I've posted information about several mentions regarding the possible Quaker origins of the Gauldin/Gaulding family on my page about John "of New Kent" Gaulding and his wife Anne. (1)
Dr. Charles H. Gaulden, a descendant of John Gaulding’s son Matthew wrote in his book The Gaulden, Gauldin, Gaulding Family History; a Seven Hundred Year Study, Volume 1 "Another interesting note comes from a record in Gloucester, England, Westbury-on-Sevren (CO 32752-6397) listing a John and Ann Goldinge/Goldinge having a son John, born 2-17-1688. Could this be the same John and Anne of New Kent with a son John II?" (2)
Recently Mags Gaulden was kind enough to forward a copy of Laura Gaulden's 1929 History of the Gaulden Family, a copy of which I've been looking for for some time. Dr. Gaulden said in his book that Laura Gaulden was amazingly accurate with most of her family traditions and he was able to confirm several of them with court records. She wrote that the family was from England, were Quakers and first arrived in Chester County, Pennsylvania before moving to Virginia.
Most of what she wrote about related to her own family line and not my own, but nevertheless she wrote on page 1:
“According to one tradition, probably true, the Gaulden or Gauldine, were of English or Welsh nationality and in religion were Quakers. They came to America a number of years before the Revolutionary War locating probably in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the same section from which came the B---ned and Lincolns and removing later to Virginia in that part which was erected in 1753 into Prince Edward County.
Another tradition preserved by Miss Fannie Gaulden of Jackson, Mississippi is that they were Huguenots who fled from France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes 1685 --that there were five brothers who for political reasons changed their name to Gaulden on their arrival in America. Miss Fannie Gaulden's line of Jesse Gaulden stated in 1916 in her old age, that her father said the name was changed and in early life frequently heard the original but had forgotten it. Color is given this tradition of the five brothers by the fact that there was some years before the Revolution a considerable colony of Gaulden's in Prince Edward County. There is also a mountain called "Gaulden Mountain", indicating that they were early settlers, before names were fixed." (3)
If her manuscript were ever in the DAR Library in Washington, it isn’t there anymore.
In 1668 at Westbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire a Quaker community was established. (4)
Westbury or Forest Monthly Meeting Westbury on Severn Society of Friends Formed: 1668
As has been said before, in 1603 there were said to be forty recusant Puritans including Joseph Baynham at Westbury. There was a Quaker meeting in the parish by 1670, and most of the twelve nonconformists recorded in 1676 presumably belonged to it. The Quakers registered a meeting-house at Elton in 1690, and acquired a burial ground there in 1724. (5)
Joseph Baynham was a notable figure in the Quaker community of Westbury-on-Severn
Information about the family of Joseph Baynham of Westbery is given on the The Visitation of Gloucestershire, available on the Internet Archive. (6)
I knew that Katherine, the fifth daughter of Sir Thomas Blennerhasset of Barham had married John Gosnold of Shryblonge in County Suffolk because of the mention in the 1554 will of John Gosnold. The footnote on page 97 of Gleanings from English Archives (Gleanings from English Archives, p. 97) reads: "Margaret, fourth daughter of Sir Thomas Blennerhasset by his second wife Margaret Braham and sister of KATHERINE, wife of the testator, married first John Spillman, judge and second John Eyre of Bury St. Edmunds. John Blennerhasset was the eldest son and heir of Sir Thomas (Blenerhassett)."
The Blennerhasset line and their connection by marriage to the Gosnold Family of Otley and the Golding family
Anne Blennerhasset who married Wiliam Bynham of Westbury was the daughter of Ralph “Raffe” Blennerhasset of Princethorpe. Their son was Joseph Baynham of Westbery, a non-conformist of Westbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire. Her father Raffe was the brother of Thomas Blennerhasset (1477-1531) who married Margaret Braham. Their daughter was Katherine Blennerhasset, born abt 1520. Katherine Blennerhasset married John "of Shryblond" Gosnold as her first husband and then Anthony "of Sibton" Wingfield. This same John Gosnold was the brother of Joane Gosnold who was married to John "of Belchamp" Golding and also to Katherine Gosnold who was married to Thomas "of Poslingford" Golding.
Perhaps it is just a coincidence that a John and Ann Goldinge/Goldinge are recorded as having a son John, born 2-17-1688 in Westbury-on-Severn and that Laura Gaulden reported that the family were originally Quakers. Perhaps there is still no connection between the Gaulding family of Virginia, descendants of John Gaulding and Anne and those lines in England, but it is a compelling and interesting connection, especially considering that Joseph Baynham was a key figure in the establishment of the Quaker community in Westbury-on-Severn.
Works Cited
1. Gauldin, Catherine L. John "of New Kent" Gaulding and his wife Anne. Gaulding Origins. [Online] https://www.gauldingorigins.com/john-and-anne-galding-of-new-kent.
2. Gaulden, Dr. Charles H. The Gaulden, Gauldin, Gaulding Family History: A Seven Hundred Year Study. s.l. : Self Published, Vol. I.
3. Bailey, Laura Gaulden. History of the Gaulden Family. 1929.
4. Westbury-on-Severn: Non-Corformity. British History Online. [Online] https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol10/p101 .
5. Quakers in Gloucestershire and Other Possible Ties with New Kent County, Virginia. Vikings and Virginians. [Online] https://vikingsandvirginians.com/2015/03/07/quakers-in-gloucestershire-and-other-possible-ties-with-new-kent-county-va/.
6. The Visitation of the County of Gloucester, 1623. The Internet Archive. [Online] https://archive.org/details/visitationofcoun00inchit/page/14/mode/2up.
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