Origins in England

Golding of England
Tracing Multiple Family Lines
The Golding Family of Glemsford
Golding of Essex
The family of John "of Essex" Golding

There are a number of different family lines in England with surnames that sound similar to Golding, Goulding or Goldinge. Some like the Golding family of Glemsford, Poslingford, Essex and Suffolk were prominent families, connected to other wealthy and influential families of their time while others family lines can for the most part only be found only in the Births, Deaths and Marriage records of specific counties.

This first section of Gaulding Origins traces the family lines of the GOLDING FAMILY, a line that began to emerge in the records during the Middle Ages in Glemsford. They were cloth merchants and they eventually became wealthy and connected to the aristocracy of England.

I believe this to be an entirely different family than the unknown (to date) family of John Gaulding of New Kent, Virginia, so the information presented is for information only. Their story is no less interesting because of the fact that they have no genetic link with the Virginia Gaulding family. They did in fact play an instrumental part in the establishment of the colony in Virginia, at least through family connections in the Suffolk line of the same family.

By the mid 1500’s there were basically two branches of the Golding family, descendants of the cloth merchants of Glemsford. They were in Suffolk and in Essex Counties in England.

The Suffolk Branch – were associated by marriage and other connections to the primary founders of the Virginia Company. Bartholomew Gosnold, the Captain of the Godspeed to Jamestown married one of the daughters of this family.

The Essex Branch – These were the descendants of John “of Essex” Golding and through the marriage of his daughter Margery, the Golding family became associated with the powerful De Vere family. The Essex Branch was also connected to the Wingfields, the Gosnold Family and Sir William Cornwallis. They were among other prominent people who played an instrumental role in creating the Virginia Company. Arthur Golding the Translator was a member of this branch and his descendant eventually settled in New York. Louis Thorne Golding, the author of the most comprehensive biography about Arthur Golding proved his direct connection.

That there is no DNA connection between Gaulding of Virginia and the Golding family of Suffolk and Essex comes from Mags Gaulden, who is a genetic genealogist.

Mags Gaulden has concluded through her research that John Gaulding may have come from the area around Manchester, England or Birmingham. The Golding family were centered around Bury St. Edmunds.