearby. Hearing he left at 8 doesn't surprise me, if he was in the care of Guardians or the workhouse. The authorities did, even back in the 1860s, send some young children with little or no family off to the colonies for ostensibly a better life.

Where did the info about his parents come from, his birth certificate or something from later in his life (which may not be as reliable)  ?

[dragonlady403]

I got the info about when, where he was born and the names of his parents from his Death Cert in NZ Mabel. Not sure who provided the info.
Regards, Carol

[SWar]

Hi,

Gloucestershire BMD Index has a birth registration for Godfrey Gould in Stroud in 1855 with the mother's maiden name REECE.  However, I cannot find a Gould/ Reece marriage.
http://ww3.gloucestershire.gov.uk/bmd/

Sue

[dragonlady403]

Hi sue.  Thanks for that info! 

I have on record from somewhere that the mother's name was Mary Reece.  There was a girl born with that name in Gloucester in 1839 which would make her the right age to have a child in 1856.  I wonder if that is his mother.  I will see if there is a way to check that at all.

Still have no idea at all how he ended up in NZ at the age of 9.  But will work on that later.  Perhaps if I can piece the family together, I will solve that puzzle as well.
Regards, Carol

[dragonlady403]

Ok, I have spent an inordinate amount of time on this line of the family and really, am not a lot further along;  Here is what I do know:

Godfrey Reece Gould B Stroud, Glos 1855
Parents as per Birth Cert and per listing on Death Cert
are:
1)   Alfred Gould:  (If I have the correct Alfred Gould --- B 1829 and died 1893 in Stroud, Glos. 
Married a Frances Webb and had the following children with her:
Louisa 1851
Alfred 1852
Mary Jane 1855
Henry 1857 – died in infancy
Eva 1858
Charles H 1861

2)   Mary Reece.  I know basically nothing about her but am speculating on the following:

Possibly – Born 1839 Bristol, Glos to parents William Reece and Eliza Phillips.  This would make Mary 17 years old when Godrey Reece was born and Albert married to Frances!  It is interesting to note that on Godfrey’s Birth Certificate it was Alfred who registered the birth and listed himself as father.

In the 1861 census Godfrey Reece (at the age of 6) was living in Stroud with a pauper family called the Parstoe’s.  Clearly his father's wife wasn't having him living with her! 

After that, I can find no record of Godfrey Reece, the Parstoes, or his mother Mary Reece anywhere – I checked criminal records, poor houses, asylums, and immigration.  There was a local prostitute by the name of Reece at the time, but I think she was too old to parent Godfrey.

Godfrey next shows up in NZ getting married.  His death certificate in NZ said he had been there 55 years which means he got there around 8 or 9 yrs old. 

My most immediate questions are: What happened to Godfrey - how, with whom and why did he end up in New Zealand?  What happened to his mother?  Do I have the correct woman as his mother?

If anyone can help me find another trail to figure out this man's (and his mother"s) lives - I would be MOST grateful.
Tx and Regards, Carol

NOTE: To further complicate my life in 1894 an Alfred Gould of Cainscross, Glos died and left funds to his widow Clarence Gould.  I am assuming this is not the same person because Godfrey was definitely born in Stroud and the Alfred I have :nominated" as his father was born and died there.

[Mabel Bagshawe]

I think this may need some digging in the records of the Boards of Guardians and Poor Law Unions locally - this link is to  Gloucester Archives information on their holdings.

http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=58234&p=0

as I've said before, given he is boarded out with paupers then emigrates and a v young age, I have a feeling he is in their "care"