The Roaming Birthplace-Altering Goodmans of England and Wales

[Jomot]

Note - Ann Nancy Watkins is the maiden name of  Robert's wife Ann Goodman according to linked ancestry family tree data. So, unsure.

There is a marriage 31 July 1843 at Trevethin, Monmouthshire between Robert Goodwin & Ann Watkins, both of full age.

The death certificate of son James Goodman who died in 1839 aged 78 states his parents as Robert Goodman & Anna Watkins.  His age ties in with the James aged 6 travelling with them in 1868.  James was also a miner.

A puddler was a iron worker and was a hard and dangerous job, I wonder how old George Bovier Williams was when he died, could Susannah have immigrated as a widow with her parents to America?

I believe Susannah is the Susan Williams travelling with husband George Williams & children Sophia & Mary on the same ship as Robert & Ann

[blinker]

Have noted the ships records and found many of their graves in PA!
Susan/Susannah may have been widowed, but i think she's travelling with her husband george, as jomot says, still looking into that!

Jomot, thanks for the watkins info, especially!

I did locate a Robert christened as the son of a James and Susan Goodman in gloucester in 1819, possibly strengthens that lock to the aforementioned shoemaker.

Thanks for all the help and warm welcomes!

So, out goes the 1841 census data, then.
Of course, I try not to get too "attached" to any people on this side of the tree, as I've had to break it down and rewrite so many times!

It all hinges on whether my William shown in 1881 is really the son of THESE goodman/goodwins, and not one of several Goodman/Gooding/Goodwin coopers, hawkers, miners, or coachmen, all of whom looked like the right path before and may again. lol Also if I could locate evidence of his marriage to Elizabeth Williams, which is as yet a brick wall!  (And Elizabeth is listed on at least one but not all of her children's christening forms as a Sarah Elizabeth, but searching for a Sarah doesn't really help matters much, at least not for me)

[Jomot]

It all hinges on whether my William shown in 1881 is really the son of THESE goodman/goodwins, and not one of several Goodman/Gooding/Goodwin coopers, hawkers, miners, or coachmen, all of whom looked like the right path before and may again.

I'm just not convinced by this William. Have you looked at the 1865 death of William Goodman registered in the Merthyr Tydfil Registration District, which covered Aberdare? 

[blinker]

"I'm just not convinced by this William. Have you looked at the 1865 death of William Goodman registered in the Merthyr Tydfil Registration District, which covered Aberdare?  "

I had not. I had rejected several earlier death because they took place before the census. I may need to scrap the line again!

This whole side has been the most difficult since I started my family tree. I had nothing but a vague notion we were "Welsh, and maybe some Irish tinkers, I think they said" due to my family being cut off from their roots on that branch after a tragedy (My grandfather's mother died, his father was an unstable, mentally ill alcoholic, and in an age less social-service based, all the children were taken in by neighbors and friends - they didn't communicate with each other much or at all after that.).

Before this, the matches I had for William and discarded for various reasons were largely to coopers, coachmen, hawkers, and other more-likely Romani types, which jives with my DNA matching to Romani-descended individuals (mostly of the Locke and Lee families, but we don't know how or where we connect!) *

*I found notes in with (but not on) pictures and family bibles that list "Birch, Borne, Boswell, and Cooper" as "family back home" but can't connect on paper yet.

I will retrace my steps again and see what comes up.  Thank you all so very much for your help and welcomes!

[Jomot]

Oh dear, it does sound like you are up against it somewhat.

So are you saying that the William in 1881 is definitely yours & you are now trying to trace him back to his parents & also his marriage to Elizabeth / Sarah Elizabeth? 

[blinker]

Yes, the William in 1881 is definitely mine, all the names of the children and dates match up! I also have a good paper trail on him after he immigrates to the US. Other than that, I keep getting lead down different roads and hitting brick wall after brick wall.

I estimate that William and (Sarah) Elizabeth married about 1870 and had little Elizabeth soon after. (I found a William and Elizabeth Goodwin with a baby Edith in the 1871 census but I don't think that's them. )

[blinker]

Yes, the William in 1881 is definitely mine, all the names of the children and dates match up! I also have a good paper trail on him after he immigrates to the US. Other than that, I keep getting lead down different roads and hitting brick wall after brick wall.

I estimate that William and (Sarah) Elizabeth married about 1870 and had little Elizabeth soon after. (I found a William and Elizabeth Goodwin with a baby Edith in the 1871 census but I don't think that's them. )

As for the Williams a Welsh Traveller on non-genealogy forums I frequent and I had some discussions and came to the conclusion there is a very noticeable resemblance my Goodwin-Williams descended family bears to many Welsh Gypsy Travellers, (to the point every member of my family has gasped in recognition, it's not just one coincidental doppelganger, but many), but again, just where we connect is a total mystery

[Jomot]

I've read back though and can't see where the Williams name has been confirmed - was this from a baptism or some other record?

A William Goodman married a Sarah Williams or Sarah Davies in Merthyr Tydfil RD in 1874, so Elizabeth & possibly even Rosannah could have been born before they married?  I cant find the birth of a Rosannah Goodman but there are several variants of Rosanna Williams around the right time.

Could you tell us what you know as fact & we can try & help piece it together.

[blinker]

I've read back though and can't see where the Williams name has been confirmed - was this from a baptism or some other record?

A William Goodman married a Sarah Williams or Sarah Davies in Merthyr Tydfil RD in 1874, so Elizabeth & possibly even Rosannah could have been born before they married?  I cant find the birth of a Rosannah Goodman but there are several variants of Rosanna Williams around the right time.

Could you tell us what you know as fact & we can try & help piece it together.

Absolutely! I'll just take some time to gather everything. Thank you again!