‘From Balaklava to Bangalore’

Peter Beaven - 19 Sep 2007- speaking at the BerksFHS Computer Branch, Woodley

A computer search of the history of a 19th century family

“On the 25th of October, killed in the engagement at Balaklava, aged 27, Captain Thomas Howard Goad, 13th Light Dragoons, eldest son of the late B. Goad, Esq., and stepson of the late General Sir Thomas Bradford, G.C.B., G.C.H.”

This note started a search for the families involved and this presentation showed how computer resources were used to develop the study. A Google search for Sir Thomas Bradford listed over 1.3M references; by using quote marks “Sir Thomas Bradford” this was reduced to under 250. However the Oxford Dictionary National Biography reference was missed here as it listed ‘Bradford, Sir Thomas’.

The ONB reference gives his father’s name, place and date of birth. This information was then entered into the online IGI site (with a year range added as the IGI records Birth/Christening). This returned the record of Christening together with a Batch Number, which is the source information. The Batch Number is a hyperlink and by clicking on it the search site is reloaded, pointing to that source. By entering the father’s name all records of the family are displayed.

To find the children the 1841census was first searched. Sir Thomas and Lady Bradford were living in London with his brother, the Rev. Bradford, three of his daughters and two children of Benjamin Goad. The 1841 census shows that the Bradford girls were born in Scotland, while Sir Thomas was Commander of the forces there. Looking in the 1851 census for Barbara Bradford found her visiting her married sister together with her brother who had adopted the name Atkinson. This was his mother’s name but he probably adopted it as her uncle left her his estate. The third Bradford daughter, Frederica, does not appear in any census record.

Sir Thomas’s military career can be traced through the online London Gazette and the Times digital archive. The Times can be accessed if you have an Ancestry account (or at the Research Centre) but many public libraries also provide this and you can log-in from your home PC. Other references occur in regimental web sites; Project Gutenberg - an online collection of 20,000 ebooks, including the diary of Sir Walter Scot who records the death of Sir Thomas’s first wife and even the Adelaide Civic Collection which contains a painting of an attack led by Sir Thomas in the Penisular war.

His brother, William, became Rector of Storrington in Sussex. However he had not lead the quiet life of a country parson; a search of The Times archive found a note about him as part of his son’s obituary. This showed that he volunteered for service as a chaplain to the Forces, and in that capacity took part in Sir John Moore's retreat to Corunna.

On retirement the Bradfords settled in Sussex near where Thomas senior had lived. They can be found in the 1851 Post Office Directory, using www.historicaldirectories.org/. Thomas senior had a brief Berkshire contact as he is recorded as purchasing Coley Park in 1802 but selling it again that year. He finally appears in the National Burial Index for 1824 at Storrington where his youngest son was Rector.

The Goad story

In 1840 Sir Thomas Bradley married the widow Ann Elizabeth Goad, née Hill at Hove. From the notice in The Times it was seen that one of the officiating ministers was Sir Thomas’s brother the Rev William and the bride was the widow of B. Goad of Harley Street. Her father was Lt Col Hill; a possible link between the two army families.

The National Archives contain several Goad wills from this time, one of which is the Will of Benjamin Goad of Harley Street. This will named three brothers and a brother-in-law, most of whom also had wills at TNA. From this information the IGI was able to find that the parents were William & Darling Goad. Looking for records only using the parent’s names found eight children from two different parishes. However Benjamin Goad was not one of these; the information of his birth is only recorded in the Vital Record Index, available only on Cd and found at the Research Centre in Reading.

In his will William Goad directs his executors to sell his possessions and a notice appeared in The Times of 15 Feb 1794 listing the furniture etc for sale. High on the list are 50 dozen old Port and 40 dozen excellent Madeira. Earlier notices in The Times show that the income had been from the sale of furs such as Racoon, Bear, Otter, Wolf or Musquash.

The second daughter, Emma Darling Goad married John Henry Powell Schneider, recorded in Pallot’s Marriage Index. She was in her 40s by then and he had at least two previous marriages. He made many announcements through advertisements in The Times such as
“On the 12th inst. at Southgate, the lady of John Schneider, Esq. of a son”.

Goads in India

Two of the Goad wills in TNA were made by Benjamin’s brothers in India and sent to London for safekeeping. The first was for ‘Will of Samuel Thomas Goad, Senior Merchant in the Civil Service of the Honorable United Company of Merchants of England of Calcutta , East Indies’ and the second was ‘Will of John Fryer Goad, Lieutenant Interpreter and Quarter Master of the second Battalion twenty Fifth Regiment of Native Infantry in the Honorable Company's Service on the Bengal Establishment of Bengal, East Indies’.

This part of the study was left at first as it did not seem easy to find information - but it proved to be as detailed as in the UK. First of all the using the IGI for India produces 37 references for Goad between 1809 and 1886. Most of these are for baptisms but many give both parent names.

A more valuable resource is ‘fibis’, Families in British India Society, which has transcribed a variety of resources including marriages and military records. Most of the Goad men served in the local East India regiments in the first part of the century, although some were also in the civil service. In the 1841 census William Parker Goad and his family were in London, although it is not possible to tell if they had returned temporarily. The family are recorded with the letter ‘I’, which was supposed to indicate Ireland - which is how the entries have been transcribed.

This period includes the Indian mutiny of 1857, which particularly affected some members of the Goad family. William Trickett Goad was an Ensign at the siege of Lucknow and was awarded the siege medal. The only other record of him is from The Times, Wednesday, Jul 04, 1860
‘32d Foot Ensign Goad superseded for being absent without leave.’ The 32nd Foot was the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and so William was probably from the Cornish branch of the Goad family.

After the end of the mutiny many regiments were disbanded and the officers retired on full pay, often with a promotion. The career of Samuel Boileau Goad needs more study. It is reported that he was ‘Court-martialled three times (acquitted twice)’ He also retired as a major on full pay.

The census records show that the families did travel to and from the UK. Men came back and married and also for training. Some of these movements have been recorded through Bonds indexed by fibis.

Finale

Early searching of Sir Thomas Bradford’s family identified four children but Frederica was only known from the 1841 census. Her step-mother Anne Elizabeth died in 1868 at Avranches in the Empire of France. Her will contains the passage 'To my godchild Edith Harriet Ridley I leave a box of gold catchwork in a leather case with viscountess coronet and initials M. A. S and a Chinese Dressing box. These were intended for her poor mother'. A search of the IGI found the following record

EDITH HARRIET <RIDLEY>
07 JAN 1849 Hartburn, Northumberland, England
Father : HENRY RICHARD RIDLEY
Mother : GEORGIANA AUGUSTA FREDERICA BRADFORD

The reason that Frederica did not get the bequest is shown by the death recorded on FreeBMD:-

Deaths Mar 1861
Ridley Georgina Augusta Frederica Durham 10a 183

The full results of this study have been put onto the internet and this has generated feedback, including corrections where Lt Col Philip Ainslie had been confused with Lt Col Charles Philip Ainslie (known as Lt Col Philip Ainslie). References inckude

Project web site:- http://familytrees.genopro.com/appleshaw/Goad/
Oxford Dictionary National Biography :- www.oxforddnb.com/
The IGI can be found at http://tinyurl.com/5kwh
Online Gazettes:- www.gazettes-online.co.uk/
Project Gutenberg:- www.gutenberg.org
DocumentsOnline - Download wills:- http://tinyurl.com/7kqoz
Families in British India Society:- www.fibis.org/
FreeBMD:- www.freebmd.org.uk/

updated 5 Oct 2007