FOURTH GENERATION


8. Guni HOAD was born on 17 Apr 1842 in Rudgwick Sussex.(13) He died on 30 Apr 1900 in Brighton Sussex.(14) Guni's life proved difficult to follow, surprisingly in view of the fact that he was the only person with that name to be found on the 1881 census. He was the last of four children born to his father's second wife Leah Lanaway, but had 9 half-brothers and sisters by his father's first wife Ann Phillpott. Like his father he started out in life as a domestic coachman but by 1881 he was working on the Railway, the London, Brighton and Southern to be exact. He had married his wife Mary Hill in 1870 at St Nicholas Church Brighton.
One or the other of his parents, probably Thomas, must have been a keen Biblical scholar, as there are only two Guni's mentioned in the Bible, and I could find no reference to the name outside of that. One Guni was a son o f Naphtall, who in turn was one of the 12 sons of Jacob, and he is mentioned in Genesis 46.24. The other Biblical Guni is of the tribe of Gad and is found in 1 Chronicles, chapter 5 verses 14-15. The meaning of the name is uncertain, some sources say that it means "dyed" but others say " protected" or " my defender" I would love to be able to say that this comes from my own scholarship,but I am deeply indebted to Mr David Lamb of Sussex who was kind enough to give me these details regarding the name and it is his scholarship which is to be admired. He was married to Mary HILL on 19 Jun 1870 in Brighton Sussex.(15) Mary was born in Plaistow next Kirdford, Sussex which is just two parishes away from Guni's home Parish of Rudgwick. She proved difficult to trace as her birth place had been given as Plaistow ESSEX, an understandable error. There was a daughter born 4 years before the marriage, who was baptised as Mary Hoad HILL at Kirdford, leaving little doubt as to her parentage, and this child shows on the 1881 Census as Mary HOAD, a full and acknowledged member of the family.There is no explanation at the present time as to why there was no marriage at the time of Mary's birth, but no doubt Examination Papers etc will give an answer if they can be found. They went on to be married in 1870 when Mary was already pregnant with Thomas, so perhaps it was felt that Guni was not capable of taking up such responsibility at the time of Mary's birth

9. Mary HILL was born on 14 Feb 1841 in Kirdford Sussex. She died on 14 Sep 1900 in Steyning Sussex.(2) In 1881 Mary is living with Guni, who at that time was a General Labourer on the LBS Railway, at 26 Brigden Street, Preston, Brighton Sussex, together wioth the children, Mary 14, Thomas 10, George 8, Charles 6 and little Amy at 1 year old. Children were:

child i. Mary HOAD HILL was born on 18 Nov 1866 in Kirdford Sussex. (16) Mary was actually born in 1866, four years before the marriage between her mother and Guni, and her baptismal name was entered as Mary Hoad HILL.
child4 ii. Thomas HOAD.
child iii. George E HOAD was born in 1873 in Brighton Sussex.
child iv. Charles W HOAD was born in 1875 in Brighton Sussex. He appeared on the census in 1901.(17) In 1901 Charles was living with his brother Thomas and his wife Susan in Preston. His mother and father having died the year prior to the census and Charles being apparently single, it might have made good economic sense. His occupation at the time is given as Railway Worker, the same as his father Guni.
child v. Amy HOAD was born in 1880 in Sussex. She was Attendance at mother's death on 14 Sep 1900 in Preston Brighton.(18) According to the Death Certificate for Mary HOAD, Amy's mother, Amy was the informant, having been presumably present at her Mother's death on 14th September 1900. Mary herself had died at the home of her son Thomas and his wife Susan of Uterine Carcinoma, having obviously gone there after the death of her husband Guni in the previous April. She would have been very ill herself at that time as the attending doctor gives a 3year duration of the cancer.

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