Site History
Up

 

The site was created on July 9th, 2001. 

The list of changes below is really of "substantial" changes, i.e. when I've made a lot of changes and had the presence of mind to make a summary here. Changes that may seem "small" to me could be big changes as far as your line is concerned, so if you are looking out for new info. on a particular ancestor or family line, please either check back from time to time or e-mail me and I'll try to remember when I've made changes that might be of interest to you.

17 Dec 2006 I finally managed to check the record for the marriage of Thomas GOODWORTH and Elisabeth LEE in Leeds in 1774. Previously I had no way of telling the condition of this particular record and whether it might in fact be for another name. however, the writing is very clear and the names and dates are as stated on the Leed page. Unfortunately, there is no other information in the record that helps determine Thomas' origina, and there is still no connection to a following generation either. The only thing that might lead somewhere is that on the same day in the same church, a Samuel LEE marries Grace HARTLEY. Perhaps he is a brother of Elizabeth?
01 Sep 2006 Linked the "Other surnames" page into the site. "Other surnames" leads to pages about related surnames in which I happen to be interested, initially "Lampl(o)ugh". If you want to piggy-back here, let me know...

By now a lot of data from the 1841 England census should have been incorporated as well.
15 Jan 2006 Numerous changes and additions related to the England 1851 census. Not complete yet, but these changes include confirmation that George GOODWORTH in London was from Asselby, for example.
07 Jul 2005 A few details added to the US page.
20 Apr 2005 The will of Ann GOODWORTH of Asselby confirms some detail, especially that Robert (who moved to London) was almost certainly her grandson via her son Robert.
22 Mar 2005 A Lamplough page added - this is to do with an interesting family connected to my own branch of the Goodworths.
01Mar 2005 Info from the 1861 census (London area) added,and some info. from certificates added to various pages.
12 Dec 2004 Lots more Yorkshire info. from the 1871 census added
24 Nov 2004 A Scholey researcher kindly sent me a number of census copies with Goodworths he'd come across - mainly 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871. I also picked up some info from a Scottish marriage entry for Broughton Goodworth. So I've done a number of minor edits, mainly to the Hatfield, My Goodworths, Barnsley and Clayton West.

However, one of the Barnsley census returns seems to confirm the "Barmby" origins of one of the men.

I have also realised what happened to the Elizabeth Goodworth who was married to Robert in London - she appears to have married Joseph Rodgers in 1860.
24 Sep 2004 A few additional details from the US 1900 Census about the James Goodworth/Ma(r)y Mooney family on the US/Pennsylvania page.

Not much additional data for the website recently, but I have had quite a few contacts with US/PA Goodworths and descendants of Frederick and Selina Goodworth (UK/London) this year - thanks to all contributors!
14 Jun 2004 A few updates to the London Goodworths page following a contact from a son of Clifford Goodworth, who has also kindly provided a few photos that you should find here.
04 Apr 2004 A few updates, almost all on the London page following a visit to the London Metropolitan Archives and Westminster Archives. Referring to my 22 Mar 2004 entry below, it turns out that
 a. Robert was born in Hull, and his wife Elizabeth was born in Barnsley. But I still don't know who their parents were. I'm now wondering what happened to Elizabeth after Robert died. Did she move to Barnsley with her children?
 b. There is a little bit more info. concerning the earlier Robert (the carpenter). I am wondering if he is a closer relative than I imagined.
 c.  George (the draper's sales guy) and Mary lived at 41 Long Acre in 1851. I joked as we went out to meet friends in Covent Garden on Friday evening that it would probably turn out to be the same building as the present-day tube station. And it did!
22 Mar 2004 A few updates. The most ineresting from the Goodworth point of view is that Robert (d. London 1853) is now related to George (probably 1785-1858), though unsure exactly how. I should have noticed the address before but his death certificate provides additional info.
23 Oct 2003 First, there's a new photo of Elsie Goodworth (Clayton West) taken in 1810.

The main news is that I visited the Borthwick Institute in York and had a good look at the Bishop's Transcripts for the Hatfield (and to a lesser extent, Thorne) parish registers, and Wills for William (Barnsley), Thomas (Hatfield), and one or two others. Between them clear up a number of mysteries and
 a. (I think) establish John Goodworth and Susan Womock as the ancestors of all the Hatfield/Thorne Goodworths including Charles (a son of John and Susan) and Matthew, who turns out to be the "natural son" of Elizabeth Goodworth (i.e. probably Betty, daughter of George Goodworth, son of Charles Goodworth). The main link still missing is the link to Richard Christopher Goodworth
 b. show that John and Susan also had a son William in 1700, which I am now convinced is the William who married Dorothy Renard in Whitgift and founds the Howden/Goole/Hull lines, and probably the Barnsley lines and one of the London lines

There are still a few mysteries and some loose ends to tie up in Hatfield/Thorne. However, it also makes it very difficult to see how the Leeds Goodworths could possibly link to the Hatfield/Thorne or any of the other UK Goodworths. Perhaps the link will turn up, or perhaps there is no link.
20 Sep 2003 Click here for a page with a short autobiography about Joseph Goodworth BEDFORD, a descendant of one of the Hatfield/Crowle lines.
04 Sep 2003 Click here for photos kindly provided by descendants of one of the Hatfield/West Clayton lines added.
11 Aug 2003 Some tentative additions  to the Hatfield/Thorne page following a contact with a descendant there. Also some corrections to the West Clayton page
01 Aug 2003 Attempted to extend and tidy up the US Goodworths page, but there is still work to do there.
11 Jun 2003 Numerous updates/corrections to the Whitgift page thanks to a lot of information kindly provided by a descendant of Nora Annie Goodworth. More changes to make, though.
28 May 2003 Added a few comments kindly provided by a former resident of Winterton to some of the photos on the  New Pictures page.
25 May 2003 I've uploaded 10 or 20 new images - mainly photos - of RP Goodworth's home (Beech House), family, friends etc. in Winterton, Lincs. around 1895-1904. Please see the new (but possibly temporary) New Pictures page.
06 May 2003 A few more bits filled in on the Barnsley page. Finally confirmed that John Spacey GOODWORTH was the son of William GOODWORTH and his first wife Martha SPACEY
26 Apr 2003 Filled in a lot of info from the 1891 census - just looking for the "GOODWORTH" name at the moment. Unfortunately my web editor hung when I was saving one of the pages and I lost quite a bit of work so will have to fill it in again gradually. Most of the info. simply confirms existing facts but new relatives pop up here and there. Also, for the first time, a Goodworth is recorded as being in prison (George Goodworth, in Wandsworth Prison in London.
06 Apr 2003 Filled in remaining UK bmd data for Births and Marriages 1837-1900
Some more info on the Clayton West lines kindly provided by the descendant of Fred Goodworth.
Made contact with the family of a descendant of Charlie Haycroft GOODWORTH who have provided further info. on that line.
03 Apr 2003 Lots more UK bmd information added now that the (pay-for) http://www.1837online.com site is available. I should have almost all the UK bmd data for people with surname GOODWORTH soon. I doubt if I will pursue bmd data for other surnames unless I have a good lead on the name, year and period involved.
Also, a couple more bits of info. about Elizabeth VENDYBACK kindly provided by another Australian (I think!) contact.
29 Mar 2003 Just rediscovered some items on the IGI and elsewhere which provide further London-Hatfield links.

Thomas Goodworth marries Elizabeth Read in London in 1798. Thomas is a bachelor and Elizabeth is a spinster.
Then two christenings are recorded for parents Thomas Goodworth and Elizabeth:
 in 1799, Richard Christopher Goodworth (who later turns up in Hatfield and consistently states his birthplace as Middlesex)
 in 1802, Anne Mary Goodworth, who is probably the one who dies in London in 1873.
So which Thomas is it? Does he/they have other children, e.g. Robert, Sarah?
10 Mar 2003 Most of (a),(b),(c) and (d) mentioned 08 Mar 2003 now complete. Also, a bit of info. from Elaine (please contact me if you didn't get my e-mail on 4 Feb 2003) concerning Jane Goodworth who married John Epworth.
I am changing the e-mail address connected with this site. Previously I used an address ending @goodworth.org but I am going to switch to my normal address because I get the impression people may be discarding messages from an address they do not recognise. My normal address is pjj@pjjnet.demon.co.uk . If you have e-mailed me (not SPAMMED me) concerning this site and have not received a reply, please contact me using this address because I have almost certainly received your message and almost certainly replied as well.
08 Mar 2003 I'm part way through a large set of updates including:
 a. info and photographs of the Thomas GOODWORTH 1823-1890 Crowle Lincolnshire/Sheffield line, much of the information kindly supplied by Thomas's descendant Ruth E WELD
 b. more info. from UK registration certificates and the West Riding Registry of Deeds. These certs. are to do with a number of different minor mysteries including some of the bmds in Leeds, Thomas GOODWORTH (as above)'s 1st marriage, and others
 c. more photos from my side of the family (more to be done on that)
 d. info from a descendant of Fred Goodworth on the new West Clayton page.

However, some of these updates (and none of the new photos)  won't be finished for a while - especially as each new piece of info. tends to result in a flurry of activity on freebmd, familysearch, etc. etc.,  so please be patient

I have also split out the (West) Clayton page from the Barnsley page. But in any case, at some point it will probably make sense to re-organise all the pages as the current division is more arbitrary than I would like.
15 Feb 2003 Message to my contact in California who's a descendant of Richard M Goodworth: Yes, I did received your package of material, for which thanks very much! - a really interesting read and some great photos. I've tried to e-mail you once or twice but it looks as if my e-mails may not be getting through for some reason., hence this message Anyway, there's a few things to add to the site, which I'll probably do over the next few weeks. I also intend to order one or two of the relevant certificates dated around the mid 1840s.
20 Jan 2003 Mainly US work recently. A lot more detail from the 1900 US census (mainly PA) added, and I've been able to check some of the 1930 and other images. There's a clue that "William E Goodworth" might have been one of the 2 or 3 "Earl Goodworth"s. It looks as if James born 1900 in Pittsburgh was the son of (William?) Henry Goodworth (and Rose) born 1852 Hatfield, England, not the Leeds James/Benjamin families. Still some difficulty on the relationship of Charles and Joseph, and some links to explore where in-laws etc. are listed. Still to be researched (if I can think of anywhere else to look) are several apparently disconnected groups of Goodworths, particularly in New York where we see a Thomas, John and William among others. And what about the Robert (from England) and Jane Goodworth in Utah in 1870?
20 Dec 2002 A lot more US States (all of them?) now indexed for the 1930 Federal census. They show the children of Paul T and Mabel GOODWORTH and a bit more info. on Alexander (down as "Elae", so perhaps I am getting something wrong there). I have the details of these for anyone interested. Elae is listed as being from PA so again I hope the connection will somewhere in one of the earlier census returns. Most, but not all, of the other "Goodworths" listed seem to me to be "Woodworths", "Goodsmiths" or something else.
12 Dec 2002 Took another trip to the Public Record Office (PRO) in Kew on 10 Dec 2002, originally intending to try to find out more about the mariners. But in the end I spent most of the time in the library there as they have a reasonably wide variety of material including directories from all over the country. Found useful info. about the Cutler David Goodworth connecting him to John Goodworth, butcher in Hatfield Woodhouse, and David's grandson Richard. Then spent some time looking at the bmd records. I wish I'd had more time, as their bmd is all on microfiche, and it's an awful lot quicker to locate and read the entries than the microfilm I've had to use elsewhere. This time I was mainly looking at marriages from 1901 to 1919.
07 Dec 2002 Following a contact from one of the Pittsburgh Goodworth descendants, I have finally managed to produce a page listing most of the Goodworths I can find in PA and Ohio. Most of the data has come from US census indexes and the SSDI, and, where possible, online copies of the census returns themselves. It seems that both James and Benjamin from Leeds (and one or two of their children) both lived to ripe old ages (James till the late 1800s, Benjamin till just after 1900), married 2 or 3 times, and had plenty of children. I have more info. from the 1930 census if anyone needs it to make their connection. Thanks to all those who have provided clues that have helped piece this together - sorry if I have left anything out. However, there are still a number of mysteries. I think some may be solved when the 1930 index for Ohio is available, and some when I am able to find the PA families in the 1900 census. But if you can help fill in any of the gaps, particularly on the female lines,  or correct any errors, please let me know.
26 Oct 2002 The LDS has now put records for the US Cenus 1880, UK census (not NI) 1881, and Candian Census 1881 online - see http://www.familysearch.org . A new generation of Canadian Goodworths found - see My Goodworth Lines . One or two interesting items in the 1880 US Census too, but they won't appear until I do the US page I've been aiming to do for about a year...
24 Oct 2002 I went to the Public Records Office (PRO) at Kew in London yesterday, primarily to look at the Merchant marine records. Basically, 5 or 6 Goodworths from the Howden/Goole area are listed and details are mostly on the Whitgift page.  The information on the tickets provides some physical description - the men were quite small compared to today's UK average (one was diminutive) and although it is quite a shock to see "1st went to sea" at age 7, it's difficult to know what is actually meant - were they in effect doing the equivalent of a newspaper round or what?

Although the PRO itself seems well-organised and friendly, these merchant marine records from the 1800s are a mess. In theory I ought to be able to get more info. about some of the ships and voyages made by these men, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to. There may also be apprenticeship records for some of them.

BTW, if you ever visit the PRO, try to leave some time to visit Kew Gardens - if you like wandering around gardens, reserve several hours. My favourite is the little museum there that's got exhibits about all the different types of things plants are used for.
21 Oct 2002 Various guesses (particularly to do with marriages of Goodworth women) from freebmd+the 1881 census index+the 1901 census index. Affects many pages.
17 Oct 2002 Various bits of info from my first West Riding Land Registry visit added, including an interesting snippet about William/Dorothy on the Whitgift page and one about David Goodworth at the bottom of the Hatfield page. More to come, I expect. However, the vast majority of these records date from the 1800s and I won't be posting much of the 1900s info here. More info from the 1901 census and various 1881 census searches also added affecting various pages.
17 Oct 2002 This Site History page created
23 Sep 2002 A bit more info. from the 1901 census added, also affecting many of the pages
30 Aug 2002 Partial info from 1901 England/Wales census, fairly speculative at this stage, more to do. Affects many of the pages on the site.
26 Aug 2002 Special Kirk Bramwith Church photo page: the site is currently hosting some photos taken by Brenda Perkins of the pretty Kirk Bramwith Church in the Hatfield/Thorne area.
03 Aug 2002 Info. from bmd certificates:
bullet Barnsley page: William  GOODWORTH/Mary ?APPLEBY deaths, Robert William GOODWORTH/Jane WATTS marriage, Thomas GOODWORTH/Hannah CHARLESWORTH marriage, the latter resulting in a couple of other changes. Also, some info from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site.
bullet Hatfield page: James GOODWORTH/Ellen PARNELL marriage, Ellen's death, Elizabeth GOODWORTH/Joseph STANLEY marriage, and Thomas GOODWORTH/Elizabeth DAWSON marriage.
bullet London page: deaths of Sarah Paterson GOODWORTH, Ann Mary GOODWORTH, Elizabeth GOODWORTH.
bullet Whitgift page: Betty  GOODWORTH/Thomas WHEATCROFT marriage, Frances GOODWORTH/Charles FEARN marriage, Rebecca GOODWORTH/John BEDFORD marriage.
25 Jul 2002 UK BMD births for most years up to 1881 added, and some other pages updated accordingly (more to do). Thomas Moore GOODWORTH family updated in the My Goodworths 2 page
14 Jun 2002 A bit of info from the 1861 Hatfield census added to the  Hatfield/Thorne page, courtesy of one of the Australian correspondents.
11 Jun 2002 UK BMD index records 1861-1870 added (finally!). Zachariah's a particularly interesting newcomer - where did he spring from?
28 May 2002 Some info from various West Riding of Yorkshire directories.
earlier I forget...

Recent/planned/intended activities:
Oct 2002 Visited the West Yorkshire Archive service in Wakefield primarily to look up the West YorkshireRegistry of Deeds (and there are some Wills there too).
Sep/Oct 2002 Searched 1901 Census online records for Goodworths. Most Goodworth info. now incorporated on these pages, but I haven't yet pursued many of the other names "introduced" by marriage.
Current Continue to search for Goodworths in the UK Registration BMD indexes. However, most of the effort is currently for 20th century entries which generally won't be put on the site. Contact me by e-mail if you have any questions.
Current I have started to try to contact other UK Goodworths by e-mail and letter. There is at least one contact in the US to be made as well.
Dec 2002 One or more US pages. There is now quite a lot of census info online at Ancestry, and their "First World War draft registration cards" is also a valuable resource, but I need to get this data in order. First page now done, perhaps look at some of the non-PA people.
Intended Early Goodworths page. This can currently be little more than a list with some guessed family relationships.
Intended Complete reconstruction of this site using a different structure that links the bmd and other information together, has a better index etc.
Intended I've started exploring a "long-distance" walking/cycling/riding trail here called the Trans-Pennine Trail. On both the Yorkshire and Lancashire sides it, or its branches, seems to go past almost every place inhabited by Goodworth people in Yorks/Lancs in the 18th and 19th centuries. What's more, it passes within 100 yards of my house, so it's easy to reach.
Started Oct 2002 A visit to the PRO (Public Record Office) in London, specifically to look up their records of 19th century mariners. Now started, at least.
Intended Lots of other stuff to be added...

Please let me know here if you have additional info., corrections, counter-arguments, photos, articles/clippings etc. research suggestions, or are able to help with the research in any way. In particular, if anyone can help on the US side, or in the London area (e.g. with 1841/1851 census indexes) please let me know.

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