Not sure where you are? Use the trail of links above the title of this page (called breadcrumbs) or visit The Goodwin Family Book Outline.

The English origins of Andrew Goodwin are currently unknown. Until recently there were only two notable attempts to reconstruct his family. The first was by Judy Summers, a Goodwin descendant and researcher, who documented in The Kildare Carrolls of Circular Head that Andrew’s parents were John and Mary Goodwin. Unfortunately no such birth or baptism registration has been found, and Judy had no corroborating evidence to support this assertion.1

The second was by Dorothy Walker, another Goodwin descendant, who made a scan of the indexes available for the period of Andrew’s projected birth range, and who believed the family of Samuel Goodwin and Mary Wallner might represent Andrew’s parents. They were married on 9 November 1765 in Leek, Staffordshire, England.2 They had six children, all christened at Hole House, Leek, Stafford as follows: Mary GOODWIN: chr 22 Feb 1766, Andrew GOODWIN: chr 4 Jan 1767, Ruth GOODWIN: chr 18 Nov 1770, Samuel GOODWIN: chr 9 Jan 1771, William GOODWIN: chr 22 Mar 1772, Hannah GOODWIN: chr 3 Feb 1773.3 Only Mary and Andrew of the children’s names were used in Andrew’s later family however, and Leek, Staffordshire is quite a way from London. There is no corroborating evidence to support linking to this family. The indexes are incomplete and those entries that have been recorded refer to original material that has more detail but that has still not been sighted.

A further claim, without linking to an ancestral family, claimed a potential relationship between Andrew Goodwin and Edward Goodwin, his fellow first fleeter and co-habitant on the convict transport the Scarborough:

We have a document in the Goodin Line where Olivia and Nathaniel's great grand daughter (mother Matha Lucas (daughter of William) lived with Olivia), Mary Jane Goodin (Mrs. Lucas), mentioned that her father (William Goodin) had an "Uncle Andrew". William's father, first fleeter, Edward Goodin, certainly did have a brother named Andrew. The births of both Edward and Andrew were recorded the London Lying in Hospital to the same parents, Edward Goodin and Mary Savage (Servige). Some researchers have believed that first fleeter, Andrew Goodwin, alias Goodin, was this person. They were of the same age. However, Mary Jane, who was my great grandfather's sister, said that Uncle Andrew was a sea Captain. The first fleeter was a farmer.4

Just recently, in support of that latter claim, baptism records for an Andrew and an Edward Goodwin to the same parents have been revealed in the records of the London Metropolitan Archives. The parents, William Goodwin and Mary Hood, were married in St. Andrew's in Holborn on 19 July 1762. Both were recorded as "of this parish" and could sign their names. Thomas Taylor was the curate who performed the service, and William Hood and George Brown were witnesses.5 Their known children were Andrew Goodin, baptised 16 September 1764, Edward Goodin, baptised 14 December 1765, and Robert Goodin, baptised 3 April 1768, all at St. Mary's, Islington to William and Margaret Goodin.6

William and Margaret are an excellent match as the parents for both Andrew and Edward, the later convicts. The two men's ages match the baptism records within reasonable limits, and their crimes were committed in the Islington-Holborn area. The surname Goodin also explains the many apparent misspellings of the men's surnames once they entered the justice system, and for their subsequent children in the colonies. If the later convicts were the children of William and Margaret, it must have been a source of considerable anguish to their parents that both sons had been transported to the antipodes. There are additional factors that do not support the links however. William and Margaret Goodin could write, and so were presumably educated. What caused their children to become petty criminals? If Andrew and Edward were related, why did they apparently cease any association once they were in the colonies?

At this point we don't have answers to these questions. Beyond this tentative association there is little more detail. From this point on we can will have to move away from conjecture and begin to tell the historical story, starting with the known details of Andrew's life, his trial.

• 1. Summers, Judy: The Kildare Carrolls of Circular Head; Privately Published. 2002 and Email Correspondence to John Horton, 1998
• 2. IGI Batch No. F449764 and A457988 and 7710822
• 3. IGI Batch No. 7511826 and F449764
• 4. Donohoe, James: Nathaniel Lucas & Olivia Gascoigne http://www.jdark.linkt.com.au/ Viewed 18 May 2010
• 5. Ancestry.com. London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921; Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1754-1921. London Metropolitan Archives, London, England.
• 6. Ancestry.com. London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812; Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London Metropolitan Archives, London, England.