The Goultys

The Norfolk Goultys joined my family tree when Harriett Goulty married Edward Stolliday – my 2nd great-grandparents. Born in the village of Salhouse in 1848, she married him in 1872.

See the Goulty family tree and where the Goultys sit in my current family tree

It’s a rare surname – one of the strangest in my family tree – and there’s no agreement on where it came from. Scottish history shows that it was used by the Strathclyde-Briton people around Edinburgh from the early Middle Ages, apparently derived from the Old English personal name Gold. Other records claim Goulty was a baptismal name – ‘the son of Walter’ – and was introduced into England in the reign of Edward the Confessor, the name apparently meaning ‘mighty army’. The name is also spelt Gaultier, Gaulty, Waultier and Walter but further back in my tree it is often Goughty, Gowty and so on.

Harriet Goulty (1848-1936).
My 2nd great-grandmother.

For details of her life, see the entry for Harriet Goulty and Edward Stolliday.

James Goulty (1814-1898) and Mary Pilgrim (1812-1867).
My 3rd great-grandparents.

Most of my ancestors were members of the established church but the Goulty family of the early 19th century veered into nonconformity.

James Goulty, my 3rd great-grandfather, was born on 15 December 1814 and named at the Particular Baptist Church in Salhouse, Norfolk, a village about six miles north-east of Norwich. His parents were Charles Goulty and Rebecca Lock (see below). James’s baptism and census records listed his place of birth as Woodbastwick, which is just down the road from the chapel. Several of his younger siblings were named there too but his older brothers and sisters were not, as the Particular Baptists didn’t set up their congregation in Salhouse until 1801. Known in the Domesday Book as Bastwic, Woodbastwick is one of the largest parishes in the area.

In the 1841 Census, James, who worked as a carpenter throughout his life, was living with Rebecca Goulty who, at the age of 60, must’ve been his mother, and Charlotte, 20, who was likely his sister. Their address was Lower Street, Salhouse. A year later, on 25 December 1842, James married Mary Pilgrim at St John de Sepulchre Church in Norwich. She’d been born illegitimately in 1811 in Old Buckenham, Norfolk, to local woman Elizabeth Pilgrim. James and Mary’s address was given as Ber Street, Norwich.

Mary used the names Mary Ann, Ann and Anne as an adult. The 1851 Census listed the family in Lower Street, Salhouse, while the 1861 record listed Mary there with two of her children. James was missing and I’ve not found him anywhere else – perhaps his carpentry had taken him elsewhere.

It’s likely that Mary was the Anne Goulty, aged 56, who was buried in Salhouse on 14 April 1867. James then married Anna Minter, in Suffolk in 1874. She had been baptised on 23 April 1843 in the Suffolk village of Eyke to carpenter John Minter and his wife Lydia. At the time of the 1881 Census, he was living with his new wife and their daughter Amelia Lydia Goulty in St John’s Road, Lowestoft. They were still there in 1891, Anna described as a dressmaker. The Lowestoft Journal of 25 June 1887 featured a notice in which the freeholder was planning the sale of James’s residence and a neighbour’s at 57 and 58 St John’s Road, the ad describing them as comfortable, convenient and white brick-fronted.

James died in 1898 and was buried in Lowestoft on 25 March 1898. His second wife continued to live in the town and died in 1920.

James and Mary Ann had at least seven children but most died young:

  • Charles Goulty (1842-1882), my 2nd great-grand uncle. He became a postman and made various visits to the law courts over the years.
  • Harriet Goulty (1844-1846), my 2nd great-grand aunt. She was born on 21 August 1844 in Salhouse, Norfolk, and died as an infant on 21 September 1846. A death certificate held by Norfolk Family History says she died of whooping cough.
  • Ann Goulty (1846-1927), my 2nd great-grand aunt. Ann was born in 1846 and baptised on 7 June that year at All Saints’ Church in Salhouse, Norfolk. Before marrying she worked as an under-nurse at the home of Alfred Chamberlain, a farmer of Foulsham House in the Norfolk Broads town of Wroxham, and she was recorded there in the 1861 Census. She married widower James Jermy (sometimes written Germany) on 17 February 1869 in Salhouse. He had been baptised on 29 October 1843, also in Salhouse, to labourer Joseph Jermy/Germany and his wife Hannah. Ann and James raised a family in the village, living there for most if not all of their married life. All subsequent census records billed him as an agricultural labourer or a horseman on a farm. James was buried in Salhouse on 27 May 1914 while Ann died in 1927. A daughter Harriet Jermy was listed on the 1871 census, and I suspect this was a girl James had with his first wife as she was aged four years. Ann had at least five children with her husband:
    • James Jermy (1869-1926) was born in 1869 and grew up in Salhouse, Norfolk. He never married and census return showed he lived with his parents while working as an agricultural labourer. He was likely the man whose death was registered in Norwich in 1926.
    • Sarah Jermy (c1873-1885) was born in the early 1870s and grew up in Salhouse, Norfolk. I’ve yet to find a birth or baptism record. She died young and was buried in the village on 10 May 1885, her age given as 13.
    • Charles Jermy (1876-1923) was born on 16 May 1876 and was an agricultural labourer in Salhouse at the 1891 Census. He then served in the Royal Navy from 1892, his service beginning in August of that year at the shore establishment HMS Impregnable at Devonport, Devon. He remained in the Navy until 1898, rising to the rank of able seaman, and was on several ships. This included HMS Rodney when it was part of the Mediterranean Fleet and got involved in the 1897 Greek uprising against the Ottomans in Crete, shelling the insurgents and rescuing Ottoman troops from the island. The 1901 Census placed him back at home with his parents in Salhouse and working as an agricultural labourer. He married widow Caroline Roberts in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, on 27 September 1907, and raised a family there and in Cleethorpes. The 1921 Census showed him as an unemployed coal heaver. He died on 20 June 1923 and was buried in Cleethorpes. Caroline died on 7 December 1948 in Louth Hospital, Lincolnshire.
    • George Jermy (1879-1899) was born on 10 February 1879 in Salhouse and was already an agricultural labourer at the age of 12 (1891 Census). But he also served in the Royal Navy, from 1894-1899, and rose to be an able seaman. He died on 1 April 1899 of capillary bronchitis while at the Naval Gunnery School infirmary at Sheerness in Kent. His records noted that he had had most of the fourth finger on his left hand amputated, although when and where this happened is unknown.
    • Emma Jermy (1880-1939). Emma was born in Salhouse and was recorded as a domestic servant in Heigham at the 1901 Census. She married Wymondham-born bricklayer Robert Betts in Salhouse on 13 February 1902. They raised a family and lived in Norwich. During the First World War he served with the Royal Defence Corps, a home defence service often suited to men not fit for front line duty. Emma died in Norwich in February 1939, Robert in 1956.
  • Harriet Goulty (1848-1936), my 2nd great-grandmother who married into the Stolliday family.
  • Richard Goulty (1851-1851), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Born in 1851, he died aged 11 weeks on 28 September that year and was buried in Salhouse. The notes on the death certificate stated that he had thrush.
  • Richard Goulty (1853-1855), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Richard was born in 1853 and baptised on 5 June that year in Salhouse. He died on 26 January 1855 and a note from his death certificate stated that the cause was “from natural causes and not from any injury, neglect or improper treatment”.
  • Richard Goulty (1855-1857), my 2nd great-grand uncle. He was the couple’s third son by this name and also died young. He was born on 20 September 1855 and died on 28 June 1857 after suffering a haemorrhage, according to the death certificate.

James’s daughter with Anna Minter:

  • Amelia Lydia Goulty (1876-1975), my 2nd great-grand aunt. Amelia was born on 16 December 1876 in Lowestoft, Suffok, where she grew up. At the 1901 Census, with her father now dead, she was working as a dressmaker at home. She married the grandly named Frederick William Hickelton Sparrow, a fisherman, at St John’s in Lowestoft on 21 January 1907. They were living in Lowestoft at the 1939 Register. Frederick died in July 1961. Amelia died in January 1975.

Charles Goulty / Goughty (1771-1840) and Rebecca Lock (1779-1861).
My 4th great-grandparents.

I’m not 100% certain about where my 4th great-grandfather came from but on balance of probability I believe the Charles Goughty baptised in Frettenham, Norfolk, on 20 January 1771 is our man. His parents were Charles Goughty and Elizabeth Quantrel (see below). The Goulty surname saw so many spelling variations over the years that it’s more than reasonable to suggest that Goughty is just another. In the surviving records, Charles’s surname was spelled in a wide variety of ways. Frettenham is also just five or six miles as the crow flies from Salhouse and Woodbastwick, where he eventually settled.

Charles married Rebecca / Rebekah Lock on 17 May 1796 at St Fabian and St Sebastian Church in Woodbastwick, Norfolk. Sarah Gowly was a witness – clearly another variation on the Goulty name. Rebecca, whose parents were Stephen Lock and Lydia Gladding, had been baptised in the church on 15 April 1779.

The couple had at least 11 children. Some were named at the nearby Particular Baptist chapel in Salhouse, which opened in 1801/2 during a period of growth in nonconformist belief across the country. Colin McCormick in The Book of Salhouse and Woodbastwick, published in 2016, writes that a number of families gathered together to form the church. It was ‘particular’ in that followers believed that Christ had died only for the Elect rather than for everyone. Most of the trustees of the chapel were tradesmen or the unskilled and initially, until about 1828, baptisms were carried out in the river at Wroxham. Whether the Goultys switched to baptism because they had genuine nonconformist beliefs, perhaps driven in part by the social and economic conditions of the time, or had just fallen out with the local rector is unknown but the latter was sometimes a reason why people converted. Interestingly, their last child was baptised back in the parish church.

Charles was a farm labourer and gardener. He died on 11 October 1840 at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and, according to the death certificate held by the Norfolk Family History Society, had been suffering from a diseased bladder. Rebecca was living in Lower Street, Salhouse, with other family members at the time of the 1841 Census, and then as a pauper in Mill Hill, Salhouse, in 1851. She died aged 87 on 4 March 1861, with notes on her death certificate held by the Norfolk Family History Society noting that she was suffering from jaundice. Charles and Rebekah’s headstone is in the baptist churchyard in Salhouse.

The couple’s known children were:

  • Rebecca Goulty (1797-1843), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Rebecca was baptised on 5 August 1797 at St Fabian & St Sebastian Church in Woodbastwick. She married David Dixon Neeve on 25 January 1826 in St Marylebone, Middlesex, but why in that location is a mystery as David was most likely the boy born to William and Sarah Neeve on 16 July 1803 in Norwich, Norfolk, and baptised on 24 July at St John Timberhill in the city. Perhaps they were there working in Marylebone as servants? Westminster Rate Books for 1830 showed David living in Wyndham Street in Marylebone. Rebecca Neeve was shown in similar rate books and the census for 1841 living in Grove Place, occupying a property owned by a Richard Wilson. But in that case, where was David? He turned up in the 1841 Census living with a woman called Mary Ann Prim (sometimes Pim) and a 15-year-old son named Charles Goulty Neeve in Queen’s Terrace, Poulton le Fylde, Lancashire. David was working as a postmaster, but it’s unclear whether Mary Ann was his wife or partner. Later reports named her as his wife but no marriage record has been found. So what was the story? It would’ve been difficult for couples to divorce in the early 19th century, although there were ways, but I’ve found no records to suggest that they did. It may be instead that David and Rebecca separated, and David moved away to start a new life with Mary Ann as common law husband and wife. An alternative is that Rebecca died but I’ve found no records to suggest this happened. Rebecca died in March 1843 and was buried at All Souls, Kensal Green, London, on 14 March. In Lancashire, records noted David as a builder and postmaster while membership records of the Fylde Union Freemasons Lodge listed him as an architect. Mary Ann died on 20 November 1842, the Manchester Courier of 3 December stating that she passed away after “a tedious illness” aged 33. In 1843 David was found guilty of assault. The Lancaster Gazette of 8 April reported that David, of Fleetwood, and a publican of the same town had attacked an Excise officer in the pub. Witnesses, however, said the officer had drunk excessively and there was no assault. While the publican was found not guilty, David was found guilty and fined 2s 6d. David died on 29 January 1848 (Preston Chronicle of 12 February).
    • Charles Goulty Neeve (c1826-1908) was born in around 1826. Census records suggested this was in Norwich but I have found no records to prove it and therefore no actual proof of his parentage but the fact he was living with his father at the 1841 Census and that his middle was Goulty clearly points to Rebecca and David. Charles married Sarah Conder in Staffordshire in 1853, had children and worked as a clerk. The 1861 Census placed them in Shelton, Staffordshire. But at some point after that the family emigrated to Ontario in Canada. The 1881 Census placed them in Clifton, Welland County, Ontario, not too far from Niagara Falls, but in 1889 a city directory listed Charles in Ottawa. At the 1891 Census, Charles and Sarah were living in Niagara Falls, Welland County. Sarah died in Welland County on 15 March 1895. Charles died there on 21 March 1908.
  • Eliza Goulty (1799-1822), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Baptised on 3 October 1799 at St Fabian & St Sebastian Church in Woodbastwick, I suspect she was the 22-year-old Elizabeth Goulty who died in the village in 1822 and was buried there on 9 September that year.
  • Richard Goulty (1801-????), my 3rd great-grand uncle. Richard was transported to Australia for seven years after being convicted of bigamy.
  • Henry Goulty (1804-1876), my 3rd great-grand uncle. He grew up in Norfolk but later emigrated to the United States of America.
  • Charlotte Goulty (1806-????), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Charlotte was born on 25 June 1806 and baptised at St Fabian & St Sebastian Church in Woodbastwick on 29 June 1806. A later child was also christened Charlotte, so she must’ve died young. However, I’ve found no burial record for her.
  • Sophia Goulty (1811-1895), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Sophia was born in Woodbastwick but went to Australia with her businessman husband – before returning. Read about her life here.
  • Harriet Goulty (1812-????), my 3rd great-grand aunt. She was born on 29 November 1812 and named at at the Particular Baptist Church in Salhouse, Norfolk. She was working as a servant in Marylebone, Middlesex, at the 1841 Census – another of the family to move there. She was also a witness at her sister Charlotte’s wedding in nearby Paddington in 1843. Harriet was working as a cook at the rectory in Little Munden, Hertfordshire, at the time of the 1851 Census, although her age was given incorrectly as 30. At some point in the early 1850s, Harriet travelled to Australia but I’ve found no records that match. However, she placed several adverts in Australian newspapers requesting that her sister Sophia, who had emigrated, contact her – the Launceston Examiner in Tasmania on 27 December 1855 being one and the The Argus in Victoria on 11 April 1856 being another. The latter gave Harriet’s address as 56 Swanston Street, Melbourne. It’s possible that she was the Harriet Goulty who married a Philip Barnett in Victoria in 1857. I’ve found no further records that fit.
  • James Goulty (1814–1898), my 3rd great-grandfather. He worked as a carpenter and married Mary Pilgrim. See his entry above.
  • Charlotte Goulty (1818–1860), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Charlotte was born on 18 March 1818 and named at the Particular Baptist Church in Salhouse. She grew up with the family there, and the 1841 Census showed her living at home with her parents. On 23 July 1843 Charlotte married labourer Edmund Druce at St James’s Church, Paddington, Middlesex, although how she met him is unknown. Perhaps she had a job as a servant that took her to the capital – as her sisters had done – and she met him there? Her sister Harriet was a witness to the ceremony, signing her name Harriet Lock Goulty. Edmund was born in the village of Fingest in Buckinghamshire and baptised there on 19 October 1800 to parents George and Joanna Druce. By 1848 Charlotte and Edmund were living in Buckinghamshire – they baptised a child in Burnham that year. However, things did not go well for them because the 1851 Census listed them in the Eton Union Central Workhouse in Upton Cum Chalvey, Buckinghamshire, both listed as paupers and farm labourers. They were with their two children, George and Emerson. Quite why they were there is unknown. Was it because illness meant he couldn’t support the family, or was there a lack of work? Charlotte died in 1860 and was buried in Upton Cum Chalvey on 19 May 1860. Edmund cropped up at the workhouse again in the 1861 Census and lived on until 1865. He was buried on 7 January that year in Upton cum Chalvey. The couple’s children were:
    • George Druce (c1844-????) was born in around 1844 but I’ve yet to find a birth record I’m comfortable with that matches him. He married Mary Ann Elston at Burnham in Buckinghamshire on 8 July 1866 but she died less than four years later and was buried in Upton cum Chalvey on 29 January 1870. George married again, his new bride Catherine Ann Weston. They wed in Kensington, Middlesex, on 27 October 1873. The 1881 and 1891 censuses showed them living with their children in Fulham, Middlesex, where he worked as a labourer. Catherine died in 1899. The 1891 Census placed George in Clapham, Surrey, where he was a lodger but a note on the census stated that he was feeble minded, perhaps suffering from senility. It also said he was a Hearts of Oak pensioner – Hearts of Oak was a benevolent society. He may be the George Druce whose death was registered in Epsom, Surrey, in 1912 but I have yet to find proof.
    • Emerson Druce (1848-1936) was baptised in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, on 23 July 1848 and married Florence Gertrude Elizabeth Munn in Kensington, Middlesex, on 22 July 1899. The 1901 Census placed them in Fulham, Middlesex, but from 1911 they were in Willesden with their children. Emerson worked as a clerk. He died in Essex in 1936. Florence was in Ilford, Essex, a retired dressmaker, at the 1939 Register, living with family. She died in Hampshire in 1963.
  • Matilda Goulty (1821–????), my 3rd great-grand aunt was born on 23 June 1821 and named at at the Particular Baptist Church in Salhouse but after this her trail runs cold.
  • Charles Goulty (1823-1823), my 3rd great-granduncle was baptised on 25 March 1823 at St Fabian & St Sebastian Church in Woodbastwick and buried there on 4 April 1823.

Charles Goulty / Goughty (1732-1793) and Elizabeth Quantrel (1742-1796).
My 5th great-grandparents.

Charles’ origins are not entirely clear but on balance of probability I think he was from the village of Acle in Norfolk. A Charles Goughty was born to parents Thomas Goughty and Elizabeth Read (see below) on 7 October 1732 and baptised there on 5 November at St Edmund’s Church.

An alternative is the Charles Golty born to Henry and Mary in East Carleton, Norfolk, and baptised in 1728. While his age is a better match on death, East Carleton is the other side of Norwich to the place where he married. The lack of a child named Henry among his offspring but the presence of both a Thomas and Elizabeth is also notable at a time when names were repeated down the generations.

Charles married Elizabeth Quantrel in the village church of All Saints in Horstead, Norfolk, on 18 May 1763. He was living in the nearby village of Frettenham at the time, described as a single man. She was living in Horstead at the time of the wedding but where she was born is less clear. She was most likely the Elizabeth Quaintrel born to John and Mary in 1742 and baptised on 27 August at St Bartholomew’s in Sloley, Norfolk. This was just a mile or two away and would match her age at burial.

Charles and Elizabeth lived the rest of their lives in Frettenham and had a family there, although it’s unclear from the records what he did for a living. Several of their children died as infants.

Charles died in 1793 and was buried in Frettenham on 7 August. The record suggested he was 66 or 68 but I suspect this was an error. Elizabeth died in 1796 and was buried on 9 November.

The list of the couple’s known children – often recorded as Goughty – may not be complete as the Frettenham parish records are badly worn and indistinct in places:

  • Elizabeth Goulty (1766-1766), my 4th great-grand aunt. The records are very faded but it looks like daughter Elizabeth died as a baby but the exact dates seem lost.
  • Ann Goulty (1769-1772), my 4th great-grand aunt. Ann was born in 1769 and baptised at St Swithin’s Church in Frettenham on 17 September that year. She died in 1772 and was buried there on 3 March.
  • Charles Goulty (1771-1840), my 4th great-grandfather. He raised a family in the Norfolk village of Woodbastwick. See earlier on this page.
  • Mary Goulty (1772-????), my 4th great-grand aunt. Mary was born in 1772 and baptised at St Swithin’s Church in Frettenham on 30 July that year. She next appeared at the baptism of her illegitimate son. Did she marry an Alexander Birch in Strumpshaw in 1803?
    • John Goulty (1797-1797) was baptised in Frettenham illegitimately on 8 March 1797 and buried there on the 12th. This was recorded as 1796 under the old calendar.
  • Ann Goulty (1776-1776), my 4th great-grand aunt. Ann was born in 1776 and baptised at St Swithin’s Church in Frettenham in September that year. She died a few months later and was buried on 8 December.
  • Thomas Goulty (1778-1857), my 4th great-grand uncle. He worked as an agricultural labourer as well as a publican. See his details here.
  • John Goulty (1780-????), my 4th great-grand uncle. John was born in 1780 and baptised at St Swithin’s Church in Frettenham on 30 July that year. I’ve not been able to trace him with confidence after this.
  • Lydia Goulty (1782-1787), my 4th great-grand aunt. Lydia was born in 1782 and baptised at St Swithin’s Church in Frettenham on 3 March that year. She was buried there on 16 January 1787.

Note: I am not confident that the couple below are the correct ancestors but I’m leaving them here for now until I can do further research.

Thomas Goulty (1690-1737) and Elizabeth Read nee Cook (1697-1736).
My 6th great-grandparents.

Thomas Goulty was born in 1690 and baptised on 15 January at St Mary’s Church in East Carleton, Norfolk. This would’ve been 1691 under the modern approach to starting a year on 1 January. His parents were Charles Goughty and Elizabeth.

There’s always a degree of conjecture surrounding families this far back but I suspect this Thomas married Elizabeth Reed, a widow, at St Edmund’s Church in Acle, Norfolk, on 18 October 1724. Thomas was a single man, making him fairly old to marry at this point in time. Acle – once an important Roman fort, host to a busy market and close to the Norfolk Broads – is also getting on for 20 miles from East Carleton.

His wife was born Elizabeth Cook, and she may well be the girl who was baptised on 11 May 1697 in Halvergate and Tunstall just a short distance from Acle. She married Edward Reed in Acle on 18 October 1716 but he died in April 1723 and was buried at St Edmund’s on 30 April. They had three children together – Sarah in 1717, George in 1718 and Michael in 1722.

Elizabeth had more children in Acle after marrying Thomas in 1724 but she died in 1736 and was buried in the village on 26 February, described as the wife of Thomas. He remarried at St Edmund’s on 26 September 1737, his new bride being widow Elizabeth Sutton. However, he died just a few weeks later and was buried in Acle on 13 October. Elizabeth remarried in 1740.

Thomas’s children with his first wife were:

  • Elizabeth Goughty (1725-1725), my 5th great-grand aunt. Elizabeth was baptised at St Edmund’s in Acle on 16 May and was buried on 22 October.
  • Thomas Goughty (1726-1742), my 5th great-grand uncle. Thomas was born on 30 June 1726 and baptised at St Edmund’s in Acle on 3 July. Lack of alternative candidates suggest he was buried in Acle on 20 May 1742.
  • Amy Goughty (1729-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Amy was born on 9 September 1729 and baptised at St Edmund’s in Acle on 12 October. I’ve not been able to locate any other records.
  • Charles Goughty (1732-1793), my 5th great-grandfather. Charles lived and worked in Frettenham, Norfolk, for many years. See above.
  • Elizabeth Goughty (1734-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Elizabeth was baptised at St Edmund’s in Acle on 6 April 1734 but I’ve not found records that I can easily link to her.

Sources:
Birth, marriage, death and burial records including civil registrations from the General Register Office, census returns, military and other records at Ancestry.co.uk, Findmypast.co.uk and Norfolk Family History Society (including death certificates).
Colin McCormick, The Book of Salhouse and Woodbastwick, published in 2016.
British Newspaper Archive, titles noted in text.
Trove, the Australian newspaper archive, titles in text.