Hi Pam,
Yes, that is my fear with the Gosneys and the Channel Islands. That 1851 connection seems like the earliest one. Now, perhaps there was an ongoing connection between the Gosneys and the Channel Islands that extended to before 1851. After all, how did a 12 year old end up in the Channel Islands without his parents? Orphaned? Maternal link? Apprenticed? Or maybe the rest of the family had all departed for Newfoundland and hence weren't in the 1851 census. Tough to figure out really. What I really need is a census from 1800 or 1810, but I don't think one exists. Still, the Gosney/Goosney link seems somewhat unlikely, so either the Goosneys weren't CI, or the name wasn't originally Gosney.
Gasnier was my next guess, but a little research in that direction didn't turn up anything either.
I've always guessed the family was from Jersey, since more Jerseymen settled in Newfoundland. Recently I've been in contact with a distant relative who says the tradition in her branch is that the family was from Guernsey. I'm almost wondering if the original settlers in Newfoundland just told people they were from Guernsey and it got corrupted to Goosney. I think the English government started cracking down on smugglers in the early 19th century, so maybe they were on the run and didn't want anyone to know their real surname. If this is what happened, the original surname could have been anything at all and I guess I'll never find out.
One of my concerns though is that the names James and Isaac are very common in the Goosney family, right from the first generation, but they don't seem to be French names, which is what one would expect. That points to more of an English origin.
Deep sigh. I'm stumped, and I'm starting to think I'll have to live with the mystery.
Jennifer.
