William Godfrey (1835 - 1897)

Born 1835 in Barkway, Hertfordshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Annie Riley (Read) Godfrey — married 1857 in Bathurst, NSW

Descendants

Died 30 Nov 1897 at about age 62 in Wattle Flat near Bathurst, NSW

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Graeme Rose [send private message]

Biography

William was born about 1835. He was the son of William Godfrey and Martha Hart. He passed away in 1897.

1854 William travelled to Australia on the "Plantagenet" to join Joseph who was already in Bathurst.

Keloshiel & Saltram were properties at Eglinton north of Bathurst. In 1859 "Keloshiel" was divided into 8 leaseholds. At 1872 Census John Godfrey held one of these, while brother William held one of 12 leases over "Saltram".^[1]

• Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal NSW Sat 19 Mar 1892 Page 2 Determined Attempt at Suicide

WILLIAM GODFREY BEFORE THE COURT. Last night Mr. William Godfrey, a farmer living at Eglinton, while a Moore's Hotel, in William-street, attempted to commit suicide, and but from the prompt action of Mr. Moore, would have killed himself. Mr. Godfrey some time ago went to Dubbo, taking a valuable team of. horses with him. He went in search of work for his team, and was engaged in drawing sleepers for the railway contractors. After staying there for a time he found that he was not succeeding and accordingly returned home about a fortnight ago. When he returned his horses were not nearly in as good condition as they were when he left, and the hard work in which he had been engaged had told upon him. He was dejected and in low spirits, although he did not complain of suffering from any particular disease. Daring the fortnight he has visited the town several times, and for the past few days has remained in Bathurst, taking up his quarters at Moore's hotel. On Thursday he was out in the town for a little while, and returned to the hotel about dusk, when he had tea. Dunne- tho evening he appeared in better spirits than he bad been, and apparently enjoyed the company of his sons and some other men who were there. Yesterday he was even more depressed than usual and was constantly walking about the yard. Because of the illness of which he complained those at the hotel did not notice anything suspicious about him. At night when tea was called he declined to take any, and went to his room. He was seen about the house after wards. About 8 o'clock some travellers arrived, and as tea was prepared for them Mr. Moore went to his room. It was almost dark, and as he entered the room he struck a match and asked Godfrey how he was, telling him his reason for disturbing him. Mr. Moore was horrified to see blood on both Godfrey's hands, and thinking; that he had accidentally cut his hand, asked him about it. He soon, however, saw what had been done, and his eye then fell upon a pocket knife lying; almost hidden under the blankets and covered with blood. Godfrey was sitting on the side of the bed and blood was flowing freely from a terrible gash in his throat. In response to Moore's enquiry as to what ho had done he replied ' I have done it and I wish you had stayed away a little longer and I would have finished it.' Moore at once seized the knife, fearing that Godfrey would renew the attack, and at once ran out to give the alarm. He saw Constable Minton pausing at the door, and at once took him in. Messengers were also lent to Dr. Spencer and Sergeant Morris, and these arrived soon after. Dr. Spencer examined Godfrey and found that his throat was cut, the wound being about three inches long by two deep. He dressed the wound, and arrangements were immediately made by tho police for his removal to the hospital. He was placed in a ward and a constable left in charge. From what Godfrey said to the police, and others it would seem that he has suffered losses at Dubbo and this has been preying on his mind. Upon enquiry this morning we learn that Godfrey was no worse. The doctor thinks that the injury will not prove serious.

• National Advocate, Bathurst. 1st December, 1897

Death of William Godfrey. Death at Eglinton. Yesterday the interment of the remains of a well-known resident of Eglinton, Mr William Godfrey, took place and the funeral was the largest attended. The late Mr Godfrey is a member of a highly respected family whose name has long been associated with the leading farmers of the district. The deceased gentleman has not been in good health for some time past but he had been through life a man of most robust constitution. He leaves a much respected widow and family of grown up sons and daughters.

Sources

1. ↑ Entered by Graeme Rose, Saturday, August 24, 2013.

• Bathurst Pioneer Register

• 1851 England Census about Wm Godfrey, Name: Wm Godfrey, Age: 16, Estimated Birth Year: abt 1835, Relation: Son, Father's Name: Wm Godfrey, Gender: M (Male), Where born: Barkway, Hertfordshire, England, Civil Parish: Barkway, Town: Barkway, County/Island: Hertfordshire, Country: England

• Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950 about William Godfrey, Name: William Godfrey, Spouse Name: Annie Read, Marriage Date: 1857, Marriage Place: New South Wales, Registration Place: Bathurst, New South Wales, Registration Year: 1857, Registration number: 1400, The minister's name was Graham M Fox and the witnesses were Elizabeth Read and Stephen Kingshott

• Australia Death Index, 1787-1985 about William Godfrey, Name: William Godfrey, Death Date: 1897, Death Place: New South Wales, Father's Name: William, Mother's Name: Martha, Registration Year: 1897, Registration Place: Wattle Flat, New South Wales, Registration number: 14060

• New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896 about William Godfrey, Name: William Godfrey, Birth Year: abt 1835, Age: 19, Arrival Date: 31 Jul 1854, Vessel Name: Plantagenet, Origin Location: Barkway, Hertfordshire, England (Joseph Simper Dunford and the two Cubis families were also on board).

Footnotes

• DNA!!!!!!!! In 2014 using Family Tree DNA’s Family Finder autosomal DNA test between two known GGGGrandchildren of William Godfrey (1832–1897) & Annie Riley Read (1839–1929). Significant matches (55.87cm 2nd Cousin - 4th Cousin) were found on Chromosome 9. Entered by Mark Fletcher in 2014

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Graeme Rose for creating Godfrey-1409 on 24 Aug 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Graeme and others.