Gidleys in British India

FindMyPast has recently published the Ecclesiastical Returns from the British India Office. I could have accessed these earlier by going to FamilySearch, a free site, but it took the recent national publicity to raise my awareness that these records were online. And there were some surprises. Gaps for marriages and deaths on the family trees I always assumed were due to emigration, but I always assumed to the dominions, like Canada, Australia and New Zealand. I hadn't given India much thought.
The first record chronologically is for Nathaniel Gidley, a private in the H? U? (can't decipher these initials with any certainty) 59th Regiment, who was buried at Bangalore July 9th 1834 aged 30. This makes him the son of Nathaniel Gidley and his wife Mary Westcott, of Whitestone, near Exeter, Devon.
The next burial record is for Jane Gidley, aged 23, in Bhusawul Cemetery, Bombay, on Aug 12th 1870. FamilySearch has another place of burial - Asserghur, Bombay - and her name is given there as Jane Morton Gidley. There is no indication as to whether she was single or married, and I don't know who she was. The cause of death was paralysis. Could this have been due to polio, I wonder?
In 1919 Alice Edith Frederica Gidley, wife of Lt. Col. Courtenay de Blois Gidley, Royal Field Artillery, of the Winkleigh branch, died at Simla aged 49. She left a son of only 9, Courtenay Terence Robert Gidley, who married in 1953 in Southern Rhodesia. Alice's widower, Courtenay de Blois Gidley, returned home to England much later and served in the Second World War as Col-Commandant of the Devon Army Cadet Force.
In 1925 Augustus George Gidley, 46, a driver on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, was buried in Jhansi (new) Cemetery. He died of angina pectoris and was the father of 3 young children, all born in India. Augustus was the son of Charles Edwin Gidley, of Poplar in East London. Charles Edwin had 10 children by his first wife, Jessie Matilda, before abandoning her for his second wife, Eliza Anderson, who was his brother's stepdaughter, and had a second family of another 6 children. Most of the children of the first family didn't stay around for long after that. The G.I.P. railway apparently used British drivers with Indian firemen used as stokers. Augustus married Carmeline Cecilia Dennis in Byculla, Bombay, in 1914 and their family of three - Jessie Matilda (called after Augustus' mother), Sydney Herbert (called after Augustus' brother, a Royal Naval Petty Officer, drowned off the island of Coll whilst serving on HMS Jason in 1917) and George Augustus were all born in India. There remains a mystery as to was the Augustus Gidley, cited as a co-respdondent in the divorce case of Eustace Charles Palmer versus Carmeline Mary Palmer in India in 1916. The coincidence of the names - Carmeline and Augustus - is amazing but the surnames are different, as Augustus George Gidley the engine driver had married Carmeline Cecilia Dennis, a spinster, in 1914 in Byculla, Bombay. After Augustus' death his family presumably stayed on in India for some time, as daughter Jessie Matilda Gidley married in Bengal in 1932 aged only 14.
In 1932 Herman Gidley, R Battery, Royal Artillery, was buried in Bolarun, Hyderabad (Deccan), Trimulgherry. Aged only 24, he was the son of John Benjamin Gidley and his wife Mary Ann Jackson of Grimsby, Lincolnshire. He died of malaria.
Miriam Gidley married a Drum Major, Joseph Cashaldine, in 1875 in Ranikhet, Calcutta, Bengal. She had left her home town of Exeter in her early 20s and was the daughter of William Gidley and his second wife, Miriam Sanford. William belonged to the Winkleigh branch and was variously an ag lab, a butcher and a cattle dealer and had various convictions for petty theft.
Minnie Gladys Gidley, daughter of Henry Gidley, who married Edward Horace Turner at Colaba, Bombay in 1913 is a mystery. She was a spinster aged 21 at the time of her marriage.

Charles Gidley and a minor misdemeanour

A short report of a court case, published on 6 January 1869 in the Morning Post. Charles Gidley, a labourer of Moyson, Devon, was prosecuted at Kingsbridge Town Hall, Devon, by the Board of Trade for the plunder of goods washed ashore from the ship, Gossamer, wrecked off nearby Prawle Point.
The coastguard had caught Charles Gidley in Hollacombe Lane with a bag on his back. The alert coastguard challenged Charles, only to be told the bag contained something he had bought, but on closer examination, it was found to be a pair of women's elastic shoes. Charles' counsel claimed at his trial that Charles was actually doing his duty and about to deliver the shoes to the Receiver or the nearest customs or coastguard officer, and was on his way straight to the watch house. In fact Charles should really be a plaintiff claiming salvage for saving goods from the wreck, and should not have been put on trial at all. Unfortunately, it was pointed out by prosecuting counsel that Charles had already passed the turning to the watch house when he was stopped.
The charge of plunder was dismissed, as there was no evidence that the goods had come from the wreck. Charles was given the benefit of the doubt, as he had "probably acted under a mistaken view of the law". The newspaper report says "there was no vindictive feeling by the Receiver of the Wreck". But to discourage others who might feel they could help themselves with impunity to goods washed ashore, Charles was ordered to pay a fine of 2s 6d, plus 10s (the estimated value of the boots), plus 15s costs.
The most likely Charles Gidley in the vicinty of Kingsbridge at that time is the son of Robert Gidley and Miriam Heath, born in Dean Prior in 1822. In 1861 he was living in Slew Lake Cottage, South Brent, and in 1871 he was an ag lab in Stokenham, quite close to the coast. He married Maria Ellis Lavers in 1846 and at his death in Kingsbridge registration district in 1892 was survived by just one of their 4 known children, Maria Gidley, who married Thomas Wills Stone in 1869, the same year as the court case. Did she wear the shoes at her wedding?

The earliest mentions of Gidley as a surname

David Bethell of the Family Origin name Survey (FONS) has sent me over the years many useful and obscure references to the surname Gidley. I thought it might be of interest if I listed the ones with the earliest dates. I've left most of the place names as they appear in the original record. Some records have been condensed by me.

1175 -1176. Reginaldus de Giddelega is mentioned on the Pipe Rolls (the Exchequer's financial records):
For the King's mercy for his forest. Reg. de Giddelega renders account for 2 marks for the same. In the Treasury 1 mark. And he owes 1 mark.

1332. William de Giddeleghe is mentioned on the Devonshire Lay Subsidy (records of taxation, the closest thing to a medieval census) in Polslo, in the Hundred of Wonford.

Bishop of Exeter's records
1370 John Gederleghe was tonsured in Tiverton church i.e. inducted into the clergy.

1381 Luke Gydleghe was ordained to the first tonsure.

1400 William Gydelegh was ordained by the Bishop in the chapel of his manor of Chuddelegh as an acolyte [a minor order].

1403 Letters dimissory were granted to William Gyddelegh, subdeacon, to be ordained by any Catholic Bishop within England.

1403 31 March William Gyddelegh, subdeacon, was ordained in the chapel of the manor of Clyst.

1403 22 September. William Gyddelegh was ordained in Crediton church.

1408 Richard Gydelegh was ordained in Crediton church.

1413 Letters dimissory were granted to Richard Gydelegh (i.e.to leave the diocese for another).

1432 Licence was granted to Sir John Giddelegh, rector of Jacobstowe [near Hatherleigh and 5 miles north of Okehampton], for absence from his church for one year.

1434 Commission to the Archdeacon of Exeter to enquire in full chapter into the vacancy &c. of the parish church of Teyngton Drew [Drewsteignton], to which Sir William Gyddelegh chaplain has been presented by Sir John Herle knight, John Jaibien and Walter Burell.

1449 On the petition of Sir William Yurle, rector of Teygnton Drewe: to enquire into dilapidations in the houses, walls, fences &c. pertaining to the church, left by Sir William Gydlegh deceased, the last rector.

1449 8 May: To the Archdeacon of Cornwall: to enquire into the alleged pollution of the parish church of Talland [between Looe and Polperro] by bloodshed between Thomas Gyddelegh and Thomas servant of William Collan.
1449 31 May: Declaration that the church and churchyard found by inquisition not to have been so polluted, and that divine service and burial of the dead may be resumed.

Feet of Fines (the agreement between two parties in an English lawsuit over land)
Cornwall
1464 Thomas Gydelegh granted tenements held of Thomas and Margaret Sele. Rents granted to Henry Courtenay, Earl of Devon. For this Henry has given them £200.

1494 Thomas Gidelegh and his wife Margaret, deforciants [against whom a fictitious action of fine was brought]. 26s of rent on properties in parishes of St Neot's and Warlegan [both in the Bodmin area]. Also to receive one grain of corn for 100 yrs, then 11s of silver.

Unknown Gidleys in the 1940 US census

Do email me if you can help put these Gidleys on a family tree. Some are almost certainly not Gidleys, but I can't work out what their surnames should be.

Florida
John Gidley aged 18 of St Petersburg, Pinellas, Florida, stepson of Lloyd Lilly and his wife Annie. I believe this is John Albert Gidley, whose obituary in 2012 gives his date of birth as 26/05/1921. John later became the Fire Chief of St Petersburg. In the 1930 census his father's birthplace was given as West Virginia.
2015 update: a relative has explained that John Albert Gidley was the son of William Albert Gidley, so John Albert Gidley now fits on to the West Virginia tree.

Illinois
Jean Gidley, a widow aged 62, of Lexington Ave, Chicago, born in Indiana. Her grandson Charles Willett aged 6 is with her.
October 2013 update: I think she must be the third wife of John Amos Gidley of the Massachusetts Gidley family. In 1930 she is enumerated as "Jona". John Amos Gidley died in 1937 in Cook county, Illinois.

Massachusetts
Herbert Gidley aged 10, a state ward, living in Watertown and born in Brockton. He died in 1976 in Texas.

Michigan
1) Milfred Gidley aged 36 and his wife Pauline of Detroit. I can't find any further references to these names and the initial letter of Gidley is suspect.
2) Adella B Gidley, divorced, nee Kimball, aged 30, living in Highland Park with her son James M Gidley aged 8. They are in her parents' home.
3) Laurain Gidley aged 22 and his wife Helen, living in Flint, Genesee county. Again, the initial letter of Gidley is suspect.

New York
1) A whole family whose race is given as black, living in Buffalo, headed by James Gidley aged 20. I can't find him, or his sister Pauline aged 17 in 1940, in the 1930 census.
2) John Gidley aged 26, a gasoline station attendant of Eastchester, living with his stepmother Nellie Riordan. In 1930 he is described as the son of Nellie Riordan.

Ohio
Richard S Gidley, a barber, aged 30 of Goshen, Mahoning, Ohio, and his wife Sarah.

Gidleys in the 1940 US census Michigan - Wyoming

Continued from the previous post. Please read it first for the explanations.
Detroit (MI), Fremont (NE), Essex county (NJ), Schenectady (NY), Akron (OH), and Austin (TX) all had Gidleys from unrelated families living there.

Michigan in 1940: one of the most populous states for Gidleys. Note how there were representatives of 4 separate Gidley branches living in the immediate Detroit area.
Eaton, Gratiot, Saginaw, Lenawee, Wayne counties: Gidleys of Massachusetts.
Tuscola, Macomb, Wayne, Shiawassee, Oakland, Genesee, Barry, Washtenaw counties: Gidleys of Winkleigh.
Wayne county: Gidleys of Dean Prior.
Ingham, Charlevoix, Barry, Kent counties: Gidleys of Buckfastleigh.
Wayne, Oakland, Douglas: Gidleys of Cornwall.

Minnesota in 1940
St Louis county: a married couple from the Winkleigh family.

Missouri in 1940
All were from the former Guethle family, with the exception of Father Lawrence Gidley of the Benedictine Abbey in Jefferson county, who was descended from the Winkleigh Gidleys.

Montana in 1940
All were probably descended from the Gidleys of Winkleigh (I shall do a futher short post about this particular family at a later date).

Nebraska in 1940
Douglas, Dodge counties: Buckfastleigh.
Dodge county: Winkleigh.

Nevada in 1940
White Pine county: Cornwall (see post about William S Gidley).

New Jersey in 1940
Camden county: Dean Prior
Union, Essex counties: Winkleigh.
Essex county: Massachusetts.

New York in 1940
Schoharie, Schenectady, Columbia, Niagara, Montgomery, Onondaga, New York counties: Winkleigh.
Dutchess, Schenectady, Orange, Nassau counties: Massachusetts.

North Dakota in 1940
Renville county: Dean Prior.

Ohio in 1940:
Cuyahoga, Lake counties: Dean Prior.
Summit, Portage, Trumbull, Hamilton counties: West Virginia.
Seneca county: Winkleigh.
Summit county: Buckfastleigh.

Oregon in 1940
Lincoln county: probably formerly Guethle.
Hood River county: West Virginia.
Clackamas county: Buckfastleigh.

Pennsylvania in 1940
Philadelphia county: Dean Prior.
Fayette, Washington counties: West Virginia.
Delaware county: Winkleigh.

Rhode Island in 1940
Providence county: Buckfastleigh.

South Dakota in 1940
Pennington county: Buckfastleigh.
Potter county: Dean Prior.

Texas in 1940
Bell, Johnson, Atascosa, Travis, Caldwell, Midland, El Paso, Refugio, Harris, Ellis, Walker, Hunt counties: Buckfastleigh.
Travis, Dallas counties: Winkleigh.
Ochiltree, Tarrant counties: Massachusetts.

Utah in 1940
Summit county: Cornwall. All descendants of William S Gidley - see earlier post.

Washington state in 1940
Cowlitz, King, Pierce counties: Massachusetts.
Whitman county: Buckfastleigh.

West Virginia in 1940
All are from the West Virginia family.

Wisconsin in 1940
All are from the Gidleys of Cornwall, although there are some indications that their earliest direct ancestor (John, died in Cornwall in 1829) may have originated from Newton St Cyres in Devon. I'll post about this later.

Wyoming in 1940
Platte county: Buckfastleigh.
Natrona county: West Virginia.

I hope I haven't omitted any, but apologies if I have, also if I've made any errors. The next post will contain the names of those listed in 1940 whom I can't link to any trees.

Gidleys in the 1940 US census, states Alabama - Massachusetts

I've recently updated all the family trees which hold details of Gidleys in the US. I was able to make some changes as details became clearer with the release of the 1940 census and other databases. This mainly affected the Gidleys of West Virginia and of the American side of the Buckfastleigh tree, so do contact me if you would like an update of these trees.
I found the 1940 census interesting, as the modern world is starting to emerge: Gidley wives are following careers of their own, there are more divorced Gidleys, some Gidleys are employed in the tourism industry, and even more in industries connected with cars and haulage.
I have occasionally been contacted by Americans asking about the origin of their family, so I thought it might be useful if I listed which families were in which state in 1940. I shall do this alphabetically by state. Ancestry has made the usual mistranscriptions, which I hope I've added to their database as "alternative information" when I found them. Indexed as Gidley I have found people whose names were actually Ridley, Gidlof, Gridley, Giddey, Gulley, Godbey, and Gilley. There are also some Gidleys I just couldn't link to any family, and I will list them in a later post, in the hope that someone can help. It's possible that a few of them are further mistranscriptions, or were wrongly enumerated.
I am no expert in American geography, so I list the counties/places just as Ancestry does (in some cases - very rural areas?- just the county is given).
Please note that "Massachusetts", "Buckfastleigh", etc. are the names I personally have given the trees, based mainly on the place they can be traced back to.
In some cities e.g. Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Wayne, and in Essex county, Massachusetts, there were representatives from more than one, unrelated, family.

Alabama in 1940
All are descendants of the shipwrecked James Gidley from Buckfastleigh.

Arizona in 1940
A family descended from the Massachusetts Gidleys.

Arkansas in 1940
Faulkner county: a family from the Massachusetts Gidleys.
Pulaski county: a couple from the West Virginia family.

California in 1940
Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, Monterey counties:Massachusetts.
Kern, Los Angeles, Contra Costa, San Diego, San Francisco counties: Buckfastleigh.

Connecticut in 1940
New London county: Buckfastleigh.

Florida in 1940
One entry for a Gidley of West Virginia (but see the list of unknown Gidleys later).

Georgia in 1940
Clarke county: Massachusetts.
Fulton county: one member of the Buckfastleigh family.

Hawaii in 1940
A soldier, stationed there, from the Buckfastleigh family.

Idaho in 1940
Ada county: Gidleys of Cornwall (see the post about William S Gidley).
Canyon county: a Massachusetts family.
Gooding county: a West Virginia family.

Illinois in 1940
Monroe county: Gidleys of Missouri, formerly Guethle.
Cook county: Dean Prior.
Cook county: Buckfastleigh.

Indiana in 1940
Porter, Lake counties: Dean Prior.
Decatur and Allen counties: Winkleigh.
Wabash, Howard, LaPorte counties: West Virginia.
Allen: Buckfastleigh.

Iowa in 1940
Union, Jasper, Washington,Montgomery counties: West Virginia.
Mills county: Cornwall.
Guthrie, Pottawattamie counties: Buckfastleigh.
Scott county: formerly Guethle from Missouri.

Kansas in 1940
Wilson county: the widow of a man from the Winkleigh branch.
Sedgwick county: a couple from the Massachusetts branch.

Massachusetts in 1940
Bristol, Essex, Plymouth, Nassau, Middlesex counties: Massachusetts.
Bristol county: Buckfastleigh.
Hampden, Hampshire counties: Winkleigh.
Essex county: Dean Prior.

To be continued.

William S Gidley of Grass Valley, California

I think we may have the solution to William S Gidley's origins - a miner who emigrated to California. His gravestone (pictured above, with the useful inscription "died in 1865 aged 40") can be found on the Find A Grave website. The Cornwall Gidleys always looked the most likely, as so many of them sought out further mining opportunities when the Cornish industry collapsed.

Marilyn from the USA contacted me in 2011, and I hope she won't mind me quoting from her email in full:

" We had a wonderful afternoon Sunday, drove to Grass Valley,Ca. Nevada County CA. Checked on my great great grandfather William S.Gidley's headstone. With the steel plate my husband put behind it a few years ago, it is still standing. The cemetery is across the street from St. Mary's Church, but cemetery is not in good shape. Many markers seem to be gone since we were last there. There are rocks around his spot, so I rather think there is another grave there, perhaps his wife Jane Newell although I can find no record of such.
On earlier census he was living in Sierra County, where the 3 children were born, near his in-laws and other Newells. He had a saloon and grocery store in Grass Valley, located on Mill St. (the main one) between Neal and Welch. I have walked that street, Lola Montez had a home there. The area now is Bank, offices, Chamber of Commerce.
I found another William Gidley born 1804 died 3 Nov. 1872 in Gold Hill, Story County, NV. service by St. Paul's Episcopal of VC. His age, he could have been my WSG's father. My Wm's daughters did move to Virginia City, NV."

My best guess at the moment is that Marilyn's ancestor, William S Gidley of Grass Valley, was one of the Cornish Gidleys, the son of Richard Gidley and his wife Bridget nee Simmons. In 1841 this William was a copper miner, at home, Little Killiow, Kea, Cornwall, and after that he vanishes from the UK censuses. The Simmons connection might also account for the S in his name.
William Gidley of Grass Valley was a retail dealer in the California tax returns of 1865, so he gave up mining before he died at the age of 40.
I've been through all the references I have for every William Gidley I've found born from about 1823 - 1828, and the others are all accounted for.

The older William Gidley born in 1804 was probably his much older first cousin William, son of William and Thomasine Thomas, although the records show that this William wasn't christened till 1808. Perhaps the person recording his death in America was not sure of his actual age. In 1841 this William was also a miner, in Gwennap, Cornwall, and then turns up in 1860 and 1870 in the American censuses mining in California. His wife was left behind in Gwennap, describing herself in 1871 as "Wife of husband in California".

However, I should say that William and William Henry were extremely common names with the Cornish Gidleys and I'm certainly not sure that I've got it completely correct.