William Goulder, 1637, Elizabeth City County, Virginia

The William Goulder that lived in Elizabeth City County, Virginia, in 1637 appears to have been a servant to Edward Abbes. At the time that Abbes died, he wrote in his last will and testament (LWT): “To William Goulder, my man, one year and a half of his time in case my wife and child be dead.” This would appear to imply that one and 1/2 years of William Goulder’s seven (7) year standard servitude could be forgiven. If so, Goulder would have been in Virginia since at least 1633.

There is a published claim that William Goulder of Elizabeth City had been in Virginia for some years prior to 1635, went to New York on an expedition which failed, and returned to Virginia before moving off again to Long Island, New York. There is no evidence for this, real or circumstantial. 

>> William Goulder of Elizabeth City was a servant to Edward Abbes in 1635. Was not a free soul in charge of his own life in 1635.^[1]Last Will and Testament of Edward Abbes publicly avialable in Virginia Archives: … Continue reading

What became of the William Goulder in Virginian Edward Abbes’ 1637 LWT: We do not know. There is no further mention of him in any Virginia record. Goulder is phonetically the same as Goalder. A Goalder family is known to have settled in Middlesex County, Virginia, with some roots in Elizabeth City, Virginia (Christopher Golden, aka Christopher Goulding or Xtopher Goulding). These Goalder appear to have become permanently surnamed Golden in Christchurch Parish, Virginia, by 1708 when Thomas Goalder / Golden married Elizabeth Gore on 8 November at Christchurch Parish.^[2]Christchurch Parish Register, Page 81: Marriage of Thomas Golden and Eliza Goare (Gore) on 12 Jan 1708 per the Christchurch Parish registry, which still exists today in the archives of the … Continue reading

As for the William Goulder that arrived in Virginia in 1635 on 21st of August aboard the ship George: His age was listed as 22, so born about 1613. 1635’s William Goulder settled by June 1644 at Gravesend (now Brooklyn, New York) where he married Anna Catharyn Smit(h) (1623–1672). What he did in life between 1635-1644 is not recorded in any known documentation.

The claim that William Goulder participated in the Virginia 1635 expedition to occupy a Dutch trading post called Fort Nassau in New Jersey is undocumented. Of the 14-15 Virginia colonists that attempted to take over Fort Nassau, only two names are known of members of this expedition: George Holmes and his indentured servant, Thomas Hall. They were reported to have been returned to Virginia.

Goldens Identified in Documentation Before 1700