The Ann (DAWES) GOLD Family

Ann DAWES was born 26 May 1863 in Brighton. She married William Pettet GOLD (1856-1918) 27 Feb 1884 in Brighton. They had 5 children and I am in contact with living relatives of this line. Ann died at age 61 on 14 March 1924 of a pulmonary embolism.

(Below: William GOLD & Ann DAWES)

The William (2) DAWES Line

William DAWES was born 02 March 1861 in Kemp Town, Brighton and married Mary Ann GOLDSMITH (1864-1933) on 28 Dec 1881 in Brighton. They had seven children with a gap of 9 years between the last two, Ernest and Leslie. All their children went on to have families except for William who died in WWI at age 23 and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery and Alfred b. 1896 who appears in the 1901 and 1911 censuses but for whom nothing further is known except that he was discharged from the army in 1916 as being "no longer physically fit."

(L-R below) William (1894-1917); Leslie Edward (1909-1964)

The Joseph DAWES Line

Joseph was the first child of Thomas DAWES (1809-1851) and Ann LANGRIDGE (1814-1876). He was born in 1835 (baptised 08 Nov 1835 at Holy Cross Church, Uckfield) but this was before civil registration started so his actual birth date is unknown. His parents were married a year before on 10 Nov 1834 in Lewes.

Joseph married Elizabeth WALLER (1836-1915) on 11 Oct 1856 in Ditchling, Sussex. They had two children, William b. 1861 and Ann b. 1863.

Joseph died on 01 Jan 1874 at age 39 in the Sussex Lunatic Asylum of Progressive Paralysis. Was this an early term for MS or ALS?

Elizabeth re-married William MANN (1877 - Brighton) but had no further children.

The BARTON Family

William and Elizabeth DAWES' other daughter who married was Charlotte (1838-1914). She married Thomas BARTON (1839-1927) 1861 in Uckfield. Jonathon and Thomas both married and added new BARTON's to the family while Elizabeth married a HOLFORD adding a new name to the mix.

The GURR Family

William and Elizabeth Dawes' oldest child Elizabeth (1828-1883) married George GURR (1831-1896) in 1850 in Uckfield. They had a family of 6 children several of which lived into the twentieth century.

George's death is still in question as the only match in the GRO index that makes any sense is an 1896 one in Sevenoaks, Kent where the George GURR who died is 68 putting his birth year 1828 vs. 1831 as indicated by the census returns.

Sons William and George produced a total of thirteen new Gurrs while Sarah Ann married George BILLINGS adding a new surname to the mix with their 7 children.

In the chart to the left you'll see some codes which are explained at the front of this blog but basically © followed by a year means that I have found the individual in the associated census. GRO is followed by the GRO Index reference to order the associated registration certificate.

The Three Unknown DAWES Women

There are three DAWES daughters of Thomas "the labourer" and Elizabeth for which no further information is known.




Susannah is the first b. 1807 in Hadlow, Kent. She doesn't turn up in any census records under Dawes although by 1841 she would have been 34 and likely married. There is no death registration for her either but that didn't start until 1837 so again a lot could have happened in the thirty years between 1807 and 1837. The next order of business is to search for burial records in Hadlow, East Peckham and Uckfield.





Mary was born in East Peckham, Kent in 1819 according to the parish church baptisms held a the Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone. No further information is known about her as she doesn't turn up in any census records or civil registrations.





The final unknown is Harriett b. 1829 Uckfield, Sussex which is 8 years after her brother George. Harriett is the only child to be born in Uckfield and would make her mother, Elizabeth, 46 years old at the time. Therefore, it is possible that Harriett is the child of another DAWES family or one of their children although my source for her birth is her baptism on 01 March 1829 to Thomas DAW (labourer) and Elizabeth at Holy Cross Church, Uckfield. It is also possible that she was born before 1829 and only baptised after the family settled in Uckfield. In the 1841 census, Harriett is shown living with the family of her older brother Thomas "the bricklayer" while her parents were living with her oldest brother William. By 1851, she is an under-kitchenmaid in service in the village of Glynde near Lewes.

The civil death registrations have a death for a Harriett Dawes in Hailsham in 1853. This is a case where her death certificate needs to be ordered to confirm her parents.

The Sarah DAWES Line

Sarah (b. 1811) was the last of the family to be born in Hadlow, Kent before the family moved to East Peckham, Kent. Sarah is believed to have had an illegitimate daughter, Eliza, about 1840 in Uckfield. Eliza went on to marry James MOON in 1857 Uckfield although there is no further infromation on this family. Sarah is believed to have died in Uckfield in 1864 still unmarried.