John Gould/Gold of Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, has two Nathans claiming to be his son. Can anyone shed light.

Question

John Gold of Bovingdon by his wife's 1650 will had a son Nathan, and a daughter Sarah, who went to New England and had children by 1650. Two men claim to be this son, Nathan Gould of Amesbury d. 1693 and Nathan Gold of Fairfield d. 1694. Both had known children in the 1660s but no known children as early as 1650. Both do not have New England records before 1650.

It's an interesting conundrum, but I've spent way too much time on these persons who are neither PGM or related and have to move on. Perhaps someone knows something already or would like to take on the challenge.

Answer 1

I've done some updating on John Gould's profile - specifically notes on their wills

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gould-262

Who was son-in-law George Young(s)?  Was he spouse of Hannah Gould?

 

Answer 2

Hi Anne B.,

I suspect there are two different Nathan's attached as children because Walter Goodwin Davis identified their son Nathan as the immigrant who was of Amesbury.

Donald Lines Jacobus identified their son Nathan as the immigrant who was of Fairfield.

Thus, we have two real persons, Nathan, each attributed by great genealogists to have been the son of John and Judith ___ Gould.

See

Walter Goodwin Davis, ''The Ancestry of Dudley Wildes, 1759-1820, of Topsfield, Massachusetts.'' (Portland, Me. : Anthoensen Press, 1959). 101-106 (VIII. Gould); digital images, [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89061707337?urlappend=%3Bseq=119 ''Hathi Trust'']; children of II John Gould, p. 102-103.

Donald Lines Jacobus, ''The ancestry of Lorenzo Ackley & his wife Emma Arabella Bosworth'' (Woodstock, Vt. The Elm Tree Press, 1960), 194-195 (Nathan Gould: Fairfield, Connecticut); digital images, [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89062958764?urlappend=%3Bseq=262 ''Hathi Trust''].

Comments

Yes I agree two different men.  I like your analysis "each attributed by great genealogists to have been the son of John and Judith ___ Gould."

Answer 3

Neither of these Nathans is the son of John and Judith Gould of Kings Langley.

Major Nathan Gold of Fairfield seems a particularly poor fit, as several posters have commented on his profile. His name always seems to have been spelled Gold and he's from a completely different part of England. His social rank also seems at odds with the son of a yeoman.

Although the Amesbury Nathan appears a better match there are two very serious difficulties. He deposed that he immigrated in 1652 and yet Judith's will of 1650 refers to children of a Nathan already in America. He also gave his age as 68 in 1682 implying a birth year of around 1614. John and Judith's son Nathan was baptised on 14 December 1623 in Chenies, like several of his siblings. Chenies is just over the border in Buckinghamshire but it's only a few miles from Bovingdon and Kings Langley.

Comments

I am working on adding disputed associations and research notes to the profiles of John and Judith _____ Gould. And will do my best to add a summary from your answer into that material.

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OK good luck with that! The correct birthdate for Nathan has been added to Major Nathan Gold's profile giving it a spurious accuracy but it's just there through circular reasoning. It should be removed too really.

My guess is that Judith was Judith Bigge baptised in 1589 in Abbots Langley. She probably married John c. 1610 and their first child, John, was born in 1611.

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Hi Matthew,

You wrote, "The correct birthdate for Nathan has been added to ...."

I see a birth as 14 December 1623 on Gold-309.

I'm interested in learning why you think this is the correct date for Nathan.  

Thank you in advance.--Gene

P.S. I'm still working on the research notes section of John Gould's profile (Gould-262).

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First name(s)    Nathan
Last name    Gould
Gender    Male
Baptism year    1623
Baptism date    14 Dec 1623
Place    Chenies
County    Buckinghamshire
Country    England
Father's first name(s)    John
Father's last name    Gould
Mother's first name(s)    -
Mother's last name    -
Record set    England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975
Category    Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory    Parish Baptisms
Collections from    England, Great Britain

https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=R_961958309

Chenies is very close to Bovingdon and Kings Langley and several of Nathan's siblings were also baptised there so we can be pretty certain that this is the son of John and Judith.

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Hi Matthew,

Thank you.

Are there not just so very many Goulds'Golds in the surrounding area?

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No, it was quite straightforward to identify the right ones.