Charles Goulty (1842-1882).
My 2nd great-grand uncle.
Charles was the eldest son of James Goulty and Mary Pilgrim and was baptised on 24 July 1842 at St Mary at Coslany Church in Norwich, Norfolk. A note on the register says the family were visiting the parish at the time of the baptism and noted that James was a carpenter.
The family soon returned to their home in the village of Salhouse, a few miles away from the city, where Charles’s brothers and sisters were born. By the 1861 census he was working as a rural messenger or postman, a job he appears to have kept for most of his adult life. The 1862 British Postal Service Appointment Books on Ancestry have him listed as Chas Goulty, a messenger working from Rackheath to Woodbastwick – settlements close to Salhouse.
The year 1864 saw one of Charles’ several brushes with the law. The Norfolk News of 9 July reported that postman Goulty and labourer John Wright were charged with assaulting shoemaker James Webb of Woodbastwick in Salhouse on 18 June. Webb claimed there had been a disturbance over a sixpence outside a local inn and that he’d been struck by both defendants and knocked to the ground. Witness Thomas Lingwood said that he saw Goulty make as if to strike Webb but admitted he didn’t see the actual punch. Defence witnesses claimed Webb was drunk and fell during the disturbance. The case ended up being dismissed and the bench at the Shirehall in Norwich (pictured top) criticised the prosecutor for bringing such a weak case in the first place. Webb was ordered to pay costs.
He was back before the same bench in 1871, as the Norfolk News of 4 February reported. On this occasion Charles was charged with buying a ferret knowing it had been stolen! The case against him was dismissed because of insufficient evidence but the three men charged with actually stealing the animals were all found guilty and gaoled.
Three years later, he was prosecuted along with several of his friends by the publican of the Kings Head in Salhouse. He said the men had failed to leave the pub when ordered to do so on the nights of 25 and 26 July 1874 but their lawyer succeeded in persuading the bench that no offence had been committed and the case was dismissed (story featured in Lowestoft Journal, 8 August).
His last known court appearance was reported in the Norwich Mercury of 19 November 1879. Described as a letter carrier, he was charged with refusing to obey an order made by magistrates in July that year to hand over £2 5s 10d to the trustees of the Loyal Stracey Lodge, held at the Green Man pub in Rackheath. It was said he had that sum in hand when he was dismissed as secretary in March. In addition to having to pay his debt, he was ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings – £1 17s 6d.
It’s unlikely that Charles married – certainly the 1871 census has him listed as a single man.
He died aged 40 on 31 October 1882 and was buried in Salhouse on 3 November. The death certificate held by Norfolk Family History Society described him as a drover and that he died of cirrhosis of the liver. The death was reported by his brother-in-law James Jermy.
Sources: BMDs and census info at Ancestry and Findmypast.com. Norfolk Family History Society. Newspapers at Findmypast.com.