5:6 - New England Connections
Rev. Thomas Goulding of Dorchester, Massachusetts
On pages 17-18 of his book The Gaulden, Gauldin, Gaulding Family History: A Seven Hundred Year Study, Volume I Dr. Gaulden writes:
“Dr. Sherburne Anderson, a descendant of Zachariah Gaulden has also done extensive research on the Gaulden and Goulding family. He is convinced that he first Gaulden to come to America was Rev. Thomas Goulding in 1630, who came from Dorchester, England in the great migration of more than 1000 Puritans who helped establish Dorchester, Massachusetts. Dorchester preceded Boston as a town. In 1633 the settlers organized the first township form of government in New England.”
I have neither confirmed nor discarded the information about Rev. Thomas Goulding/Golding of Dorchester, England whom he says Dr. Sherbourne Anderson said was the original immigrant to America. He is said to have come during the Great Migration of people who fled England in search of a better life during the early to mid 1600’s. Robert Charles Anderson's The Great Migration Begins is a comprehensive database of the biographies of the men and women who made the voyage to America during the Great Migration period. There are four entries for “Goulding” to New England.
All New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635 results for Goulding. Changing the spelling to “Golding” yields the same four results.
William Goulding https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/14329:2496?_phsrc=xjf4608&_phstart=successSource&gsln=Goulding&ml_rpos=1&queryId=c356922282834c004271e302bf359515
Thomas Goulding https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/27382:2496?_phsrc=xjf4609&_phstart=successSource&gsln=Goulding&ml_rpos=2&queryId=c356922282834c004271e302bf359515
Prentice Goulding https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/27381:2496?_phsrc=xjf4610&_phstart=successSource&gsln=Goulding&ml_rpos=3&queryId=c356922282834c004271e302bf359515
John Goldin https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/35473:2496?_phsrc=xjf4611&_phstart=successSource&gsln=Goulding&ml_rpos=4&queryId=c356922282834c004271e302bf359515
I have seen multiple instances where people have cited a man named Rev. Thomas Goulding of Dorchester as the father of Captain Peter Goulding of Sudbury and Major Roger Goulding, who was of Rhode Island and served with distinction during King Philip's War. There is no direct documentation to support that claim, but then again, there's nothing to discount the supposition either. He doesn't exist in the New England records and there is no entry for him in books about the Great Migration. That does not mean he didn't come over from Dorchester, England to Dorchester, Massachusetts; it just means that I have as yet found no record of his existence in New England and there are simply too many men named Thomas Goulding or Golding living in England at the time of his supposed birth to make any definitive statement about what line of the Goulding family he originated from. So please ignore family trees on ancestry that list Rev. Thomas Goulding as the father of John "of New Kent" Gaulding because there's no evidence to indicate that he was.
Please refer to my page on Gaulding Origins called 5:1 New England Connections Thomas Goulding, Clerk of the Bishop of Norwich and Peter Goulding. Peter Goulding of Sudbury most certainly existed, and in multiple resources he is said to have been a direct descendant of Thomas Goulding (or Golding), Clerk to the Bishop of Norwich. That, I believe, may mean that he was related to the Suffolk line of the Golding Family. They are very well documented. My other theory about who Thomas "Great Migration" Goulding of Dorchester might be, if he existed, is that he is the "Goldinge" called out in the will of Roger Harlarkenden, or at the very least a relative. Also mentioned in that will was Thomas Prentice. Both Harlakenden and Thomas Prentice served in Cromwell's army during the English Civil War. In conclusion, I have my suspicions regarding who Rev. Thomas "Great Migration" was, and I also know who he was not. He was not the same man named Thomas Goulding who arrived in Jamestown on the ship "George", servant to Ellis Emerson.