The two George Gidley murderers

1) George Gidley, chimney sweep, found guilty of the manslaughter of a fellow chimney sweep in Leeds in 1836
This one is quickly dealt with. Although the newspaper reports of the time consistently give the accused's name as Gidley, a quick glance at the 1851 census shows that there were at least two families of chimney sweeps in Leeds at the time who quite clearly had the surname Gidlow. The clerks at the trial, or the arresting police officers, had evidently incorrectly recorded his name as Gidley. There are also some birth references in the BMDs in the Leeds registration district between 1839 and 1847 which recorded these families' children as Gidley.
The newspapers of the time reported:
"There is a strong presumption that the boy, Hurley, died from a beating with a stick by the man, Gidley, who had been to fetch him from Ripon. This inhuman monster had compelled the lad to walk barefoot from Ripon to Harewood, a distance of 18 miles, in one day. When at the latter place he became exhausted, and received a severe beating from Gidley, which from the evidence given, seems to have caused his death. Gidley was committed to York Castle to take his trial at the assizes next week, on the capital charge of "wilful murder". (At this trial he was found guilty of manslaughter)."

2) George Gidley, ship's cook, hanged in 1766 for murder and mutiny on the high seas
There's also a possibility (only a small one, I'm afraid) that this George Gidley's name has also been misrecorded.
The main published sources are the Annual Register for 1765, and the New and Complete Newgate Calendar for 1765. The Annual Register describes George Gidley and fellow-mutineer Richard St Quentin as "west of England men". On the other hand, the Newgate Calendar has George Gidley "born in the West of Yorkshire", and Richard St Quentin "a native of the same county". The story is also covered in a much more recent title, The Mary Celeste and other strange tales of the sea, by J G Lockhart, published in 1952. This records George Gidley as a west of England man, but Richard St Quentin as a Londoner. The original papers appear to be kept in Belfast, in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, so not very accessible for me. If anyone wants to visit, the references seem to be PRONI D 2015/5; CMSIED 9804413.
The printed sources all agree that George Gidley was the ship's cook, which means, I'm afraid, that he dealt the fatal blow to Captain Cochran, the captain of the ship. According to Lockhart (above), he brained him with a marlin spike.
This is the story (taken from http://ied.dippam.ac.uk/records/20862).
"Compared with the mutiny on the Earl of Sandwich, which took place in the Irish Channel, almost at our doors some 24 years earlier, the mutiny on the Bounty might almost be considered a decent kind of an affair. This mutiny, which at the time stirred the interest of every man and woman in the country, contained all the elements of a boy's thriller - murder, scuttling, looting and buried treasure. The Earl of Sandwich was a small brig under the command of a captain Cochran and he was bound home from Tenerife. In addition to the captain there was a crew of six men and two boys and three passengers who had joined the ship at Tenerife - a Captain Glass, his wife and daughter. Captain Glass was also a seaman who had a stirring career. The Earl of Sandwich carried a considerable amount of treasure, probably the result of a long trading voyage. Mutiny broke out on November 30, 1765, as the ship was approaching the Irish coast. Four of the crew attacked and killed the mate and master with an iron bar. Captain Glass, hearing the noise of the struggle, ran up on deck and, seeing what had happened, turned and ran back again for his sword. Knowing that he was a brave and resolute man, one of the mutineers followed and hid himself and as Captain Glass passed him with his drawn sword he threw his arms around the captain from behind and called for assistance from his fellow mutineers. The other rushed forward and, taking the sword from the captain, they ran him through the body. In doing so they also ran the sword through the arm of the man holding their victim. The four mutineers were the boatswain, cook and two seamen, and their purpose was to possess the treasure on board, of which apparently they had obtained knowledge. After killing Captain Glass they actually forced Mrs Glass and her daughter, clasped in each other's arms, over the side. The bodies of the other dead were thrown after them, and the only other survivors left were the two boys. When nearing the coast of Wexford the mutineers opened the ballast ports, got out the longboat, loaded it up with the treasure, and left the ship. They landed at a spot called Booley Bay on the Wexford coast, and after burying the bulk of the treasure in the sand made their way to the town of Ross and engaged a room in a public house where they deposited what gear they had brought with them. The men went round the town changing dollars for gold, and in this way disposed of 1,250 dollars, and obtained nearly every gold piece in the town of Ross. Next they set off for Dublin but had only been gone six hours when the hue and cry was raised. The suspicions of the authorities had been aroused owing to their boat having been found with a number of loose dollars in it. A quantity of the ship's cargo and goods also came ashore. "
The men themselves also drew suspicious glances, being "rough-looking fellows" to be in possession of such obvious wealth. George Gidley managed to bolt from outside a goldsmith's shop in Dublin, but the hue and cry was on and he was stopped at Carlow, in possession of 50-60 English guineas & Spanish & Portuguese money.
The four men were found guilty in Dublin on March 11th 1766 and were sentenced to hang on St Stephen's Green. Their bodies were then hung in chains in the harbour for a year, serving a warning to all passing ships against mutiny and murder.
So which family of Gidleys has the dubious honour of relationship to a brutal murderer? There's no easy answer. We need:
a George Gidley of an age to be a ship's cook in 1765
a George Gidley not necessarily living on the coast, as a cook's skills were presumably less generic than those of a seaman, but not recorded as following any other trade
a George Gidley for whom there is no burial record.
I don't think for one moment that I have recorded all the Gidleys alive in the 18th century, but there is one George Gidley who may fit the bill, although he does appear to be a little old to be a ship's cook in 1765.
There is a small family of Gidleys in Northam, Devon, recorded by Family Search. The married couple are George Gidley amd Martha Man, who married there in 1722, presumably making them both born about 1700. I have no idea what family George could belong to. The baptisms of 9 children are recorded in Northam, several of whom died young. The only one I can trace a marriage for so far is George Gidley junior, who married Amy Davies in Bristol, joined the Royal Navy and consequently left a will (leaving everything to Amy). George and Martha's family was poverty-stricken - all the surviving children were apprenticed out by the parish at a young age - and there is no burial recorded for George Gidley senior, although Martha was buried in Northam in 1760. And Northam parish included the Devon port of Appledore.
This is my best guess so far, but I'm always prepared to be proved wrong.
Any ideas are welcome. At least this particular George Gidley doesn't have any known descendants to feel ashamed of him.