Godfrey Litchfield born 17 Feb 1822

Godfrey Litchfield, 4^th child of Godfrey and Lucy:

1822 Birth: Godfrey Litchfield, son of Godfrey and Lucy, was born 17 Feb 1822 and baptized on 7 Jan 1824 in the Heage Chapel.  His little sister Lucy was baptized on the same day.  The family was living in Heage, where Godfrey Sr was farming.[1] 

1827 Birth: Dorothy Sarah Jennison, wife of Godfrey Litchfield, daughter-in-law of Godfrey and Lucy, was born on 4 Jan 1827 in Nottingham, Notts, England.[2]  She was baptized on 30 Jan 1827 at St Mary’s Church, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire.  Her father William Jenison was a stone mason and the family was living on Gedling St.[3]

1841 Census: Godfrey (list as 15 but according to his birth he would turn 19 this year) was living with his parents and three of his five brothers, Noah (10), Octavius (8), and George (2).  His occupation was “lab Ag”.  His father was a farmer.  The family was living in Heage.[4]

1841 Census: Dorothy Jennison (14) living with parents, William and Matilda Jennison in “long Row” Lenton Parish, Broxtow, Nottinghamshire, England with brothers William (13), John (10) and Thomas (3) as well as sisers Matilda (7) and Millicent ( 2 months).  His father is a stone mason and her mother is a bonnet maker.[5]

1851 Census: Godfrey (28) was living with his parents and three of his five brothers, Thomas

(24), Octavius (16), and George (12). Godfrey and Thomas are both working with their father Godfrey in farming 65 acres.  The family is living in Heage.[6]

1851 Census: Dorothy was living with her Grandparents, Christopher and Sarah Jennison and her Uncle John Jennison  in Belper on Swinney Lane.  She is 22, unmarried and working as a house servant.  Her grandfather and uncle are both nail makers.

1853 Marriage: Godfrey Litchfield married Dorothy Sarah Jennison on March 16, 1853[7] in St Peters Church, Derbyshire, England.[8]

1853 Passenger List:  Godfrey Lichfield  left Bristol England on the Ship  Protector.  He arrived in Melbourne, Australia on 16 Aug 1853.[9]

1861 Census: Dorothy (34) is living with her brother Thomas Jennison (22) and her two sons, William Lichfield (7) and Thomas Lichfield (2).  They are living in Belper on Field Head.  Thomas is a County Court Bailiff and Dorothy whose marriage status is listed as widowed is a warehouse hand.[10]

1861 Passenger List: Dorothy, William and Joseph Lichfield Immigrate to the US.  They arrive in New York on 22 May 1861 from Liverpool, England on the ship Underwriter.[11]

1881 Marriage: William Litchfield, son of Godfrey, married Josephine Palmer on July 5, 1881 in Fayette, Sanpete, Utah.[12]

1881 Marriage: Joseph Thomas Lichfield[13] married Annie Matilda Till on Sept 29, 1881 in Salt Lake City, UT.[14]

1885 Death: Godfrey Litchfield died Jun 7, 1885 in Christchurch, New Zealand.[15]

1903 Death: Dorothy J Hatfield died 27 Aug 1903 in Goshen, Utah, Utah, USA.[16]

1924 Death: William Litchfield died Jan 13, 1924 in Raymond, Alberta, Canada.[17]

1933 Death: Joseph Thomas Lichfield died on Dec 30, 1933 in Utah, Utah, USA.[18]

New Information found:

ü  I was able to locate Godfrey’s birth date.  Godfrey and his little sister Lucy were baptized on the same day.  The parish minister wrote in Godfrey’s birth date on the baptism register.[19]

Questions and Recommendations:

ü  Search the parish records for St Mary’s Church in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire for the baptism information for Dorothy Sarah Jennison, wife of Godfrey Litchfield and for their two sons, William and Joseph. 

ü  I ordered the marriage certificate for Godfrey and Dorothy through the General Registar office on June 29, 2012.  Godfrey remarried later in life in New Zealand.  His distant relative James Litchfield said he married three time but he did not have any information on who the second wife might be.

ü  According to family lore Dorothy and Godfrey married in St Peter’s Church in Derby 1853.  I hope the marriage record I have ordered will verify the wedding location.  When Godfrey returned from being out to sea, he discovered Dorothy had joined the LDS church and demanded she chose between him and her new church.  She chose the church so he left.  It has been presumed they divorced but the in the 1861 Census has Dorothy listed as a widow.  Later a Godfrey Lichfield turns up in New Zealand where he has remarried and dies there.  Dorothy went on the US and remarries three times.  I have not been able to find a record of a divorce as of yet.  According to a Familysearch Wiki article, the National Archives has a data base of divorce records.  I will start my search there.

ü  I know Godfrey was a seaman but I do not know if he was in the royal navy or a merchant marine.  I suspect he was a merchant marine.  James Litchfield told me Godfrey was the black sheep of the family.  I suspect it was because he was a “traveler” as James put it.  So far I have only found one possible sea voyage record for him.   A Godfrey Lichfield arrived in Melbourne, Australia on 16 Aug 1853 from Bristol England on the ship Protector.

ü  There is an interesting bit of information as how the family came by the picture of Godfrey, since none was brought with them from England.  In the Deseret News, on November 26, 1908, there appeared a small item which read: "Wanted: information of Dorothy Jennison Litchfield who left England forty years ago with two small sons.  Please contact John Patrick Barker, of 31 Highfield Road, West Bridgeford, Nottingham, Notts. Eng.".  Joseph Thomas Litchfield contacted this man and learned he was a cousin.  His Father's sister, Eliza, had married John James Barker and he was their son.  He was a retired English Gentleman with genealogy as his hobby.  They exchanged family records, histories and pictures.  The above picture of Godfrey Litchfield Jr. was sent to Joseph during this exchange of correspondence and, as Joseph had never seen his Father, this was his first glimpse of his Father's appearance.  This photo was probably made about 1863 or 1864 when Godfrey Litchfield was about 40.  It would be interesting to try and find the family history written by John James Barker that was sent to Joseph.

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[1] Church of England, Chapelry of Heage (Derbyshire), Baptism Register, FHL British microfilm 1041436, Doc # Godfrey 6

[2] Family Group Sheet for Godfrey Litchfield prepared by Great granddaughter-in-law, Beulah Lichfield Doc # Lichfield  14 & 15

[3] Parish of Nottingham, Parish Baptism Register, Baptism Index for Dorothy Jenison, file #13457, FreeReg Web site, http://www.freereg.org.uk/cgi, Doc # Godfrey 1,  January 1, 2012

[4] 1841 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com, Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. Kew, Surrey, England, The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1841, Class: HO107; Piece: 180; Book: 13; Civil Parish:  Duffield; County:  Derbyshire; Enumeration District: 15;  Folio: 32; Page: 20; Line: 22; GSU roll: 241287. Doc # Godfrey 21 April 30, 2012

[5] Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1841. Class:  HO107; Piece:  858; Book:  7; Civil Parish:  Lenton; County:  Nottinghamshire; Enumeration District:  5; Folio:  5; Page:  2; Line:  1; GSU roll:  438905. Ancestry.com. 1841 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Doc # Godfrey 24,  6/30/2012

[6] 1851 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1851. Class: HO107; Piece: 2145; Civil Parish: Heage; County: Derbyshire; Enumeration District: 1c; Folio: 61; Page: 10; GSU roll: 87776-87777.  Doc # Godfrey 22

[7] England & Wales, FreeBMD marriage Index: 1837-1915; General Register Office.  England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes, London, England; FreeBMD, Ancestry.com  May 12, 2011

[8] Family Group Sheet for Godfrey Litchfield prepared by Great granddaughter-in-law, Beulah Lichfield Doc # Lichfield  14 & 15

[9] Ancestry.com. Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2009.  Original data: Victoria. Inward Overseas Passenger Lists (British Ports). Microfiche VPRS 7666, copy of VRPS 947. Public Record Office Victoria, North Melbourne, Victoria. Doc # Godfrey 4,  Jan 23 2012

[10] 1861 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1861. Doc # Godfrey 23, May 9, 2012

[11] Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls); Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36; National Archives, Washington, D.C. ; Year: 1861; Arrival: New York; Microfilm Serial: M237; Microfilm Roll: M237_211; Line: 6; List Number: 452; Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Doc # 25,  6/30/2012

[12] New.familysearch.org, William Litchfield (1853-1924), Doc # Godfrey 13, Feb 2, 2012

[13] Joseph Lichfield and his descendents spell Litchfield without the “t”.  His brother William and his descendents use the “t” in Litchfield.  As I have search the records sometimes the name is without a “t” and sometimes with a “t”.  When I was fortunate enough to find an actual signature, the name was spelt with a “t”.  For consistency, I have used a ‘t” for all records except for Joseph and his family since they definitely did not use a “t” in their name.

[14] Family Group Sheet for Godfrey Litchfield prepared by Great granddaughter-in-law, Beulah Lichfield (Doc Lichfield  14,15) and New.familysearch.org Joseph Thomas Lichfield (1859-1938), Doc # Godfrey 12

[15] Godfrey Lichfield, tombstone inscription. St Pauls Church Yard, Papanui, Christchurch, New  Zealand.  Extracted by Helen Stevens, 45 A Corson Ave, Beckenham, Christchurch, 2, New Zealand. Doc # Godfrey 15

[16] Dorothy Sarah Jennison Litchfield, Death Index, Bureau of Vital Statistics. Utah Death Index, 1847-1966. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Utah Department of Health. Utah Death Registers, 1847-1966 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Doc # Godfrey 16, 17 April, 11, 2012

[17] William Lichfield, death information, new.familysearch.org, Doc # Godfrey,  17 April, 11, 2012

[18] Joseph Thomas Lichfield, Death Index, Bureau of Vital Statistics. Utah Death Index, 1847-1966. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Utah Department of Health. Utah Death Registers, 1847-1966 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Doc # Godfrey 19, 17 April, 11, 2012

[19] Church of England, Chapelry of Heage (Derbyshire), Baptism Register, FHL British microfilm 1041436, Doc # Godfrey 6

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