Recollections of early life by John Godlee, of Lewes in the County of Sussex, England

Recollections of early life by John Godlee, of Lewes in the County of Sussex, England was written down by his daughter Sarah Rickman in the 2nd month 1838 in John Godlee's 76th year. John Godlee had an exciting life as a mariner, spending time in north America during the Independence war and getting ship wrecked in French Canada. He came from a long line of Quaker mariners going back to Peter Godlee, 1645- 1719, from Southwald, Suffolk. John retired from the sea at the end of the American/French wars when sailors’ pay was halved, and got a job in Lewes with a respectable Quaker family, the Rickmans. He married Mary Rickman, his boss’s daughter. The Australian John Godlee was the youngest son. His son, John Godlee jnr. was part of a group of Quakers, including the Hack, May and Hage families that migrated to Adelaide in 1838. After his fathers death 1841, his sisters sent him a small booklet, a copy of the original made by Lucy Godlee , November 24th, 1845, which detailed their fathers life. John then copied the document for his children. One of these children was Charlotte Lucy Godlee, she was unmarried and lived with her parents until they died and then she moved in with her brother