The Goultys

The Norfolk Goultys joined my family tree when Harriett Goulty married Edward Stolliday – my 2nd great-grandparents. Born in the village of Salhouse in 1848, she married him in 1872.

It’s a rare surname – one of the strangest in my family tree – and there’s no agreement on where it came from. Scottish history shows that it was used by the Strathclyde-Briton people around Edinburgh from the early Middle Ages, apparently derived from the Old English personal name Gold. Other records claim Goulty was a baptismal name – ‘the son of Walter’ – and was introduced into England in the reign of Edward the Confessor, the name apparently meaning ‘mighty army’. The name is also spelt Gaultier, Gaulty, Waultier and Walter but further back in my tree it is often Goughty, Gowty and so on.

Harriet Goulty
My 2nd great-grandmother.

For details of her life, see the entry for Harriet Goulty and Edward Stolliday.

James Goulty (1814-1898) and Mary Pilgrim (1812-1867).
My 3rd great-grandparents.

Most of my ancestors were members of the established church but the Goulty family of the early 19th century veered into nonconformity.

James Goulty, my 3rd great-grandfather, was born on 15 December 1814 and named at the Particular Baptist Church in Salhouse, Norfolk, a village about six miles north-east of Norwich. His parents were Charles Goulty and Rebecca Lock. James’ census returns put his place of birth as Woodbastwick, which is just down the road from the chapel. Several of his younger siblings were named there too but his older brothers and sisters were not, as the Particular Baptists didn’t set up their congregation in Salhouse until 1801. Known in the Domesday Book as Bastwic, meaning Bastwick Wood, Woodbastwick is one of the largest parishes in the area.

In the 1841 census, James, who worked as a carpenter throughout his life, was living with Rebecca Goulty who, at the age of 60, must’ve been his mother, and Charlotte, 20, who was likely his sister. Their address was Lower Street, Salhouse. A year later, on 25 December 1842, James married Mary Pilgrim at St John de Sepulchre Church in Norwich. She’d been born illegitimately in 1811 in Old Buckenham, Norfolk, to local woman Elizabeth Pilgrim. James and Mary’s address was given as Ber Street, Norwich.

Mary used the names Mary Ann, Ann and Anne as an adult. The 1851 census listed the family back in Lower Street, Salhouse, while the 1861 record listed Mary there with children Charles and Harriet. James is missing. It’s likely she was the Anne Goulty, aged 56, who was buried in Salhouse on 14 April 1867, for James married Anna Minter, who was born in 1843 in the Suffolk village of Eyke, in 1874. At the time of the 1881 census, he was living with his new wife and their four-year-old daughter Amelia Lydia Goulty in St John’s Road, Lowestoft. He was still there and billed as a carpenter in 1891. The Lowestoft Journal of 25 June 1887 featured a notice in which the freeholder was planning the sale of James’s residence and a neighbour’s at 57 and 58 St John’s Road, the ad describing them as comfortable, convenient and white brick-fronted.

James died in 1898 and was buried in Lowestoft on 25 March 1898. His second wife died in 1920.

James and Mary Ann had at least seven children but most died young:

Charles Goulty (1842-1882), my 2nd great-grand uncle. He became a postman and made various visits to the law courts.
Harriet Goulty (1844-1846), my 2nd great-grand aunt. She was born on 21 August 1844 in Salhouse, Norfolk, and died as an infant on 21 September 1846. A death certificate held by Norfolk Family History says she died of whooping cough.
Ann Goulty (1846-1927), my 2nd great-grand aunt. Ann was born in 1846 and baptised on 7 June that year at All Saints’ Church in Salhouse, Norfolk. Before marrying she worked as an under-nurse at the home of Alfred Chamberlain, a farmer of Foulsham House in the Norfolk Broads town of Wroxham, and she’s recorded there in the 1861 census. She married Salhouse-born widower James Jermy (sometimes written Germany) on 17 February 1869 and together they raised a family in the village, living there for most if not all of their married life. All subsequent census records bill him as an agricultural labourer or a horseman on a farm. James was buried in Salhouse on 27 May 1914 while Ann died in 1927. A daughter Harriet Jermy was listed on the 1871 census, and I suspect this was a girl James had with his first wife as she was aged four years. Ann had at least five children with her husband:
- James Jermy was born in 1869 and was still single at the 1911 census, when he was living with his parents and listed as a farm labourer. He is likely the man whose death was registered in Norwich in 1926.
- Sarah Jermy (c1873-1885).
- Charles Jermy was born in 1876 and served in the Royal Navy from about 1892-1898. The 1901 census placed him back at home with his parents in Salhouse and working as an agricultural labourer. He married widow Caroline Roberts in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, in 1907, and raised a family there and in Cleethorpes. The 1921 census showed him there as an unemployed coal heaver. He died in 1923, Caroline in 1948.
- George Jermy was born in 1879 and also served in the Royal Navy, from 1894-1899. He died of capillary bronchitis while at the Naval Gunnery School infirmary at Sheerness in Kent but it also notes that he had had most of the fourth finger on his left hand amputated.
- Emma Jermy, who was born in 1880, married Wymondham-born bricklayer Robert Betts in 1902. They raised a family and lived in Norwich but during the First World War he served with the Royal Defence Corps, a home defence service particularly suited to men not fit for front line duty. Emma died in 1939, Robert in 1956.
Harriet Goulty (1848-1936), my 2nd great-grandmother who married into the Stolliday family.
Richard Goulty (1851-1851), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Born in 1851, he died aged 11 weeks on 28 September that year and was buried in Salhouse. The notes on the death certificate suggest he had thrush.
Richard Goulty (1853-1855), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Richard was born in 1853 and baptised on 5 June that year in Salhouse. He died on 26 January 1855 and a note from his death certificate states that the cause was “from natural causes and not from any injury, neglect or improper treatment”.
Richard Goulty (1855-1857), my 2nd great-grand uncle. He was the couple’s third son by this name and also died young. He was born on 20 September 1855 and died on 28 June 1857 after suffering a haemorrhage, according to the death certificate.

Charles Goulty (1771-1840) and Rebecca Lock (1779-1861).
My 4th great-grandparents.

I’m not 100% certain about where my 4th great-grandfather came from but on balance of probability I believe the Charles Goughty baptised in Frettenham, Norfolk, on 20 January 1771 is our man. His parents were Charles Goughty and Elizabeth Quantrel (see below). The Goulty surname saw so many spelling variations over the years that it’s more than reasonable to suggest that Goughty is just another. In the surviving records, Charles’s surname is spelled in a wide variety of ways.

Charles married Rebecca (or Rebekah) Lock on 17 May 1796 at St Fabian and St Sebastian Church in Woodbastwick, Norfolk. Sarah Gowly was a witness. Rebecca, whose parents were Stephen Lock and Lydia Gladding, had been baptised in the church on 15 April 1779.

The couple had at least 11 children. Some were named at the nearby Particular Baptist chapel in Salhouse, which opened in 1801/2 during a period of growth in nonconformist belief across the country. Colin McCormick in The Book of Salhouse and Woodbastwick, published in 2016, writes that a number of families gathered together to form the church. It was ‘particular’ in that followers believed that Christ had died only for the Elect rather than for everyone. Most of the trustees of the chapel were tradesmen or the unskilled and initially, until about 1828, baptisms were carried out in the river at Wroxham. Whether the Goultys switched to baptism because they had genuine nonconformist beliefs, perhaps driven in part by the social and economic conditions of the time, or had just fallen out with the local rector is unknown but the latter was sometimes a reason why people converted. Interestingly, their last child was baptised back in the parish church.

Charles Snr was a farm labourer and gardener. He died on 11 October 1840 at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and, according to the death certificate held by the Norfolk Family History Society, had been suffering from a diseased bladder. Rebecca was living in Lower Street, Salhouse, with carpenter James and Charlotte at the time of the 1841 census, and then as a pauper in Mill Hill, Salhouse, in 1851. She died aged 87 on 4 March 1861, with notes on her death certificate held by the Norfolk Family History Society noting that she was suffering from jaundice. Her headstone is in the old churchyard in Salhouse, with her name spelt the biblical way – Rebekah.

The couple’s known children:

Rebecca Goulty (1797-1843), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Rebecca was baptised on 5 August 1797 at St Fabian & St Sebastian Church in Woodbastwick. She married David Dixon Neeve on 25 January 1826 in St Marylebone, London, but why there is a mystery as he is most likely the boy born on 16 July 1803 in Norwich, Norfolk, and baptised there three days later. Perhaps they were there working as servants? Westminster Rate Books for 1830 show him living in Wyndham Street in Marylebone. Rebecca Neeve is shown in similar rate books for 1841 living in Grove Place, occupying a property owned by a Richard Wilson. But in that case, where was David? He turns up in the 1841 census living with a woman called Mary Ann Pim and a 15-year-old son named Charles Goulty Neeve in Queen’s Terrace, Poulton, Lancashire. He was working as a postmaster, but it’s unclear whether Mary Ann was his wife, a partner or a servant of some kind. Other records at this time suggest he was a builder and membership records of the Fylde Union Freemasons Lodge list him as an architect. He died in 1848, the Preston Chronicle of 12 February describing him as a builder and postmaster. Rebecca died in March 1843 and was buried at All Souls, Kensal Green, London. So what was the story? It would’ve been difficult for couples to divorce in the early 19th century, although there were ways, but I’ve found no records to suggest that they did. It may be instead that David and Rebecca separated, and David moved away to start a new life.
- Charles Goulty Neeve was born in around 1826. Census records suggest in Norwich but I have found no records to prove it. He married Sarah Conder in Staffordshire, had children, worked as a clerk and emigrated to Ontario in Canada. She died there in 1895, Charles in 1908.
Eliza Goulty (1799-1822), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Baptised on 3 October 1799 at St Fabian & St Sebastian Church in Woodbastwick, I suspect she was the 22-year-old Elizabeth Goulty who died in the village in 1822.
Richard Goulty (1801-????), my 3rd great-grand uncle. He was my 4th great uncle and was transported to Australia for seven years for committing bigamy.
Henry Goulty (1804-1876), my 3rd great-grand uncle. He emigrated to the United States of America.
Charlotte Goulty (1806-????), my 3rd great-grand aunt. She was baptised at St Fabian & St Sebastian Church in Woodbastwick on 29 June 1806. A later child was also christened Charlotte, so she must’ve died young.
Sophia Goulty (1811-1895), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Sophia was born in Woodbastwick on 3 January 1811 and named at at the Particular Baptist Church in Salhouse. She was living in Marylebone, London, in 1841 but married Emerson Manbey (aka Tidy) in Leeds, Yorkshire, in 1842. At this point he was a farmer. They later lived in Heigham, Norfolk. He died in 1873, Sophia in Lowestoft, Suffolk, in 1895.
Harriet Goulty (1812-????), my 3rd great-grand aunt. She was born on 29 November 1812 and named at at the Particular Baptist Church in Salhouse, Norfolk. Again, I’ve been unable to find further details I’m 100% confident about other than her acting as a witness at her sister Charlotte’s wedding in 1843. However, a Harriet Golty crops up in the 1841 census in Marylebone, London, like her sister Sophia. The name crops up in the 1851 census, with a Harriet Goulty working as a cook at the rectory in Little Munden, Hertfordshire, although this woman’s age is given as 30. This could be our Harriet though, assuming the age is an error, as her birthplace was given as Woodbastwick. I can’t place her after this.
James Goulty (1814–1898), my 3rd great-grandfather. He worked as a carpenter. See entry above.
Charlotte Goulty (1818–1860), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Charlottewas born on 18 March 1818 and named at the Particular Baptist Church in Salhouse. She grew up with the family and the 1841 census shows her living at home in Salhouse with her parents. On 23 July 1843 she married labourer Edmund Druce at St James’s Church, Paddington, West London, although how she met him is unknown. Perhaps she had a job as a servant that took her to the capital and she met him there? Her sister Harriet was a witness to the ceremony, signing her name Harriet Lock Goulty. Edmund was born in the village of Fingest in Buckinghamshire in 1800 and after living in the London area for a while he ended up back in the county with his family. However, things did not go well for them for the 1851 census lists them in the Eton Union Central Workhouse in Upton Cum Chalvey, both listed as paupers and farm labourers. They were with their two children, George and Emerson. Charlotte died in 1860 and was buried in Upton Cum Chalvey on 19 May 1860. Edmund crops up at the workhouse again in the 1861 census and lived on until 1865. He was buried on 7 January that year in Upton cum Chalvey.
Matilda Goulty (1821–????), my 3rd great-grand aunt was born on 23 June 1821 and named at at the Particular Baptist Church in Salhouse but after this her trail runs cold.
Charles Goulty (1823-1823), my 3rd great-granduncle was baptised on 25 March 1823 at St Fabian & St Sebastian Church in Woodbastwick and buried there on 4 April 1823.

Charles Goulty / Goughty (1732-1793) and Elizabeth Quantrel (1742-1796).
My 5th great-grandparents.

Charles’ origins are not entirely clear but on balance of probability I think he was from the village of Acle in Norfolk. A Charles Goughty was born to parents Thomas Goughty and Elizabeth Read (see below) on 7 October 1732 and baptised there on 5 November at St Edmund’s Church.

An alternative is the Charles Golty born to Henry and Mary in East Carleton, Norfolk, and baptised in 1728. While his age is a better match on death, East Carleton is the other side of Norwich to the place where he married. The lack of a child named Henry among his offspring but the presence of both a Thomas and Elizabeth is also notable at a time when names were repeated down the generations.

Charles married Elizabeth Quantrel in the village church of All Saints in Horstead, Norfolk, on 18 May 1763. He was living in the nearby village of Frettenham at the time, described also as a single man. She was from Horstead but where she was born is less clear. She’s most likely the Elizabeth Quaintrel born to John and Mary in 1742 and baptised on 27 August that year at St Bartholomew’s in Sloley, Norfolk. This was just a mile or two away and this would match her age at burial.

Charles and Elizabeth lived the rest of their lives in Frettenham and brought up a large family there, although it’s unclear from the records what he did for a living. The Frettenham records are also badly worn in places so I may have missed some of their children.

Charles died in 1793 and was buried in Frettenham on 7 August. The record suggests he was 66 or 68 but I suspect this was an error. Elizabeth died in 1796 and was buried on 9 November.

Their children included:

Elizabeth Goulty / Goughty (1766-1767), my 4th great-grand aunt. The records are very faded but it looks like daughter Elizabeth died as a baby.
Ann Goulty / Goughty (1769-1772), my 4th great-grand aunt. Ann was born in 1769 and baptised at St Swithin’s Church in Frettenham on 17 September that year. She died in 1772 and was buried there on 3 March.
Charles Goulty / Goughty (1771-1840), my 4th great-grandfather. He raised a family in the Norfolk village of Woodbastwick. See elsewhere.
Mary Goulty / Goughty (1772-????), my 4th great-grand aunt. Mary was born in 1772 and baptised at St Swithin’s Church in Frettenham on 30 July that year. She next appears at the baptism of her illegitimate son John in the village in 1797 (he died soon after). I’ve not found any record of her after this.
Ann Goulty / Goughty (1776-1776), my 4th great-grand aunt. Ann was born in 1776 and baptised at St Swithin’s Church in Frettenham in September that year. She died a few months later and was buried on 8 December.
Thomas Goulty / Goughty (1778-1857), my 4th great-grand uncle. He worked as an agricultural labourer as well as a publican.
John Goulty / Goughty (1780-????), my 4th great-grand uncle. John was born in 1780 and baptised at St Swithin’s Church in Frettenham on 30 July that year. I’ve not been able to trace him after this.
Lydia Goulty / Goughty (1782-1787), my 4th great-grand aunt. Lydia was born in 1782 and baptised at St Swithin’s Church in Frettenham on 3 March that year. She was buried there on 16 January 1787.

Note: I am not confident that the couple below are the correct ancestors but I’m leaving them here for now until I can do further research.

Thomas Goulty (1690-1737) and Elizabeth Cook (1697-1736).
My 6th great-grandparents.

Thomas Goulty was born in 1690 and baptised on 15 January at St Mary’s Church in East Carleton, Norfolk. This would’ve been 1691 under the modern approach to starting a year on 1 January. His parents were Charles Goughty and Elizabeth.

There’s always a degree of conjecture surrounding families this far back but I suspect this Thomas married Elizabeth Reed, a widow, at St Edmund’s Church in Acle, Norfolk, on 18 October 1724. Thomas was a single man, making him fairly old to marry at this point in time. Acle – once an important Roman fort, host to a busy market and close to the Norfolk Broads – is also getting on for 20 miles from East Carleton.

His wife was born Elizabeth Cook, and she may well be the girl who was baptised on 11 May 1697 in Halvergate and Tunstall just a short distance from Acle. She married Edward Reed in Acle on 18 October 1716 but he died in April 1723 and was buried at St Edmund’s on 30 April. They had three children together – Sarah in 1717, George in 1718 and Michael in 1722.

Elizabeth had more children in Acle after marrying Thomas in 1724 but she died in 1736 and was buried in the village on 26 February, described as the wife of Thomas. He remarried at St Edmund’s on 26 September 1737, his new bride being widow Elizabeth Sutton. However, he died just a few weeks later and was buried in Acle on 13 October. Elizabeth remarried in 1740.

Thomas’s children with his first wife were:

Elizabeth Goughty (1725-1725), my 5th great-grand aunt. Elizabeth was baptised at St Edmund’s in Acle on 16 May and was buried on 22 October.
Thomas Goughty (1726-1742), my 5th great-grand uncle. Thomas was born on 30 June 1726 and baptised at St Edmund’s in Acle on 3 July. Lack of alternative candidates suggest he was buried in Acle on 20 May 1742.
Amy Goughty (1729-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Amy was born on 9 September 1729 and baptised at St Edmund’s in Acle on 12 October. I’ve not been able to locate any other records.
Charles Goughty (1732-1793), my 5th great-grandfather. Charles lived and worked in Frettenham, Norfolk, for many years. See above.
Elizabeth Goughty (1734-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Elizabeth was baptised at St Edmund’s in Acle on 6 April 1734 but I’ve not found records that I can easily link to her.

Sources: BMDs, census and other records at Ancestry.co.uk, Familysearch.co.uk and Findmypast.co.uk. Colin McCormick – The Book of Salhouse and Woodbastwick, published in 2016. British Newspaper Archive, titles noted in text. Records at Norfolk Family History Society