I first became interested in my family tree when I noticed my family name when using nineteenth  century censuses as a research source in my undergraduate days: this was during the late 1970s.   For the next two decades, my research – broadened to encompass (what was to become) my wife’s  family – was sporadic and limited in scope.  It was no more than a hobby and I could not have  envisaged the opportunities that developments in information technology would bring.  For that  reason, my early research is devoid of precise citations. This site, then, grew out of that research and is a replacement  to as website created in the free web space provided by an internet service provider.  Its content was a mixture of my own research and the contributions of people who provided information having  visited that website.  In 2021, I took the decision to use the family tree functionality provided elsewhere and I now develop my tree on that website in preference to that website.  As such, it is my intention to import that tree to this website from time-to-time.

The Goldsmith family and the Gilbert family form the heart of these pages.  Both of these families,  so far as present knowledge tells us, are firmly rooted in Kent but just as those who married into  these families were not necessarily from Kent, nor indeed from any part of the United Kingdom, the  same applies to those whom they married and the places to which they moved, occasionally because  the British judicial system was so disposed to relocate them.  Mostly the people listed here are  blood relatives to one another, but that is not always the case.  Some may find my style of  presentation less than orthodox but the reality is that time does not allow me to correct methodological errors in research that I have previously  undertaken.  In order to see detail concerning living people (which includes anyone who was born  less than one hundred years before being listed here, unless I had certain knowledge that they had  died) you will need the Security Access Code, which you may obtain by contacting me if you are family, or have a  strong connection to me.

The scope of this project is boundless, but more importantly it is a hobby and as such how much  work I put into it remains very much at my discretion.  As such, whilst I welcome any feedback –  either to add to the information already contained herein or to correct any mistakes that I may  have made – any apparent lack of response has no significance whatsoever and will,  eventually, be corrected.  This seems an appropriate moment to thank numerous people who have  variously provided advice and information.  These people must be headed by Nigel May (visit his  Tribal Pages at http://themayfamily.tribalpages.com) whose own researches (which had been aided by  those of Edward Walter Airs) unlocked the Bates family history that of my paternal grandmother) to  me.  Other people who have helped, to varying extents, are: Susan Adkins, Keith Ashby, Michele  Austin, Chris Barham, Robin Bell, Lynne Berntsson, Barbara Bisby, Gwen Earl, Clive Elliott, Mike  Evans, Gregg Fautley, Raymond Fautley, Nora Field, Robert Fuller, Marilynn Geesink, Judith Gilbert,  Barbara de Goede, Joyce Greaves, Julie Hunt, Dr John Jennings, Bill Johnson, Sandy Johnstone,  Elizabeth Kerrey, Norma Kyson, Theresa Lafleche,  Chris Levy, Susan Lewis, Nicola Medhurst, Mike  Merrick, Zack Miranda, Jennifer Neale, Kenneth Pearson, Chris Pennington, Jenny Plumb, Marcia  Povey, Andrew Putler, Simon Ranson, Robert Skrepenek, Wendy Sheppard, Anne Shuttleworth, Bernard  Dow Schaffer III, Sandra Walker, Lozzie T, Kay Williams, and David Williams.  I apologise for any  omissions from this list, which will be corrected if I am given the opportunity.

Now that you have visited – and hopefully found it both interesting or helpful (or perhaps you did  not) – please leave your comments in the Guest Book.

Steve Goldsmith