EARLY GOWLANDS IN THE

RYE AND ROMNEY MARSH AREA

Written 3rd May 2006 by Neil Gowlland.

[Note by John Gowlland 10th March 2009.  Since Neil wrote this article nearly three years, efforts have continued to find the forebears of our ancestor Joseph Gowlland (born about 1708).  Exhaustive searches have been concentrated on Kent, and a very kind volunteer searched, on our behalf, the parishes to the west and south of Dover, namely Appledore, Burmarsh, Cheriton, Elmstead, Fairfield, Folkstone, Hope, Hythe, Ivychurch, Lydd, Lympne, Mersham, Midley, Monks Horton, New Romney, Newchurch, Old Romney, Postling, St Mary in the Marsh, Saltwood, Sellindge, Snaregate, Snave, Stelling Minnis, Stowting and West Hythe. (The records at Folkestone Library for Breznett and Brookland are in poor condition and some entries are impossible to read. Dymchurch is almost totally illegible).  Absolutely nothing was found.

More in hope than expectation, John Gowlland has spent some time in the Lewes Archives of East Sussex, and more visits are planned.  The intention is to go through the records for variant spellings of Gowland in the Rye area (see map below), sometimes confirming the earlier entries from the I.G.I. and elsewhere, and sometimes supplementing them.  When each parish has been checked, the results are summarised in three tables below, divided into Baptisms, Marriages and Burials.  The Source of the entry is indicated in the right-hand column, as:-         

Where the same event occurs in two or more records, the ESA record has been preferred.

Interestingly, where the records have already been indexed in the Archives, the genealogists responsible have made no distinction between Gowland, Gowlande, Gouland, Goland and Golland, and (in most cases) Goulding, Gowlding, Goldland and Golding. 

There are no two-L Gowllands in these records.  Perhaps this should not surprise us.  After all, in the 1841 census, the majority of entries, even for known two-L Gowllands, spelt the name with only one L; and this variant spelling continued (to a decreasing extent) in later censuses

One final point  -  verification of the records by examining the tombstones is virtually impossible  -  as the photo below shows clearly, any original 18th and 19th century inscriptions have almost certainly disappeared, either by weathering of the stone or by growth of lichen]

This brief article consists of various records of Gowlands and Goulands that I have found using various, identified, sources and which have been supplemented by records from the National Burial Index that Rosemary Milton-Thompson sent me. All are in an area roughly centred on Rye in East Sussex. I have also noticed some Golands and Goldlands, without taking details, in the Romney Marsh area, which is in West Kent on the border with East Sussex. Since I have lived in Geneva for over forty years, my memory of English geography is necessarily limited. I may have included some villages which do not fall within the noticeably dense grouping of Gowlands etc in the East Sussex area and may have excluded others which do.

The purpose of this article is merely to list information in the hope that detailed research will be undertaken at some time. I believe that searches of parish records may reveal further information. 

I also hope that this article can be extended as a data base for early Gowlands and alternative spellings in South-East England. GPG listed a number of villages where Gowlands had been found in an area roughly north of Canterbury (click here). Canterbury itself and also Chilham can be added to that list. 

In any event, if anybody can add to this article, they should contact John Gowlland.  

East Sussex on a present-day map

BECKLEY

St George, Brede - April 2009

BREDE 

BRENZETT (KENT)

 CROWHURST

For a record of this Licence Application to the Archdeaconry of Lewes, click here.

HASTINGS 

ICKLESHAM

14/5/1615 Christening: John, s. of George Gowlande

28/12/1618 Marriage: Richard Foster and Joane Gouland

1/2/1626 Marriage: John Gouland and Anne Purphle, widow

11/8/1701 Christening: Susannah, d. of Saml. and Susannah Gowland

2/4/1704 Christening: Tho., s. Samuell and Susannah Gowland

Source for the above is http://www.parish-thethought.us/ick.doc. This is a transcript of parish registers and details of its history are given at the top of the page.

St Nicholas, Icklesham - April 2009

^** Challen BT.        BT indicates the Bishop's Transcripts.   These were also known as Parish Register Transcripts.  From 1598 an annual return was made to the Bishop of a copy of all entries from the Parish Register for that year to about Easter or Lady Day. Some are less good than the originals and some more so, and it is always recommended that they are checked against the Registers. As they are sometimes copied by a Church Warden they can include more details that the Registers, useful for the family historian.

They were used by Mr W H Challen in preparing summaries of details for numerous East Sussex parishes: frequently he found that these did not agree with the parish records. 

[Ancestry.com has a reference to the will of George Gowland or Gouland proved in 1619].

IDEN

NORTHIAM

Note  -  this variant spelling of "Goldland" appears nowhere else.  In all the 18th and 19th centuries, its only appearance is in burial certificates from around 1700 - 1702 in the family of Thomas Goldland in Clairton, Yorkshire, and in a single census entry for 1861 in Bellerby in Yorkshire for three persons,  a husband, wife and grand-daughter.  Otherwise it is totally unknown.

PEASMARCH

Winchelsea

PLAYDEN

 25/10/1685 Christening: Alice, d. of John and Elizabeth Gouland

23/10/1687 Christening: John, s. of John and Elizabeth Gouland

9/2/1688 Christening: Samuel, s. of John and Elizabeth Gowland (1689 per modern calendar)

Source for all the above is IGI. 

RYE

SEDLESCOMBE

UDIMORE 

St Mary, Udimore - April 2009

Three headstone are in the graveyard at St Mary's, Udimore, as follows:-

No 38    GOLAND

Sacred  /  to the memory of  /  THOMAS GOLAND  /  who died Feb.y 10 1808  /  aged 81 years.

No 39    GOLAND       

Beneath are deposited  / the remains of  /  WILLIAM SKINNER  /  late of Brede who died  /  12th December 1708  /  aged .. years  /  Also ELIZABETH his wife  /  who died ... (Note! register gives Elizabeth wife Thos. GOLAND b. 17 Jul 1787) JOHN WILHET / relict of  ... / she died 21st July 1787  /  aged .. years.

No 60    GOLAND

Sacred  /  to the memory of  /  THOMAS GOLAND  /  who died Sept.r 17 1843  /  aged 70 years  /  Also of  /  MARY GOLAND his wife  /  who died March 13th 1851  /  aged 80 years.

.

WINCHELSEA

NOTICED IN PASSING       [Note by JGG - where found in the I G I these have been included above: where other entries are later found in the East Sussex Archives, they will be added].

Golands in Brenzett, Crowhurst, Hastings, Peasmarsh and Rye,  Goldlands in Crowhurst, Newenden and Pett, and Goulder in West Malling.

Neil Gowlland, May 2006

MAP

For a map showing the parishes of Sussex, click here.   Note that the whole of Sussex is covered.  However, by clicking on the right-hand side you can enlarge the area of "The Gowlland Connection".

17th CENTURY CONVEYANCE

Relating to the same general area as the above, we have obtained a conveyance of 1663 from the East Sussex Archives in Lewes, one of the witnesses being Robert Goulland [sic].

The general description of the document is as follows:

FILE - Conveyance for £126 - ref. AMS 1565  - date: 13 Apr 1663

For the complete final page, click here; and for the detailed list of witness, click here. 

Note that Robert was illiterate, signing with his mark; and thus the spelling of the surname may be correct or not.

Note on East Sussex Marriage Licences

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