Thomas Good (1810 - bef 1881)

Birth and Christening

Our limited knowledge of the life of Thomas Good starts with his christening in 1810 at Saint Peters Daniel Street Wesleyan church in Portsea. He was christened at the same time as his brother William and was almost five years old at the time. The christening record has his birth date of November 10, 1810., else we should not likely know it. Not evident here is the fact that he and William were born in Plymouth and the christening indicates that the family moved to Portsea sometime between May of 1812 and August of 1815. It is possible that the time of the move was closer to the latter date as one of the activities a new couple in a community does is to join a church as a way of entering the community. Interestingly, the church joined was the Wesleyan Church. Thomas' parents, Moses and Elizabeth [nee Brown] had been married in the established church but Moses had been christened, and presumably raised in the non-conformist church.

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Marriage to Martha Barnes

IGI

Thomas GOOD
Sex:  M
Marriage(s):
Spouse:  Martha BARNES
Marriage:  24 Aug 1833
Saint Marys, Portsea, Hampshire, England

There is an IGI listing for the christening of a Martha Barnes on 10 April, 1805, the daughter of Charles Barnes. The listing does not include a mother's name. It appears likely that this listing is for the future wife of Thomas. We will see in the 1861 census that his wife Martha was born in Portsea and is 55 years old; the census was taken just before 10 April, so the age and the location match. Given that Martha was married in this church and that there are no other Martha Barnes christenings at this time, it is highly likely that this is the correct entry. I have not seen the original document and can only speculate as to the reason no mother is listed -- perhaps she died in childbirth?

1861 Census

The Thomas Good family was living at 5 Union Street at the time of the 1861 census. An excerpt from the census roles, for the family, appears below:

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Name

Age

Occupation

Where Born

Thomas Good

50

Registry(?) to Town Office

Devon, Plymouth

Martha do.

55

Wife

Hants, Portsea

Sarah do.

22

School Mistress

do.

Martha do.

20

School Mistress

do.

Sophia do. 18 School Mistress do.
Thomas do. 15 Dentist Ap do.

 

Children

A search of the IGI for christenings allows us to list the children of Thomas and Martha. In addition to those shown in the 1861 census there is one more daughter Sarah born in 1834 who presumably died before 1839 when the second Sarah was born. We do not see any christenings for children born between 1834 and 1839. It is quite likely that there were other pregnancies but perhaps no children were born.

Children of Thomas Good and Martha Barnes

Name Date/Place of christening[1] Date/Place of Birth[2] Married to Date of Death Place of Death
Sarah 14 Dec 1834, High Street-Presbyterian Or Unitarian, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England about 1834, Portsea   before 1839 Portsea
Sarah 3 Jan 1841, High Street-Presbyterian Or Unitarian, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England 1839, Portsea Thomas Baker, 15 January 1862, Portsea, St. Marys[1]    
Martha Jemima 3 Jan 1841, High Street-Presbyterian Or Unitarian, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England 1841, Portsea Alfred Pope, 10 Mar 1863, Portsea[1] aft 1881[2]  
Sophia 10 Aug 1845, High Street-Presbyterian Or Unitarian, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England 1843, Portsea unmarried in 1881[2] aft 1881[2]  
Thomas 10 Aug 1845, High Street-Presbyterian Or Unitarian, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England 1846, Portsea Elizabeth ?, 1870[3] June 18, 1901[4] Portsea[4]

Sources:

[1] IGI
[2] 1861 census
[3] FreeBMD
[4] Obituary, Hampshire Telegraph, 22 june 1901

Sarah GOOD
Sex:  F
Event(s):
Christening:  14 Dec 1834
High Street-Presbyterian Or Unitarian, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Parents:
Father:  Thomas GOOD
Mother:  Martha

 

Sarah GOOD
Sex:  F
Event(s):
Christening:  3 Jan 1841
High Street-Presbyterian Or Unitarian, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Parents:
Father:  Thomas GOOD
Mother:  Martha
Martha Jemima GOOD
Sex:  F
Event(s):
Christening:  3 Jan 1841
High Street-Presbyterian Or Unitarian, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Parents:
Father:  Thomas GOOD
Mother:  Martha

 

Sophia GOOD
Sex:  F
Event(s):
Christening:  10 Aug 1845
High Street-Presbyterian Or Unitarian, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Parents:
Father:  Thomas GOOD
Mother:  Martha

 

 
Thomas GOOD
Sex:  M
Event(s):
Christening:  10 Aug 1845
High Street-Presbyterian Or Unitarian, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Parents:
Father:  Thomas GOOD
Mother:  Martha

 

Death

The FreeBMD website lists the death in Portsea, Jan- Mar of 1873, of a Thomas Good, age 62. This is very likely our Thomas Good. The age is correct and our Thomas Good does not appear in the 1881 census. We can fairly safely conclude (to be substantiated by examining the death record) that this entry records his death. The same source gives the death of a Martha Good, aged 68, in the first quarter of 1874. This age is correct for the wife of Thomas and she does not appear in the 1881 census.


ŠKenneth Scott and others

last modified 29 January 2002