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2025 Week 26 : Favourite name #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

 As well as researching my own family, one of the other trees I have spent a lot of time on is that of my daughter-in-law, Lucy. Whereas my heritage is Scots and Irish, Lucy's is English and therefore some of the names I came across were quite different to those found in my own tree.

One of my first favourites was a Francis Badger who appeared in the 1851 census for England! He wasn't actually a relative, but an apprentice to Lucy's 3 x great grandfather and who also lodged with the family.  I did wonder how that  surname came about - did the original Badger have  a funnily shaped face? or perhaps a white streak through his hair?? Or was he just an annoying person?? I'll never know, but it was fun to find him!

Francis Badger's entry at the bottom in the 1851 census for England. Source: Ancestry.co.uk

However, my all time favourite name - and character - from Lucy's tree is a man named Golden Bridge! He is Lucy's 5x great grandfather and he was born in Essex in 1786.
By 1807, Golden had one daughter and, five years later, he got married and went on to have another two daughters. I am not sure how much time Golden spent with his family as they grew up. By April of 1820, he was up in court in Essex facing the charge of larceny, for which he got a six month jail sentence.
His prison stretch did not seem to deter him, as in 1825 he was mentioned on the front page of the Chelmsford Chronicle - he had "absconded" - one definition being "to leave hurriedly or in secret, typically to avoid arrest or to escape from custody" - leaving his family behind. (He now seemed to have a total of six children). This seems to have been a big deal as there was a reward of £5 offered for his recapture.
The description given of him in the article below suggests he was a very unique and colourful character in more ways than one.

Source: uploaded onto Ancestry.co.uk by a member

Golden obviously didn't stay 'absconded' for long, as he went on to have three more children with his wife Hannah, between 1826 and 1831. 

Perhaps there is still more to be found out about this interesting 'criminal' character!
Bad luck Francis Badger -  the name of Golden Bridge is my all time favourite!



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