William Leftridge Golding, 1598-1648/73/80, never existed

Golding/Golden/Goulding et al Family History on Facebook


MysteryWilliam Leftridge Golding of 1598, who was supposedly born in Lincolnshire, England never existed. Neither did his wife Dollie Illene.

Many online genealogies since the 1990s have listed William Leftridge Golding, born in 1598 as a son of Percival Golding Sr. (son of the famous Arthur Golding), as dying in either 1648 or 1673 or 1680 in Massachusetts or Virginia.

As to whether a William Golding was born in 1598 at Lincolnshire, England: this is possible but I know of no record of such a birth.

Percival Sr did have a son named William. No record of his birth year exists.

At this time my theory is that he was the Reverend William Golding who immigrated with his two brothers Percival Jr., and Gideon to the Somers Isles (Bermuda) before immigrating again to the Massachusetts Bay Colony about 1638.

NOTE: There is some controversy as to whether the Rev William Golding that went to Bermuda and cofounded the colony of Eleuthera was the son of Percival Golding.

Percival Jr and Gideon were the sons of Percival Golding, Sr., son of Arthur Golding. My theory is that the Rev William Golding died about 1648 and had an orphaned son named John that came with the Richard Ripley family as an indentured servant or adoptee to Gloucester, Virginia in 1651. Will explore this more in another discussion. Other researchers have looked at this and it all is a great mystery.

NOTE: The Percival Golding line is believed to be YDNA type: ‘I1’ (I-M253, I1a2a2a3a4, I-Y7232).

An Imaginary Family Related to an Actual Golden Family

There are easily 15-20 Golding/Golden family histories on the Internet, and on websites like Ancestry.com and other such websites, that claim that there was a William Leftridge Golding born in 1598 in Lincolnshire. They say that he had a wife named Dollie Illene (1594–1654), two sons: John (1640-1684) and William Wayne (1635-1684), and a daughter named Dorothy (1635-1695).

There is no evidence for any of the above persons with those names being in the same family as having ever been born, lived or died … at least not before 1909.

There is an actual William Leftridge Golden (1909-2001), with a wife named Dollie Alene Culligan (1914-1979) and they did have a son named William Wayne Golden (1948-1984).

W L Goldan (sic) married Dollie Culligan 29 Jul 1930 at Ouachita, Arkansas with residence at Bearden, Ouachita, Arkansas

William and Dollie had a number of children, listed on Ancestry.com

One male descendant of this family has taken a YDNA test, which shows descent from the William Golding (c1704-1782) and Elizabeth Foster (c1704-1775) line.

My Relationship to Real William Leftridge Golden

I am not directly related. Due to intermarriage between Goldings and Goldens via other families, William Leftridge Golden is my 1st cousin 3x removed of husband of 4th cousin 5x removed (see end of this page for how we connect).

Family Relationships

Origin of Error / Blending Two Williams Into One

This error appears to have started with a single genealogy on One World Tree, which takes different genealogies and combines people with the same name. Family histories that list William Leftridge Golding will often show One World Tree as their source.

How members of the real family of William Leftridge Golden got transposed within genealogies to being a 17th century family is beyond me … a telling error of the many genealogies list that William of 1598 is that he supposedly died in Arkansas … and they sometimes list him as dying in 2001 … which is 403 years between birth and death.

2001 is the year of the actual William Leftridge Golden’s death. There is a FindAGrave memorial to him and his family online. If you are an Ancestry user, there are many photos of the real William Leftridge Golden and his family online.

My Relationship to William Leftridge Golden

William Leftridge Golden is my 1st cousin 3x removed of husband of 4th cousin 5x removed

William Henry “Hinker” Golden (1880 – 1973)

William Reuben Golden (1859 – 1942)
father of William Henry “Hinker” Golden

James Oliver Golden (1817 – 1902)
father of William Reuben Golden

Reuben Golding (1783 – 1850)
father of James Oliver Golden

Richard Golding  (1744 – 1788)
father of Reuben Golding

William Golding (1772 – 1848)
son of Richard Golding Rev War

John Taliaferro Golden (1806 – 1880)
son of William Golding

Sarah Ann Lewis (1813 – 1894)
wife of John Taliaferro Golden Rev ME Clergy

John Taliaferro Lewis (1787 – 1832)
father of Sarah Ann Lewis

John Taliaferro Lewis (1757 – 1840)
father of John Taliaferro Lewis

John Terrell Lewis (1728 – 1784)
father of John Taliaferro Lewis Major

David Lewis (1685 – 1778)
father of John Terrell Lewis

John Lewis III, Col (1669 – 1725)
father of David Lewis

Martha Anne Lewis (1712 – 1764)
daughter of John Lewis III, Col

Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Clay (1735 – 1793)
daughter of Martha Anne Lewis

Richard Belcher (Belshaw) (1766 – 1829)
son of Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Clay

John Horton Belcher Sr (1797 – 1882)
son of Richard Belcher (Belshaw)

John Horton Belcher (1831 – 1912)
son of John Horton Belcher Sr

Thomas Richard Belcher (1852 – 1922)
son of John Horton Belcher

John Allen Belcher (1875 – 1957)
son of Thomas Richard Belcher

Readie Mae Belcher (1907 – 1993)
daughter of John Allen Belcher

John Henry Golden (1934 – 2001)
son of Readie Mae Belcher

William David Golden
son of John Henry Golden

 


You are welcome to add to or to correct this story by contacting: Bill Golden, Norfolk1956@gmail.com

BTW – I look forward to sharing your stories, photos and in-search-of quests. Contact me at the email address above.

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