My original post was made some years ago, and I have made substantial progress since then. The connection between the Gilsons and the Frewens seems to have been at the very least commercial and financial, with the Frewens buying land in Rutland from John Cole Gilson. These are a few snips from the Frewen archives:
ARCHIVE OF THE FREWEN FAMILY OF BRICKWALL IN NORTHIAM
… FRE/8391 - date: 2 May 1787: Additions to the estate: Rickelbarrow Hill, Knossington and Owston…
…the latter bequeathed it to his son John Cole Gilson of Burley on the Hill, Rutland, esq. On 16 & 17 September 1825 Gilson conveyed the property to John Frewen…
FILE - Copy will (1 Jun 1804) of William Gilson of Oakham, Rutland, esq, proved in PCC, 30 Jun 1807 - ref. FRE/8463 - date: nd [c1825]
Additions to the estate: parcel of land near the Hospital and parcel of land called the Homestead or the Grass Yard, Knossington. [from Administrative History] William Gilson of Greatham, Rutland, gent bought the property…
…John Cole Gillson sold it on 16 & 17 September 1825 to the Rev Thomas Wartnaby…
…John Frewen Turner who has purchased another part of Gillson's estate (FRE/8467-8468)…
…25 (& 26) December 1827, Wartnaby sold the land to John Frewen…
The “Return of Landowners of Sussex 1873” shows 3 of the Frewen family holding land respectively in Northiam and Beckley (where my Selmes family had land) and in Okeham, Rutland, where the Gilsons were from.
With regards to the origins of Eliza Goodwin and her father Thomas Goodwin: Thomas was baptised at Ash by Wrotham, 07 DEC 1766, the son of John Goodwin and Alice Marchant, so the Thos Goodwin of Greetham was just a convenient red herring.
What I did find was that John Cole Gilson (William's uncle) was the Sheriff of Rutland and was a judge at the "Royal Smithfield Christmas Shew" in 1816. . It coincided with William's 21st birthday and with Eliza's 19th birthday. As Eliza's father was a Farmer, and William's father (John's brother William Gilson) was a grazier and landowner in Greetham, it seems likely that cattle breeding was not the main interest of the two youngsters, as Ann Gilson Goodwin was born about 9 months later.
I have never found a record of Ann's birth or baptism, nor of a paternity suit, but wedding entries show her as Ann Gilson Goodwin, rather than just Ann Goodwin. One must assume that a suitable arrangement was arrived at between the families, as Eliza married Solomon Selmes at Crowhurst in July 1819 and William married a Maria Goodacre at Leamington in October of the same year.
Ann married my gg grandfather William Selmes, who was a 1st cousin of Solomon.
It all gets very complicated from there on, but we all have the correct number of fingers and toes, and Ann lived to be 90, running the corner shop in John's Cross where my great grandmother was born.
