John Gooby and Harold Eugene Gooby

I have a group of birth, marriage and death certificates for John Gooby and his son Harold Eugene Gooby that were apparently being discarded.

John Gooby was born in 21 November 1858 in Stretham, Cambridgeshire, the son of John Gooby, a farm labourer, and Hannah Pledger. 

By 1881, John was in London, lodging in Church Street, Tottenham, and working as a railway porter. He married Esther Dean in 1881 – but a year later Esther died aged 21. 

On Christmas Day 1890, John married Louisa Souerwine. By 1901 they had moved to Boundary Road, Barking and had a son, Harold Eugene Gooby, born 1891.

John died on 17 August 1937, aged 77 and was buried in Barking Cemetery. The arrangements were handled by B. Wallis & Son:

Their son Harold Eugne Gooby died on 30 September 1943, aged 52. The death certificate records the cause of death as: "Multiple Injuries and shock caused by being knocked from his bicycle by an unknown vehicle in New Road. Accidental death.”

The Chelmsford Chronicle dated 8 October 1943 reported the events under a title “Champion Cyclist Killed”:

Source: British Newspaper Archive

Gooby is not common surname. In the 1881 census there were only 110 occurrences of the name - and the highest number was in Cambridgeshire (42 of 110), centered around Ely.

Source: Surname Atlas (Archer Software)

I would be interested to know more about the Goobys and would be happy to share details of the certificates with anyone interested.