“For years, I tried finding where he disappeared to, and did he have family?”

~ Wilfred Gayleard

So what has this all brought me to so far. After many years of off again and on again research I come to a workable theory. So here’s the pitch, all the people with the correct spelling of Gayleard between 1800 and 1885 living in the Portsmouth, Hampshire area are related, with a couple of small exceptions. There were a couple of people that moved into the area as it was a naval base to work and then quickly left. I did find a couple of instances but those people could be traced to have been from a different part of England and then moved away not long after being in Portsmouth. So let’s look at the connections.

William Gayleard, saddler, marries Elizabeth Ashford in 1803 and has several children:

1. Elizabeth, 1804 to 1810
2. William 1805
3. George 1807
4. Elizabeth 1811 to 1812
5. Sarah 1815
6. possibly Thomas 1821
7. and Henry 1825?

So first off William Gayleard, painter, married to Mahala and then to Harriet Hallett and has a daughter Clara Jessie Gayleard. The age is about right, as ages recorded in census and other records tend to be off by several years William tends to have his age and year of birth roughly from 1804 to 1806. So this looks very correct and all census records say he is born in Hampshire. The only records I could not find was a marriage records stating who his father was as this would remove all doubt. I haven’t found a marriage certificate for him and Mahala and by 1841 they were living together and neither can I find one with Harriet. And so far other people researching this family line believe they did not marry at all. So left to fill in the blank. As he lists he is born in Hampshire and there is a William born at this time frame it must be him.

Next up is George Gayleard, mariner, born 1807, and married to Ann Pearce. This in the one record I have been searching for the longest, the marriage between George and Ann. I believe they most likely got married in the early 1840’s as they start having children in 1846 with Mary Ann Sarah Elizabeth and George Henry John in 1848, and then my great grandfather born in 1857. Like William all of George’s records state that he is born in Hampshire and is the right age to be William and Elizabeth’s second son. Also frustrating is not finding the marriage record of George and Ann as that also would establish the right connection. There is one other odd piece of information to make a connection. In a letter written around 1927 from Mary Ann to William Henry “over quite choked when you or rather Nellie that the baby name was Sarah for one as it took her back at once to her father favorite and only sister she said I bet my brother chose that name for her so she is all excitement now”. It is an interesting clue as William and Elizabeth have 3 daughters but only 1 that survives to adulthood, and her name is Sarah.

This would fit, William and Elizabeth have at least 3 children, William, George and Sarah. Not much is known about Sarah, she marries and not much else is knows. I have believed that Sarah marries someone named Pearce as a Sarah Pearce is present when William passes away and also is living with Elizabeth in the 1861 census. It could be a coincidence and a friend of the family, but age matches up decently.

The next one was the hardest and it took me awhile to put together and that is of Henry Gayleard, mariner 1825 to 1867 and has 1 daughter named Sarah Elizabeth. Henry is also recorded as being from Portsmouth but the only records I could find were his naval record and a couple of records from Crew Lists. He doesn’t marry as far as I know, and I have not found a baptismal record for him either. It is also difficult because he doesn’t show up either in the 1841, 1851 or 1861 census records because he was in the navy or out to sea at the time. However in his navy record it lists him as living on Crown street. William Gayleard is listed as living on Crown street in 1840 at the time of his burial.

The connection is harder to make for his parents…however following the same idea that people spelling the name Gayleard and from the Portsmouth area are all related somehow I began to make some connections. Both George and Henry are not only mariners but also served in the navy at some point in their lives. George names his sons George Henry John, and 2 others William Henry. Henry appears twice so could George be giving his sons the name of one of his brothers? William is also the name of George’s brother, father and father in law. Sarah is also George’s sister and Elizabeth the name of his mom, so Mary Ann Sarah Elizabeth fits in. But not only this, Henry’s daughter is named Sarah Elizabeth and she names her first son, William Henry. He dies very young, but there seems to be a connection. William John Gayleard, 1879 names his first child Sarah after his grandfather’s only sister. And then names his second son Henry. Is there a connection that possibly William John also named Henry after his grandfather’s favorite brother? Possible, but there is one more interesting clue.

Continue Reading: 6. The Gayleard Connection