18 Gen: Alice [ERROR] GOULTON DOB: c1859 (18.html)

18 Gen: Alice [ERROR] GOULTON DOB: c1859

The strange Alice GOULTON remains a mystery. No known photo of Alice exists, but William James GOULTON (1818-1906), (Source 4) the father of the strange Alice GOULTON, appears in the photo shown below. By 2022, the author has proof that Alice GOULTON never existed. In her autobiography, Jessie GOATCHER, mistakenly claims that Alice GOULTON was one of her aunts. It is clear from photos of actual census documents (of 1861 and 1871 in Sources 11 and 12 below) that a transcriber mistakenly read "Alice" GOULTON for "Alma" GOULTON in the 1861 UK Census.

GOULTON family photo

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thumb: GOULTON family photo c1900

GOULTON family photo c1900

The above GOULTON Family Picture which was taken c1900 hung on a wall in the home of a GOULTON descendant, Marion (Nee Goatcher) COLE. It is now in the archives of her son, David Cole. It contains 4 rows of people and an inscription showing their names:
Back Row (standing) 1 2 3 4
Middle Back Row (standing) 5
Middle Row (seated) 6 7 8
Front Row 9
The people are: 1* Grace, 2* Albert, 3* Frederick, 4 Uncle William [GOULTON b.1844-1920] (Grandpa GOULTON's son), 5* Alice, 6 Albert's wife [Elsie nee JARMAN], 7 Wm James GOULTON, i.e. Grandpa GOULTON (1818-1906), 8 Uncle William's wife Nellie [Helen JACKSON], 9* Minnie Jacobs [Marion Helen GOULTON].
Based upon recently-received information from Neville Spenser GOULTON:
- Albert's wife is known to be Elsie JARMAN.
- Minnie JACOBS is Marion Helen GOULTON who married Sidney JACOBS. We also deduce that:
- Helen JACKSON was known as Nellie
- All of Uncle William's children (marked with an *) are in the photo!
- Uncle William is William GOULTON (1844-1920)

Grace Goulton's 1904 Christmas Card from Lifton, Mowbray, South Africa

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1904 Xmas card from Grace Goulton

1904 Xmas card from Grace E. Goulton

Patricia Brown, a descendant of William Goulton (1818-1906), has provided a Christmas card sent from Grace GOULTON in 1904. This shows her address in South Africa at that time. It shouldn't surprise us that no mention is made of Alice Goulton.

Census Records for 1861 & 1871

Neville GOULTON has provided me with very high-resolution photos of the actual UK Census documents for the GOULTON family in Selby, Yorkshire for the years 1861 and 1871. They appear immediately below. Note that the 1871 Census was poorly transcribed into the Family Search database in that son William is incorrectly listed by them as Ebinezer. Similarly Alma was incorrectly transcribed by Family Search as Alicia. Their ages (and the 1861 Census) clearly prove who they are. The absence of any mention of Alice and the confusion about Alma being interpreted as Alicia make us question whether Alice actually existed. However, Patrica Brown (descendant of Alma Harriet GOULTON) may also find that Alice might not have existed. She told me that she had a Christmas card (see it at FamilySearch) from Grace GOULTON in South Africa. Perhaps one day, a ship's passenger list will show if any other GOULTON sister accompanied Grace GOULTON when she emigrated to South Africa.

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thumb: 1861 Census

1861 Census

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thumb: 1871 Census

1871 Census

UK Census of 1881

The 1881 census lists the following family members:

DC0069
The UK 1881 Census (Source 5) shows:
William J. GOULTON Head Married Male 62 b.Selby,York., Eng.
Mary S. GOULTON Wife Married Female 60 b.London,Middlesex, Eng.
Grace S. GOULTON Daur Unmarried Female 26 b.Selby, York., Eng.
Mary J. STRANGE Daur In Law Unmarried Female 27 b.Hemel Hempstead,Hertford, Eng

Occupation: Farmer of 815 Acres Employ 20 to 30 Men & Boys.

Dwelling: Hall Farm
Census Place: South Fambridge, Essex, England
Family History LIbrary Film: 1341426
Public Records Office Reference: RG11, Piece/Folio 1768/84, Page 8
/DC0069

I am not convinced that Alice GOULTON (Source 6) ever existed. Some misleading "proof" was recently found in Source 3 below, which is the 1871 UK Census (as published on the Family Search site which says that she was born in 1859. This 1871 UK Census was published by (and probably not transcribed by) Family Search). Two transcription errors are noted below along with photos of the 1871 Census Pages. Exact birth dates often differ by a year or two from the dates shown on the Census, but they are usually quite close. I had previously deduced that Alice was born in 1860 using the following reasoning:

Jessica GOATCHER, daughter of Sarah Jane GOULTON, a sister of the "mysterious" Alice GOULTON, writes that a good job then available to educated girls was being a governess. But to be a governess, the girls would need more schooling, at a school like Zeals. We see in the Census of 1881, that Annie is a governess (Sch Mist) for Frederic W. HILL in Manningham, York., Eng. So she must have gone to Zeals.

Jessica also writes "... the four elder girls... were sent to ... Zeals...". We know that 2 of them were "(Hanna) Mary and Sarah Jane". Annie was a governess so she must have gone to Zeals. If Mary and Annie went to Zeals, the Census of 1881 tells us that the girls between them (Sarah Jane and Grace) must have also gone to Zeals. We know that Sarah Jane went to Zeals, so we must deduce that Grace also went to Zeals.

Jessica GOATCHER wrote that her mother, Sarah Jane GOULTON, born in 1853, was the third daughter in her family. This means that another female was born before 1853. This female infant would be either Alice or an unknown 3rd dead infant which was female. If it were Alice, then she would also have gone to Zeals making a total of 5 girls going to Zeals. So we must conclude that the unknown 3rd dead infant was female and born before 1853. This could have occured during the 2.5 years without a surviving baby immediately before Sarah Jane. This dead female infant would have made Sarah the 3rd daughter in the family.

There is also a 4 year space between Alma and Albert, which might allow for Alice to have been born around 1860. This would not stop Sarah Jane from being the third oldest girl. (But the dead infant would still need to be a female born around 1852.) On page 115 of her "Memoirs", Jessica lists girls in that family as being "Mary, Alice, Sarah, Annie, Alma ....", which is certainly not in birth order and Grace was accidentally omitted.

In the 1871 Census published by Family Search, an Alicia GOULTON b 1859 is listed. After a close examination of the 1871 census form, one must conclude that Alma was recorded, not Alicia. Also listed in this 1871 census are the following persons of interest:

Mary S. Goulton, wife, b:1821 (She, Mary S Strange nee Wolfe, is the second wife of William James Goulton)
Annie L. Goulton, daughter, b:1856 (Known daughter of William James Goulton)
Mary J. Strange, daughter, b:1852 (She is the step-daughter of William James Goulton)
Joseph Shaw, visitor, b:1852 (Harriet Goatcher, a future dau. of Sarah Jane Goulton, married a Stephen Shaw)
5 household servants were also listed
William Goulton, son, b:1845 (Family Search also erroneously listed William as Ebinezer.) Close examination of the actual 1871 census form clarifies this issue. William was recorded on the form, but it looks much like the name Ebinezer.

In the 1881 Census, Grace is the only daughter listed as living at home with her father. In 1881 we know that Hanna Mary was either a governess or married to Charles Drake (Source 8). Sarah was a cook in 1881 and Annie was a governess. All other living (in 1881) children in this family can be accounted for in 1881.

Sometime after the 1881 Census, Grace emmigrated to South Africa. Jessica nee GOATCHER GODWIN writes that Grace was accompanied by her little sister Alice (who was 6 years younger than her). This left William James GOULTON alone with his second wife (Mary Sibella STRANGE b. 1821) and her (not his) daughter (Mary Jane STRANGE b. c1854) whom Jessica calls "a stepsister, Madge". William married his second wife, Mary Sebilla nee WOLFE STRANGE, in 1863 only 1 year after his first wife, Harriet nee MOORE, died. In 2018, the Tampling Family Tree (Source 9) at Ancestry.com gave us the maiden name of Mary Sebilla WOLFE, the name of her first husband (William STRANGE b 1816) and the full name of their daughter Mary Jane STRANGE. Upon a careful review of the Census forms, the daughter's name is clearly Mary J. (not May J.)

Headstone Information for William James GOULTON

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thumb: William James GOULTON headstone

William James GOULTON headstone

WILLIAM JAMES GOULTON late of Selby
Who died in London on February 26th 1906 in his 88th year and was interred in this grave with his wife and mother.

On the other side it reads;

Harriet wife of W.J.Goulton late of Flaxley Lodge
who died December 20th 1862 aged 45 years. Also their sons Joseph and Albert who died in infancy and Robert who died January 21st 1858 aged 9 years Also of Mary relict of William Goulton, late of Stainer Hall who died Dec 27th 1871 aged 83 years (mother of W.J.Goulton)

Considerations:
1a. It is possible that Jessica GODWIN was wrong when she said that her Grandmother had 12 children. Perhaps, it was her grandfather (not her grandmother) who had 12 children: 11 with Harriet and 1 step-daughter, Mary or Madge: the daughter of his second wife: Mary S nee WOLFE STRANGE.
1b. The 3 dead infants are probably the two babies who died plus the 9 (or 10) year old who also died. This would also only make a total of 11 children for grandfather William James GOULTON.
1c. These 2 possible mistakes by Jessica probably cancel each other out. Grace (not Alice) would be one of the 4 eldest and would have gone to Zeals. But then Annie would have gone to Zeals and would not have been one of the four eldest daughters.
2. The absence of Alice from the 1881 Census is now understood, because Alice never existed at all.
3. Alice was not listed on the 1881 census that Tony Fowler found.

Strange Fact:
The 2 dead male infants were buried and listed on the headstone. But the 3rd (unnamed) dead infant was not listed on the headstone. Perhaps Jessica was in error when she said that her grandmother had 12 chidren. This error of ommission does not conflict with the conclusions herein.

Confirming Fact:
There was no Alice (who would have been age 21 at the time) living with her father during the Census of 1881. But Grace (5 or 6 years older than this mysterious Alice) was recorded. on the 1881 Census.

Conclusions
1. Alice never existed (and could not have been born in/around 1859). Therefore she did not go to Zeals.
2. The 3rd dead infant was born and died c.1852 and was female.

Author: David Kenneth Charles COLE b Sept 16 1944, Montreal, QC, Canada

Sources:
Bibliography:
Book: Jessica GODWIN - Memoirs of An Ancient Lady, ISBN-10: 1 872795 64 1, published:1992 by Pentland Press

Web Sources:
Web Source: S018:01: UK Census of 1881 - Reference: RG11, Piece/Folio 1768/84, Page 8
Web Source: S018:02: ePC Article 48 List of persons documented by Jessica Godwin

by David Cole
Web Source: S018:03: UK Census of 1871 Image of info displayed on Family Search

Web Source: S018:04: William James Goulton Family Search ID:9NGB-MQF

(Free User ID & Login are necessary)
Web Source: S018:05: UK Census of 1881 for Wm James Goulton discovered by Tony FOWLER

reported in WorldConnect family tree:davidcole3 by the author of this article.
Web Source: S018:06: Alice Goulton Family Search ID:LVG4-PD5

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Web Source: S018:07: William James Goulton FindAGrave ID:37381506

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Web Source: S018:08: DRAKE, Charles Drake Census Info Etc

by David Cole
Web Source: S018:09: STRANGE, Mary Jane Ancestry: Myles Family Tree

2018 by lindamyles2014 (Linda Myles)
Web Source: S018:10: GOULTON, WIlliam James Family Search ID:9NGB-MQF
Web Source: S018:11: UK Census of 1861 for Wm James Goulton Wm James GOULTON in UK Census 1861
Web Source: S018:12: UK Census of 1871 for Wm James Goulton Wm James GOULTON in UK Census 1871<br> Web Source: S018:13: UK Census of 1871 for Alicia [Error] Goulton Alicia Error GOULTON in UK Census 1871<br>