Dear Listers, >From around the 1840's onwards a James Edward Mitchell WILLIAMS lived in Blean near Whitstable in somewhere called James Mall/James Hall and his occupation was General Surgeon and Apothecary. In all of the census entries during the late 1800's he was given as unmarried and other members of his household were Ann Goulden who was always given as his Housekeeper or Servant and there were also two others Henry William and Herbert Thomas Goulden who were also given as his sons. I assume at some point he must have adopted these boys but never married their mother Ann. If anyone has any further insight into the lives of either James Williams, Ann Goulden or Henry & Herbert Goulden I would be delighted to hear from you . Cheers Ian in Hong Kong

Hello Ian, I don't have access to census records so it would be very helpful to me, and others in the same position, if you could include full particulars in your emails when requesting help - its impossible to identify who Ann, Henry and Herbert GOULDEN are without knowing their date/place of birth etc. By the 1881 census none of the GOULDEN's are still with James WILLIAMS. It is very common to find in the census records a listing for a housekeeper having (illegitimate) children to the head of the household - perhaps he has an earlier marriage that you haven't found yet and the wife is still living? If you have the date and place of birth for the children you should be able to find their baptisms to see if a father's name is mentioned. In 1855, James Edward Mitchell WILLIAMS filed for bankruptcy - http://www.edinburgh-gazette.co.uk/issues/6510/pages/886/page.pdf In 1863, his name appears on a lease at the Canterbury Cathedral Archives (along with George and Henry HOLDEN, I wonder if these are actuallyh GOULDEN?) http://www.kentarchives.org.uk/DServeCCA/dserve.exe?&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=ArchivePub&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=CanterburyShow.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo=='CCA-U467/K/34/4/8/32') You may find some help in tracing James' career through this link - http://user.itl.net/~glen/doctors.html Cheers Trish Nowra NSW >>From around the 1840's onwards a James Edward Mitchell WILLIAMS lived in >>Blean near Whitstable in somewhere called James Mall/James Hall and his >>occupation was General Surgeon and Apothecary. In all of the census >>entries during the late 1800's he was given as unmarried and other members >>of his household were Ann Goulden who was always given as his Housekeeper >>or Servant and there were also two others Henry William and Herbert Thomas >>Goulden who were also given as his sons. I assume at some point he must >>have adopted these boys but never married their mother Ann. > Ian in Hong Kong

Here's his baptism, from Ancestry.com James Edward Mitchell Williams Gender: Male Birth Date: 30 Mar 1809 Christening Date: 20 Oct 1809 Christening Place: Christchurch, Hampshire, England Age at Christening: 0 Father's Name: James Williams Mother's Name: Ann Christchurch, Hampshire, England; Date Range: 1682 - 1838; Film Number: 1041289. AQlthough Ancestry shows the county as Hampshire, the 1851 c ensus shows him as born in Christchurch Kent In 1851, an Edward Rouse Court is shown as 'son of A Goulden' and she is shown as Married Both Henry & Herbert are shown as 'son of Henry Goulden' in the occupation column. Anne South Australia Ian Robinson wrote: > Dear Listers, > >> From around the 1840's onwards a James Edward Mitchell WILLIAMS lived in Blean near Whitstable in >> somewhere called James Mall/James Hall and his occupation was General Surgeon and Apothecary. In all of >> the census entries during the late 1800's he was given as unmarried and other members of his household >> were Ann Goulden who was always given as his Housekeeper or Servant and there were also two others Henry >> William and Herbert Thomas Goulden who were also given as his sons. I assume at some point he must have >> adopted these boys but never married their mother Ann. > > If anyone has any further insight into the lives of either James Williams, Ann Goulden or Henry& Herbert > Goulden I would be delighted to hear from you . > > Cheers > > Ian in Hong Kong >

In all the censuses, he is shown as unmarried and she as married - in 1861, (James Wall) she's shown as wife but in all the others, (1851 New Wall, 1871 Turner Wall, 1881 Radley Terrace, Middle Wall) she's either servant, housekeeper or lodger, in that order. I'd be getting Herbert's birth certificate to see who she says his father is. I cannot find a Goulden/Court marriage, nor a marriage at the right time of Henry Goulden to Ann anyone Births Jun 1844 Goulden Herbert Thomas Blean 5 40 or his marriage certificate to see who *he* says his father was Marriages Mar 1867 GOULDEN Herbert Thomas Blean 2a 873 Deaths Mar 1871 Goulden Herbert Thomas 27 Blean 2a 475 Anne South Australia Ian Robinson wrote: > Dear Listers, > >> From around the 1840's onwards a James Edward Mitchell WILLIAMS lived in Blean near Whitstable in >> somewhere called James Mall/James Hall and his occupation was General Surgeon and Apothecary. In all of >> the census entries during the late 1800's he was given as unmarried and other members of his household >> were Ann Goulden who was always given as his Housekeeper or Servant and there were also two others Henry >> William and Herbert Thomas Goulden who were also given as his sons. I assume at some point he must have >> adopted these boys but never married their mother Ann. > > If anyone has any further insight into the lives of either James Williams, Ann Goulden or Henry& Herbert > Goulden I would be delighted to hear from you . > > Cheers > > Ian in Hong Kong