More about the lineages of Christopher L. Gosset and Guillermo Gosset-Lagarda

Clearly, as the YDNA results will show, we are very interested in the assessing the degree of confidence we should have in the descent of either Christopher L. Gosset or Guillermo Gosset-Lagarda from Jean the Huguenot of Jersey Isle.  We sought their participation in our project because they are two living Gossets who -- on paper at least -- appear to descend from Jean via descendants who remained in England for generations after the two brothers (Jean and Pierre) supposedly immigrated to America.  [Christopher's lineage can be viewed here, and Guillermo's, here.]  Both lineages pass through Jean's grandson Isaac (1713-1799), a prominent wax-modeler who had moved from Jersey Isle to London; and through Isaac's grandson Isaac Gosset (1782-1855), Vicar of Datchett and a Royal Chaplain.  Isaac (b 1782), a great-great-grandson of Jean the Huguenot, is the claimed MRCA of Christopher and Guillermo;  Christopher is four generations from Isaac and wife, Dorothea Sophia Banks Lind;  Guillermo is five generations from them.   Of the two modern descendants, Christopher L. appears to have the stronger, paper-trail evidence of descent from Jean the Huguenot -- stronger, mostly, because Christopher's ancestors remained in England where evidence is relatively easily obtained.

Obviously, both modern descendants share the same paper-trail from Jean the Huguenot to Isaac (b 1782). Members of these early generations were prominent and wealthy.  While there is always the possibility of what genealogists delicately call "a non-paternity event" (NPE), the paper-trail evidence, at least, is quite strong, owing to the prominence of these family-members.  For example, the wills of the descendants living in England -- Isaac (1713-1799), his son Isaac (1745-1812), and his grandson Isaac  (1782-1855) -- were all proved by the highest court in England and Wales, the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PROB11-1344, -1539, and -2206, respectively).  Census records are, of course, available in the later years, as are birth indices. From Isaac (b 1782) onward, the two lineages diverge.

Christopher L. Gosset of the UK (with his detailed lineage) is specifically listed in Burke's The Landed Gentry (which by itself, of course, is no guarantee of accuracy) However, in Christopher's case, his lineage from Isaac (b 1782) to the present generation is supported by ample legal and other records (e.g., wills, census records, birth indices, etc.).

Guillermo's great-grandfather, Moncrieff Parry Gosset (1857-1930), is listed in Burke's, but that line's listing ends with him -- which, by itself, means little.  Unfortunately for genealogists who like to examine census records for evidence of relationships, Moncrieff Parry was a mining engineer who traveled extensively, apparently without his wife's accompanying him (since she does not appear with him on passenger lists and records of border-crossings).  There is an astonishing number of records of him on passenger lists from trans-Atlantic voyages -- and it is therefore amazing that he can be found at all on English census forms, though in a few cases he can.  Guillermo's genealogy shows descent from Donald Lind Gosset (b 1887), whom Guillermo lists as a son of Moncrieff Parry Gosset. Donald would have been 4 years old at the 1891 census and 14 years old at the 1901 census. However, both census records -- while they show Moncrieff Parry Gosset, his wife Wilhemina, and servants -- do not show any children in the households [RG12/765, fol. 138, p. 38;  and RG13/440, fol. 136, p. 10]

We found one intriguing USA census record from 1900 (Year: 1900; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: T623 106; Page: 12B), listing "Donald Gosset" as a 13-yo English-national, residing in the house of a mining engineer surnamed Hutchings.  It is therefore possible that Moncrieff Parry sent his young son off to a colleague for his engineering training/apprenticeship;  or that Moncrieff was visiting a colleague in San Franciso with his son, but Moncrieff happened to be absent at the moment the census was taken.  However, the presence of Moncrieff Parry and the absence of Donald Lind from the 1901 English census lends circumstantial support to the hypothesis that Donald was in San Francisco by himself, and for more than a short visit.  Indeed, the 1900 USA census in San Francisco lists Donald as having arrived the year before.  And, he is listed with two other young Gosset males from England (Gordon, 16 yo, and Hugh 14 yo -- who, according to Ignacio Guillermo Gosset Osuna, were Donald's two brothers and sons of Moncrieff Parry).

We also found a passenger listing for a "Donald J. Gosset,"  6 years of age, arriving New York on 22 Sept 1893 on a ship from Southampton, England.  The entry above his?   "Parry Gosset," 33 years of age, with "miner" as his occupation. Both are listed as English citizens, with Mexico as their final destination [Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls); Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]. 

In his young-adult years, Donald Lind Gosset (b 1887) can be found on innumerable records of border-crossings between the USA and Mexico, as well as on many passenger lists of trans-Atlantic voyages from England to America. Our point?  The circumstantial evidence certainly supports Guillermo's listed genealogy.   The only reason we would consider Christopher's to be the lineage with the stronger supporting evidence would be on account of his ancestors having largely remained in one place, and therefore the easier to track.  Additionally, we note that Christopher is one less generation removed from Isaac (b 1782) than is Guillermo.