Elizabeth Coode

[Pam Downes]

I don't know if any Australian people can provide more information to go with this snippet which could then perhaps be passed on to a FHS.
Elizabeth died 18th May 1902, aged 64 years, and is listed as 'widow of Matthew Coode, of Adelaide, Australia'. She is buried in the New Protestant Cemetery in Naples.

I have no personal connection to either Elizabeth or Matthew.
Pam

[ChristineR]

I had a look in the South Australian BDMs and also Victoria and couldn't see anything for Elizabeth and Matthew COODE, so they may not have married and raised children in those two states in Australia.

[Pam Downes]

Thanks for looking Christine.
I've since looked on the IGI, Ancestral File, and the three census on familysearch.org, and there is not one Matthew Coode listed, anywhere in the world. I think that is really weird as it doesn't sound a particularly unusual name.
The nearest is a Mathew B Coots, married in 1864 to Hannah E. Cooper in Bethel, Sullivan, New York state and then in the 1880 US census living in Bethel with wife Ethel and seven children.
I've also tried the New South Wales and Western Australia onlines indexes, and not a BMD for Mat(t)hew Coode in sight.
Mmmm. Just had a wild thought. I don't know from where the original information was obtained (e.g. gravestone, cenetery register). How about the C actually being a G, so that the name should be Elizabeth Goode?
There's a marriage on the IGI for a Matthew Goode to an Elizabeth Jones in 1853 in Christ Church North Adelaide, though if this is the marriage and the death info is correct then Elizabeth would have only have been 15/16 when she married.
I haven't checked any other countries for Matthew Goode. Think I might email the Malta Family History people to ask if it's possible to double check the name.
Pam

[ChristineR]

I wondered about that too - there were COODE families in Victoria but not Matthew.

I did see the Matthew GOODE and Elizabeth JONES marriage in South Australia and wondered if it is the same couple. Her age given at marriage is 19. Parents names were unrecorded. I discounted it as it appears that the same Matthew might have had two more marriages. I'll look some more into it later tonight when I have time.

:) C

[ChristineR]

My memory failed me - age given as 17 :D

Digger - South Australian Marriages, Registrations 1842-1916

Groom: GOODE
Given names: Matthew
Bride: JONES
Given names: Elizabeth
Date: 1853-12-21
Groom Age: FL
Status: N
Groom's Father: [unrecorded]
Bride Age: 17
Status: S (single)
Bride's Father: [unrecorded]
Place: Christ Church [North] Adelaide
District: Ade (Adelaide)
Symbol:
Book/Page: 15/444
Cross Reference:

[ChristineR]

With each of the other two marraiges I alluded to, the groom's status is recorded as Single, and too young anyhow. So, we have the same names, apart from the spelling of the surname, the place and roughly the correct age for Elizabeth.

However, I did not find a death for Matthew prior to Elizabeth's death, nor a death for Elizabeth GOODE.

[Pam Downes]

Hi Christine,
Thanks for all your efforts.
Matt and Liz could have been on a round-the-world-trip, with Matthew snuffing it in some other exotic port, which would explain the lack of a death cert in Oz.
I'll email Malta Family History and see if it's possible to get the details double-checked.
Pam

[Pam Downes]

Hi Christine,
Aldo from Malta Family History has confirmed that the name Coode is the same as that listed in their source.
The source for the name and other information came from a list of memorial inscriptions made by 'an elderly English gentleman who travelled round the Mediterranean during the period 1905 and 1910'. In some instances he could only record part of the gravestone because of damage or vegetation.

Unfortunately, short of someone tracing the gravestone (if the New Protestant Cemetery in Naples still exists :) ) or a death certificate for Elizabeth, this looks as if it will have to be forever classed as 'might be'.
Thank you for your help and interest.
Pam

[ChristineR]

Your welcome :)