Thread: Whatever happened to Henry J? A long shot

Henry James Godding was the middle of three sons of Henry and Louisa Maria Godding. He was born in Chilgrove, Sussex in 1867, as was his younger brother John (b. 1870). His older brother William was born in Kingston Lisle Berkshire (1864). The family evidently moved to Sussex for a while and then returned to Berkshire and settled permanently at Letcombe Regis. William and John went on to have big families and I can trace their descendants to the present time. However, Henry James disappears from the records. He married Martha Ellen Ayers at Fawley, Berkshire on 4th June 1887 according to the church records.Oddly I can'tfind the GRO ref to the marriage. He appears in the 1891 living at Wantage Four daughters seem to have been born between 1888 and a892 after which he disappears completely from the records. One of his nieces (now long deceased) told me that her father (John) would never speak of him and that he was the black sheepof the family. She suspected he had run away and left his wife and children. I would like to get to the bottom of this story. I can't find him in either the 1901 or 1911,nor can I find a record of his death. Did he emigrate? Is there a descendant of this character out there? One of his daughters,Ellen Frances Godding married Albert William Bailey at Fawley, Berkshire 9th Aug 1911. They appear to have had 4 children between 1912 and 1925 in either Bradfield or Easthampstead. The youngest I have found is Eileen N. Bailey born about 1925 at Easthampstead. Are you still alive Eileen? Do you know what became of your grandfather?

There is no date of birth on these or parents name but could this me your Henry James



http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_...asualty=748834



http://www.cwgc.org/search/certifica...asualty=748834

Thanks for looking Welshlady. I already have this census information. Child number 4 was born after the 1891 census and child number 1 (Ellen F) was staying with relatives in the 1891 as in the 1901. Henry J. Godding went missing at some point between 1892 when he fathered daughter number 4 (assuming the daughter is his) and 1901, when he no longer appears to be in the UK. I have to assume for the moment that he absconded abroad. Can you think of how I could follow this up? The youngest daughter of Henry J.'s younger brother John told me she thought she had overheard somewhere as a very small child that he was on a ship that sank. At the time of my conversation with her (over 20 years ago) she was a very old lady and she warned then that this may be a complete red herring.



Regards,



Manakin

Thankyou noggin28. While these military references are of great interest to me in their own right, they are not of the same Henry J.Godding but rather of his younger brother John Godding's son who was presumably named after his uncle. Henry J.'s whereabouts remain a complete mystery to me. Incidentally, his wife later returned from Wantage to Fawley and lived with her family there.

GRO Ref that you are missing for Henry James Godding marriage to Martha Ellen Ayers follows:-



Henry James Godding Q2 1887 Wantage Vol. 2c Page 561

Martha Ellen Ayers

Thankyou GenieGenie, this page not been transcribed into FreeBMD. I see that the coverage for this year/quarter is low. Is the ink faint?

No - really clear - if you would like to receive the original index, please PM me your e.mail address and I will be happy to send it through for you

Thanks GenieGenie, not sure if I've just this correctly or not. For all I know I've just announced my email address to the world!

Nope - don't worry - just click on my GenieGenie name to the left of my previous message - it will give you a drop down menu and an option to send me a private message



If you still have probs - I will send one to you so that you can reply!