The Gouge Sisters

The Gouge sisters were Matilda Gouge (1870-1930) and Alice Gouge (1873-1921). The paperwork I acquired in October 2021 mainly concern lands and probate records at Hereford.

Matilda Gouge was born in 1870 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, her father, Edward, was 30, and her mother, Eliza, was 27. She married Trevor Wynne on 20 October 1915 in Flintshire (born in 1888 in Caergwrle, Flintshire, his father, Thomas, was 40 and his mother, Ellen, was 37. He died in April 1957 in Cheshire at the age of 69). Matilda died in January 1930 in Worcester, Worcestershire, at the age of 60.

Alice Gouge was born in 1873 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, her father, Edward, was 33, and her mother, Eliza, was 30. She had one brother and one sister. She died, unmarried, in April 1921 at the age of 48.

They had a brother, Edward Gouge was born in 1869, his father, Edward, was 29 and his mother, Eliza, was 26. He was married in April 1896 in Aston, Warwickshire. He died in April 1928 in Hereford, Herefordshire, at the age of 59.

Their mother, Eliza Gouge (Parlor), died in 1912, leaving Alice and Matilda to sort out the copyhold* of the small farm (Parlor’s Farm), other lands and Eliza’s probate.  This process took about five years. The archive is fascinating reading and you can feel the frustration caused by individuals and lawyers throughout.

Their basic family history research is here:

Scans of correspondence here:

The will of their mother, Eliza Gouge.
Scans of correspondence and other archive here (page two) here.

Into the 21st century:

Planning permission to convert the property in 2009, here.
Parlours Barn currently here

*copyhold, in English law, a form of landholding defined as a “holding at the will of the lord according to the custom of the manor.” Its origin is found in the occupation by villeins, or nonfreemen, of portions of land belonging to the manor of the feudal lord (source here).