Monday, February 29, 2016

Lionel Goodwin 1891- 1957- and the 2nd cousin connection.

Today I chose to do a layout on Lionel Goodwin, one of my Great Grandfather Phillip's brothers.
3 of the brothers served in World War 1 and their files are available for download from the NZ Archives Archway website.
What was interesting in Lionels file was that he attested for both the first and second world wars.
Addtionally within Lionels file was a letter from an apparent 2nd cousin in Canada who Lionel had visited on his way home from the war in 1919.

This branch of the family was previously unknown to me and despite some intense research I have yet to find the connection between their family and ours.

The letter from Albert Edward Reed is below

The army responded interestingly saying they had had no contact with Lionel since the end of WW1 - most surprising as he had served in the home guard in WW2!!- however they did give him Lionel's correct address in Hastings so I assume that Albert did get in contact with Lionel .

In trying to find a connection between the two families I traced Albert's family back several generations. 
Albert Edward Reed was born in 1883 in Guildford Surrey and emigrated to Canada in 1903.
He was the third child and second son of William Reed, a Primitive Methodist Minister, and Elizabeth Faith Reed, nee Wood. William Reed, born 1850, in Cassop Durham was one of 7 children of parents William Reed (b 1815) and Jane Curry, born 1819 in Slaley, Northumberland.
In researching those children I did in fact discover the relative who migrated to Australia. This was Albert's aunt Isabella, youngest sister of his father William. 
The fact that Albert thought Lionel and his mother Mary Ann might know of Isabella leads me to believe perhaps the relationship may be closer than 2nd cousin - perhaps it lies with one of the other siblings of Albert's father William, but to date I have not found any connection. 
Those children are Anne Reed ( born 1841, Cassop Durham), George Reed, (1842 Cassop, Durham), Robert Reed (b1844 Cassop Durham) , John ( b1846 Cassop, Durham), Frances (b 1847, Cassop Durham) and of course William born 1850 Cassop Durham and Isabella born 1856 Cassop Durham- died 1925 in Queensland Australia)

I managed to trace back one more generation from William Reed ( 1815) and Jane Curry (1819) but to date have not managed to find any siblings for them. 
Their parents were  George Reed and Ann Wilson, and Robert Curry (born 1788 Stolley Lee Northumberland) and wife Frances.

Perhaps one day we will find the connection between the Goodwins and the Reeds but for now it remains a mystery.

Back to Lionel. My layout includes 2 photos found in the Auckland Library Heritage Images website. A relative had a photograph attributed to Lionel and I saw it was a Herman Schmidt photograph so was quickly able to find a copy of it and of a second pose taken at the same time 
The same relative had another photo which he thought was Lionel and his brother William Henry however I am not sure. Unless the photo was taken overseas in France then it would not be possible for it to be Lionel.
 My reasoning is based on the times each of the brothers served. Percy served early in the war, attesting in 1915 and returning home ill and unfit for further service in 1916.
Lionel attested in late 1916 and was shipped off to France in May 1917 and did not return home until June 1919, and William Henry attested in October of 1917 and sadly was killed in service in October 1918. All the brothers look so alike I am not sure we will ever be able to tell, however it could be that the brothers met and had this photograph taken while in France to send back to their mother.
Edit: I thought of another reason for querying whether it was Lionel. Its the man on the left that looks so much like Lionel but he was the shortest of the 3 at 5'4"  Percy was the tallest at 5'8" and William was 5'4 1/4 " -The man on the left does look taller to me than the man on the right - however it could just be camera angle ..

Here is today's layout about Lionel


Journalling reads:
Lionel Goodwin was the 8th child, and 6th son of James and Mary Ann Goodwin. His father died when Lionel was only 7 and as Mary Ann never remarried,he grew up as part of a single parent household without a father.  It is likely he played a great part in helping his mother and brothers run the sharemilking business and with the farm they had purchased before father James died, and with that experience, Lionel like several of his brothers before him went into the Dairy Business .
By age 22 he had moved away from the family home in the Waikato to a farm in Northland where he was the buttermaker and then soon after he became the butter maker at Mokoia in Taranaki.
It appears that early in the course of WW1 Lionel was rejected from service due to a weak back being caused by an injury requiring him to have 6 months off work in 1912,but by 1916 the need for more men must have meant that Lionel’s condition would be accepted and he  enlisted on the 9th December 1916 and his service began on 9th January 1917. According to his attestation papers Lionel was just 5 feet 4 inches and 124lb. Complexion Fair, Eyes Blue and Hair Brown.
He joined the G Co of the 24th Reinforcements  and left for France on July 6th 1917.Lionel spent the rest of the war serving mainly in France, being injured several times requiring hospital admission.
Lionel remained overseas for the duration of the war. He embarked the troop ship Waimana from London on the 10th May 1919. 

On the trip home he apparently visited a 2nd cousin in Canada before arriving home on June 22 1919.
On returning home Lionel returned to his career as a buttermaker, however in 1921 Lionel was caught and charged with stealing over 3000lb of butter, which was later onsold by an accomplice to local businesses. Despite Lionels previous good character he was sentenced to 12 months in prison.  On his release, Lionel married and moved to Hastings where he married and had 4 children.  In 1940 Lionel signed up for service in the 2nd world war. He served in the Home Guard until 1943. Lionel remained in Hastings throughout the rest of his life and died in 1957. He is buried in Hastings Cemetery.




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