Search for content in message boards

Goward family

Goward family

Sara Goward-Jones (View posts)
Posted: 19 Sep 2003 2:55PM GMT
Classification: Query
i was amazed and pleased to find so many Gowards about as i thought there were so few of us!I'm a Londoner but know that the Gowards came originally from the Norfolk area and my grandmother told me she had been told as achild that a few of them went off to sea to America to find their fortune!

Re: Goward family

Posted: 6 Nov 2003 5:55PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 15 Dec 2003 2:03AM GMT
Sara, I would love to hear from you about your Goward's. I am a Goward and my family was from the Norfolk area of England also. I am in the USA. Francis Goward married Mary Rade
My email is lachance@citlink.net or kimlachance@hotmail.com
please use these emails only for replies to all Goward's

Re: Goward family

Posted: 19 Sep 2009 10:21PM GMT
Classification: Query
I have heard that the name Goward is actually an English derivative of a family name from France(Gouard???); speculation that the Goward's changed religion due to the Spainish pope, and some escaped to England when the Huguenots were being massacred. I also heard the English Goward's were known for developing a beer/ale and maybe a street named after them, perhaps in London. I do remember my grandmother saying the(grandfather) brothers all spoke french amongst themselves, but she was only allowed to speak English; because people would spit on them when they spoke their own language. My father's family referred to my mother being french; with unfavorable adjectives. My grandmother (Adora Sharron) also told me of how my grandfather (Walter Goward) saved Jimmy Hoffa's life. That is for another story if you are interested.

Re: Goward family in Norfolk, England

Posted: 28 May 2012 7:38PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Goward, Skipper, Gant
I, too, am interested in the Gowards from Norfolk. I only have one so far, and I'm interested in how she ties in with the others.

My ancestor's name was Rhoda Goward. She was born around 1760, most likely in Norfolk. She married Robert Skipper in 1784 in Shotesham, Norfolk, where their children were also born.

Now, "Rhoda Goward" isn't that common a name. I've only found one other, born in 1816 in Norwich to William Goward and Mary Gant(?). I suspect that these two Rhodas are somehow related (aunt/niece, cousins once or twice removed, etc.), but I have yet to find the connection as I can't find any birth information for my Rhoda.

Can anyone help me make that connection?

Thanks!

Re: Goward family in Norfolk, England

Posted: 7 Sep 2012 9:08PM GMT
Classification: Birth
Surnames: Goward
Hi, Rhoda was born in 1763, or at least baptised then at Newton Flotman. Info: from Free Reg.


County Norfolk
Place Newton Flotman
Church St Mary
RegisterNumber
DateOfBirth
BaptismDate 23 Oct 1763
Forename Rhoda
Sex F
FatherForename John
MotherForename Anne
FatherSurname GOWARD
MotherSurname
Abode
FatherOccupation
Notes
FileNumber 7515

Sadly I haven't worked out which John/Anne these are!

Re: Goward family in Norfolk, England

Posted: 7 Sep 2012 10:41PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Goward
Thank you for that! I never would have thought of looking in Newton Flotman (I'd never even heard of it)!

Are you connected to this family?

Re: Goward family in Norfolk, England

Posted: 10 Sep 2012 9:38PM GMT
Classification: Birth
Surnames: Goward
Hello again, Sorry I haven't replied to your message before, had a bit of family problems to sort!
I don't have any connection to the Gowards, but I help my daughter on her tree when she gets stuck, as I have more time. Her connection is through my first husband's Mother's side as she was a Goward.
I don't think your Rhoda is connected to my daughter's family, but I have been slowly accumulating Gowards on a tree with the idea they will all connect up one day!
Hadn't actually come across your Rhoda before, but it was the name that caught my attention as my daughter has several Rhoda's in her tree - but not Gowards!
I do use Google Earth a lot, it's wonderful for pinpointing just where places are, very often just a couple of fields away from the village you are looking at. It's easy to download and if nothing else fun to look up the postcodes of family and friends!
Free Reg is a wonderful site and gives loads of information. Are you still in the Norfolk area or one of the ones that got away?
Keep in touch if you need any help.
Miranda.

Re: Goward family in Norfolk, England

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 8:50PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Goward, Hockley
I've been accumulating Gowards with the same aim: hoping to tie them all together one day. "Rhoda Goward" seems to be a fairly unique name, though I've come across one other in Norfolk, born in the early 1800s... but I can't figure out how she connects to my line (surely there is a connection?). My 2x great-grandmother's sister was named Rhoda Goward Hockley... so there was at least one attempt to keep the Goward name going in later generations.

I'm from a branch of the family that ended up in British Columbia, Canada... which is why I find online genealogical resources so valuable; I can't just go to the local registry office if I need to look something up!

Re: Goward family in Norfolk, England

Posted: 11 Sep 2012 10:32PM GMT
Classification: Birth
Surnames: Goward
Wow! Yes, I can see you can't take a day off and nip to the Norfolk Record Office!
Had a look at the other Rhoda Goward who was born in 1816 the d/o William and Mary Goward who was a Weaver.
I think this is the William who married a Mary Gant, by licence, at St. Gregory's, Norwich on 22 July 1800.
I found one other daughter, Elizabeth in 1814.
This could be the William who was born in Newton Flotman in April 1865 the s/o John and Ann Goward - the parents of your Rhoda.
It makes sense he would name a child of his own after his sister. But of course it is all conjecture. He would have been 35 at his marriage which is not impossible. But where are any other children between a marriage in 1800 and the one in 1814? I did find two Henry's on in 1803 and one in 1807, both to William and Mary Goward, one with the maiden name of Mary Gant given, in the Norwich district which could be theirs.
I like the Godfrey Gowards, they are so easy to trace! Why couldn't my daughter be connected to them instead of having an illegitimate one who's Mother I can't find!
All fun but it's now 11.30pm and my brain is turning to mush. More later perhaps.

Re: Goward family in Norfolk, England

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 5:36PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Goward
John and Ann as the parents of William are a definite possibility. I'd had Rhoda (1816) tentatively connected William, son of George Goward and Elizabeth Plumer, who was born 1772 in Barnham Broom (making him 28 at the time of his marriage to Mary Gant). I didn't know about John and Ann Goward at the time, though...

John and Ann. Lucky me. Yeah, I wouldn't mind having a connection to the Godfrey Gowards, either! It's so much easier to trace family lines with a slightly more uncommon first name...
per page

Find a board about a specific topic