“… after living in the hospital for about 12 years…” ~ Wilfred Gayleard

There is a letter I have that has Mary Ann Gayleard, Aunt Polly, writing to my great grandfather and father about my aunt’s upcoming birth. In it she says how excited her father would be to have her named after his favorite and only sister, Sarah. So this gave me another branch of the tree to focus on. As on the other page Sarah is born and baptized in 1815.

A medical certificate filled out shows she went into the Hospital as a patient due to mental health issues caused from the death of her…

Continue Reading: Sarah Gayleard 1815 – 1868

“…he went to sea as a Fishing Boy at an early age.”

~ Wilfred Gayleard

It’s taken me awhile of searching to finally find it but at least I found it. One of those records that seems to have illuded me was the record of George Gayleard for his ticket as a Merchant Navy. A record pointed me in the right direction but once getting there it seemed to be a dead end. However, once again searching I found it misspelled…yes, Gaybard, George Gaybard as it was transcribed.

Of course the age is off by 5 years, but that is not a problem. It does have some interesting information though, that is he went to sea as a Fishing Boy at an early age. That he is 4 ft 10 1/2 inches tall, brown hair, grey eyes, fresh complexion and has a tattoo on his right arm. This record is taken around 1845 or 46 around the year of the birth of his first child, Mary Ann. Also it lists his address as Crown street. Which is also the same address that Henry Gayleard lists as his address.

Visit the: Gayleard Genealogy ~ GALLERY

“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

In 1837 in England they started to record Birth, Marriage and Death records from across the country often referred to as the BMD records…Previous to this you are looking at church records for Baptisms, Marriages and Burials.

~ Wilfred Gayleard

So the hard part of putting together genealogy in the family tree is many names are often misspelled and the second is missing information. In 1837 in England they started to record Birth, Marriage and Death records from across the country often referred to as the BMD records. Right now a lot of them can be ordered for genealogy records as you might have seen on a couple of other posts. Previous to this you are looking at church records for Baptisms, Marriages and Burials. They do overlap so it can help a lot. However the biggest issue I found was of course the misspelled names, usually Gayleard appeared as Gaylard or Gaylord, but I did find Gailer, Gayler, Guyheard and others. The next problem was there were actual names in the Hampshire area that was spelled like that, the closest being Charles Gaylard and his family from the early 1800’s. Making him roughly the same age as William Gayleard, saddler and their children roughly born around the same time. He dies around 1810 or so and his family moves on, so I couldn’t find a connection between him and William Gayleard. The frustrating part is that in the marriage certificates there is no mention of the parents so making it harder to go back another generation at this point. However on the baptism and burial records they occasionally find an address listed for that person. This is what lead me to look more closely at Robert Bath Gayleard as his address matched up with that of George and Ann Gayleard at the time. Which of course lead me to find his birth certificate and order it.

So with this in mind…let’s look at some others.

In 1821 Thomas Gaylard is buried at 10 months old, he lives on Oyster st, the same street and year that William Gayleard is listed as renting a place on. A good possibility that this is another child of both William and Elizabeth, however it is odd that I have yet to find evidence of his baptism. All the previous children of William and Elizabeth I could find baptisms for. It is possible that either it is so badly spelled I have yet to find him, or I just haven’t stumbled upon them, they got baptized at a different church than I am looking or they didn’t get baptized at all.

Also, if according to the 1841 census is correct, Elizabeth is born around 1780, so she is married at around 23 years of age, first child at 24, second at 25, third at 27, fourth at 31, fifth at 35….one more at 41…and a possibility of one more at 45. It is also possible that I missed one or two in between, and it is taking awhile to slowly go through the parish records.

Also found is one Charlotte Gayland death in 1832. Also notice she lives on Crown street also.

Visit the: Gayleard Genealogy ~ GALLERY

“…although she goes by her married name Holmes and her second husband gets caught married to two women…”

~ Wilfred Gayleard

Not a lot is known about Henry Gayleard outside of his maritime records and the birth of his daughter Sarah Elizabeth Gayleard. I was actually contacted quite awhile ago by a lady in England who was doing research into Henry and Sarah Elizabeth and she had a great deal of information about Henry’s maritime activities and the life of Sarah Elizabeth and her family. There are no baptismal records that so far that I can find or any marriage certificate either. And also he never shows up in any of the census records of the time. He should have been in the 1841, 1851 and 1861 but he doesn’t as far as I can find. However since he was a mariner or in the navy they would have had records of him being there not at his place of residence. So the only only current family I can find of Henry is his daughter. But let’s put together what I can find.

Here are several of Henry Gayleard’s naval records, it is full of interesting facts…if they are correct. The first being that it states he is born in 1820, is 5 foot 1/2 inch tall, red hair, blue eyes, with tattoos on his right arm. And in all his records it states that he is born in Portsmouth. And in 1844 it states that he lives on 7 Crown st. It also shows what ships he served on. Henry was a sail maker by trade. It also shows that he joined the navy at age 14 in 1834.

Continue Reading: 4. Henry Gayleard 1820-1865

“During all my genealogy research I have found only one set of families named Gayleard in Canada so far.”

~ Wilfred Gayleard

William Henry Gayleard was born on July 13, 1857 to George Gayleard, mariner, and Ann Pearce in Portsea, Hampshire, England. As on the previous post or page, William can be found in the 1861, 1871 and 1881 census.

In 1878 William Gayleard married Harriett Hicks, daughter of John Hicks, mariner and Jane Hicks. Although it lists William as being 25 he is only 21 years of age. And Harriet Hicks was born in 1845 making her 33 years of age. However it seems that throughout the course of their marriage and travels together Harriett would most times be recorded as 1 or 2 years younger than William. It was the same with William’s mom Ann and his sister Mary Ann, all 3 women recording their ages as much younger, and sometimes by as much as 10 years.

Harriett Hicks was born in 1845 to John and Jane Hicks of Portsea. John is also a mariner.

Here is Harriett with her family in the 1851 census in Portsea

Jane Hicks however had passed away in 1871 before Harriett married William Gayleard.

In 1879 William and Harried had their first and only child born, William John Gayleard, my grandfather.

In the 1881 census William, Harriett and their son William can be found living with Harriet’s father John Hicks in Portsea

William Henry Gayleard was a mariner much like his father and brother, here he is in 1880 listed as working about the ship the Elizabeth Ray. Both William and his brother George can be found on the crew lists that are currently being digitized and transcribed. Although the name appears misspelled in many occasions I have managed to find a few instances of them on the crew lists. Then after 1884 they both disappear, I did mange to find George Gayleard living in New Zealand and marrying in 1884.

This is, so far, the last ship I could find William H Gayleard working on, it in the year 1884 and the name of the ship is Zeus.

By 1891 William, Harriett and William John were living in Rosario, Argentina. When they moved to her is hard to say in 1885 John Hicks passes away. Did they move just before or after I cannot say.

Continue Reading: 5. William Henry Gayleard 1857-1930

“…and of course the name is spelled Gaylard or Gayland… .This time it is spelled Gailer… .Gaylard, Gayland, Gaylord”

~ Wilfred Gayleard

Here is the main family group from the mid 1800’s that I can find, it has the most records and can be found in the census records from 1851 to 1891 in Hampshire. The biggest piece of this puzzle is finding William Henry Gayleard marriage record and because of this I cannot accurately state who George’s parents are. Ann’s father is William Pearce listed as a poulterer in her second marriage in 1870. The other missing piece is that I cannot accurately find either of them in the 1841 census either. For George it is most likely that he is on a ship somewhere at the time. For Ann, I haven’t found a household with both Ann and a father William in it.

The birth of George and Ann’s first child, Mary Ann Sarah Elizabeth in 1846. She married at least twice and lived until the late 1920’s. She is was often referred to as Aunt Polly.

Here is George and Ann’s second child, George Henry John Gayleard’s baptism in 1849, also he was born in 1848.

This is George and Ann’s third child William Henry Gayleard born in February and died 5 months later in July.

Even though it is hard to read this the 1851 census with George, Ann, Mary Ann and George listed as living on Tower Street in Portsmouth. This is the only time Ann is listed as Ann Elizabeth. In all the future census records you see them as listed as being born in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Robert Bathe Gayleard was born on April 18th but however lived only 16 days. You will notice the family is living at 3 Crown st now.

In 1856 Mary Ann and George are baptized again, you can see that Mary Ann is listed as being born in February of 1846 and George is listed as being born in 1848. The family is listed as living on Crown st and of course the name is spelled Gaylard or Gayland.

This is my great grandfather’s birth certificate, he is born on July 13th, 1857, and it is hard to make out but the address might say 3 Crown st.

Here is the 1861 census, and the name is badly misspelled making it harder to find. This time it is spelled Gailer, however you see Ann, Mary, George and William all there alongside 2 people living with them. Mary Martin, needlewoman and Ellen Peters, wife of sailor. They are listed as living on 6 Brunswick street.

George worked on ships, he is listed as fisherman, pilot, seaman, etc. I have found him and his two sons in the list of Merchant marines in England. The name is sometimes spelled correctly but however also spelled Gaylard, Gaylord or Gayland.

Continue Reading: 3. George Gayleard and Ann Pearce 1807-1900

Wandsworth is a workhouse and at this time they took in people who were sick or broke.

~ Wilfred Gayleard

William Gayleard was born in Portsmouth was married twice and moved to the London area and had 1 daughter. At this point I cannot find records for either of his marriages.

This is William Gayleard and his first wife Mahala in the 1841 census found in Portsea in the are of Rudmore. He is 37 years of age and Mahala is 38 which put William being born 1804. He is also listed as being a painter by trade.

The 1851 census had William and his wife Mahala still living in Portsea and this time William has his name clearly written as Gayleard. And he is identified as a Journyman Painter.

Unfortunately Mahala passes away in 1859 in Newington, London. So at some point between 1851 and 1859 both William and Mahala move to the London area.

Mahala Gayleard passes away on July 10th, 1859 of heart issues. Her age is listed as 57.

In the 1861 census William Gayleard is still living in the London area, Newington, Lambeth. However he is now remarried to Harriett and this is both their second marriages as Harriett has 4 children; Mary Ann, Sarah, Elizabeth and Daniel Peachey. William is listed as a Painter and having been born in Portsmouth. It has him down as being 55 in age so born around 1806. At this point I have not found any marriage information for William and Harriett, however from research I have found that Harriett’s maiden name is Hallett.

In the 1871 census William Gaylead is still living in the London are with his wife Harriett and his daughter of Clara Jessie who is 9 years old. Although they are together at the beginning of the year, it appears that William Gayleard by June ends up at the Workhouse in Wandsworth.

Continue Reading: 2. William Gayleard 1804 to 1871

“So what happened to the rest of the family?”

~ Wilfred Gayleard

The first evidence I can find of Gayleards in Portsmouth is William Gayleard listed as a saddler. I find him marrying a Elizabeth Ashford around 1803. Although the spelling is often different, I do find him spelled Gayleard in the Portsea Island rate books from 1821 to 1832 either on Oyster Street or Prospect Row. In 1831 he is found in Pigots as running a store.

This is the parish marriage record for William Gayleard and Elizabeth Ashford. Although it if you search for it you will either find it as Gaylard or Gaylord. However what is really interesting in this marriage record you can see that they actually write out their names, and if you look closely enough you can see the name spelled Gayleard.

William and Elizabeth went on to have several children, I have found most of the baptism records for them and I am currently searching the records for more. So far; Elizabeth(1) William, George, Elizabeth (2) and Sarah. There are a few more possibilities, but I will post about them later.

I have edited the information on all the pages to show persons and dates as possible, so it isn’t all crowded. Here is the baptism of both Elizabeth and William Gayleard showing their parents and Elizabeth Gayleard. You will also notice that I have included on the same date William and his daughter Elizabeth Ashford being baptized. I believe that William Ashford is most likely Elizabeth Ashford/Gayleard’s brother. It shows their parents also having the names William and Elizabeth. The date being June 10, 1806. You will notice that Elizabeth is born November 17th, 1804 and William is born October 2nd, 1805.

Here is the baptism record of George Gayleard son of William and Elizabeth Gayleard, the date April 19th, 1807.

I believe this to be Elizabeth Gayleard daughter of William and Elizabeth Gayleard there is a second Elizabeth born to the couple. It appears that they named their second daughter after the first.

Elizabeth daughter of William and Elizabeth Gayleard born July 29th, baptized on September 22nd. And unfortunately she seems to have died a year later.

Continue Reading: 1. William Gayleard 1753 to 1840