St. Mary's Church, Goudhurst. Watercolour of 1760.
These web pages are intended to assist anyone with Vousden family connections or interests. They contain a wide range of information about my own and other Vousdens that I have researched, in fact about Vousdens in general. Hopefully, the site will help other researchers and become a resource centre for Vousdens worldwide.
My interest in the Vousdens begins with my paternal grandmother, born Agnes Minnie Lucy Vousden in Shoreditch, London in 1893. She was a first generation Londoner, her father having been born in Guildford, Surrey; her grandfather in Bromley, Kent, and her great grandfather in Goudhurst, Kent. Agnes Vousden married Robert Brown on 9 April 1918 at St. Leonard's Parish Church, Aldrington, Brighton, Sussex.
I have traced my Vousden family back to my 6 x great grandparents, John Vousden and Sarah Wousley, both "of Goudhurst parish", who married on 20 November 1733, and with lesser surety to my 11 x great grandfather, another John Vousden.
Logo of the Guild of One-Name Studies.
I believe that this John had six children who were born and baptised in Goudhurst between the years 1584 and 1611, and that he may have been the son of Thomas Vousden and Ann Beneden who married in 1561.
My fascination with this long line of Vousdens has led me to start the one-name study. In pursuing my own family research I have made contact with many other Vousden researchers, most of whom trace their family back to Goudhurst, a small village in Kent, near the Sussex border.
I believe more Vousdens trace their ancestry back to Goudhurst than to any other place.
I think I know where the Vousdens came from to live in Goudhurst (not far!), and I have an idea about the origin and meaning of the name. These things are discussed on the Surname Origins page.
I have registered my Vousden One-Name Study with the Guild of One-Name Studies. The Study is world wide since I know that there are Vousdens in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Holland and probably elsewhere.
I will answer all enquiries and, hopefully between us we can break down "brick walls" and join all these Vousdens together.
