Godley

[Yodleg]

I'm looking for Richard Godley who married Anna Linderman in Kings, California about 1898. He is present in the US census from 1900 to 1930. I suspect that he is Richard Godley born 1870 Clayton, Sussex, UK, son of James Godley & Hepzibah Hunt and that he emmigrated to the US with his brothers Walter & Frederick. I can't prove which Richard he is because he only puts 'England' as his birthplace on the census. I would like access to his marriage cert/licence to see if there are any more details of his place of birth but the US birth/marriage/death system seems harder to work than the UK. Can anyone help with either the details or how to get to the records? Kind Regards - Yodleg.

[shellyesq]

Per this site, I think you would need to contact the county where they married to see if they have a marriage record.  https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/California_Vital_Records#Marriage_Records

Did he die in California?  There are California death indexes through 1939 (on www.familysearch.org) and from 1940-1997 (on www.rootsweb.com), and both are free.  I suspect the death certificate might be easier to access, given the later date. 

[shellyesq]

There are likely death dates for Richard, Anna, & Walter Godley here:  https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-26184-5046-54?cc=1932433&wc=14216747

[spower]

Thanks Shellyesq - Yes the same Richard who is in the US census seems to have died in California along with Anna his wife. The problem I've got is that I can't prove if he is the correct Richard Godley, he just gives his place of birth as 'England' and the date of birth he gives varies. I was hoping that in the marriage cert it would give his father or at least the county where he was born.

[shellyesq]

Given the time frame, I think the death certificate would be easier to obtain and may give more detailed information.  The site I linked to has state file numbers for those people, and there is information about getting the certificate here:  http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/birthdeathmar/pages/certifiedcopiesofbirthdeathrecords.aspx

Just to pick a random California marriage from the same time frame, see here:  https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XL7K-ZQC  It doesn't appear to give a place of birth or parents names.  It doesn't sound like you know for sure which county Richard & Anna married in, so that would make finding the actual record more difficult and it probably wouldn't give the information you seek. 

[Lisa in California]

Welcome to RootsChat, Yodleg.

There is a Linderman tree on Anc**try that shows Richard Godley's place of birth as Devonshire, England.  It states that he was born January 1870 and married c1896.  There is no other information provided about Godley, so I'm not sure how they determined he was born in Devonshire.

Are you sure that the three brothers immigrated to the states?  If so, if you could provide years of birth for the brothers (I'm assuming they were born in Sussex?), we may be able to find more records.  Would you know Richard's exact date of birth?  When were they last seen in England?  Thank you.

[Lisa in California]

I don't have access to English census returns, but looking at partial records, it appears that Walter was born c1868?  His full name was Walter John?

Interestingly, there is a Walter J in the same area as Richard Godley, around the same time.

Be back in a few moments.

[Erato]

"he just gives his place of birth as 'England' "

Don't blame Richard, the country [or US state] is all that is ever recorded on a US census.  Why would you expect more detail than that?

[Lisa in California]

Walter John Godley, Musician, age 27, 5' 10 1/2", light complexion, blue eyes, red hair, born England, naturalized June 20, 1894, Fresno, California.  (Date of Registration: April 29, 1896)  Oleander Precinct.

Could this be Richard's brother?