From Osgood, A Family History by Robert Osgood:
Our knowledge of our family starts with Henry Osgood. The British Census of 1851 records that he was born in 1814 in Froxfield, Hampshire, England. Froxfield is a farming community approximately 4 KM from Petersfield the market town of the area.
Henry was a baker who married and lived the remainder of his life in Petersfield. The marriage is recorded as taking place in the first quarter of 1842, but we are unable at this time to determine to whom he was married.
There were two children of this union Giles born in March 1845 [sic] and his sister Sarah born in 1847.
It seems likely that his wife died as there is another marriage recorded in the third quarter of 1848 to Jane Wakeling who was born in 1826 in Greatham approximately 8 KM from Petersfield. She is the daughter of Giles Wakeling and Bourgouine or Burgoine Burger. The wedding took place in Alverstoke, England a subberb of Portsmouth a seaport about 30 KM from Petersfield. Jane was 22 at the time of the wedding while Henry was 34.
Giles was 3 and Sarah was 1 when their new mother entered their lives. The 1851 census shows that Henry and Jane now have 3 children as their first child, William who was born in Liss about 5 KM from Petersfield is 18 months old. They all live on Sheep St a path leading to the town square and the Farmers Market in Petersfield.
NOTE: In the summer of 1984 Claire and I visited Petersfield and were at the farmers market square and went to a service in the Church of England near the square. We did not walk to the west end of the square to walk on Sheep St because we did not know at the time that Henry and family had lived there.
Henry and Jane had a total of 8 children together. Their first child William as mentioned was born in 1849 and was followed by Henry in 1851, Rosina in 1853, Isabella in 1856, David in 1858, Eliza Ann in 1861, George in 1862, John in 1865 and Frances in 1869.
Even though Jane was a second wife, one can assume that Giles and Sarah only knew Jane as their mother because they were so young when Jane entered the household. In Giles’ army entry documentation in 1864 he gave 15-year-old William, his brother at home, as his next of kin. It seems likely that Giles though of his siblings as brothers and sisters and not as half brothers or sisters.
The 1861 census now has Henry and Jane with 6 children, and they live on a street called “The Spain” just a very few meters from their first home on Sheep St. However, Giles and Sarah, the eldest, at 16 and 14 years old respectively are no longer at home. Giles is a servant/baker for the Charles T. Moore family in Hartling, Sussex just 5.6 KM from home. Mr. Moore, as are his sons, is a miller. Sarah is a dairymaid/servant for the John and Jane Colebrooke family with their 5 children in Steep a community on the outskirts of Petersfield.
The 1871 census records 3 new children but William 21, Henry 19 and Rosina 17 are away from home. They also have a lodger George Knott. By 1871 Giles is in New Brunswick, and we have no knowledge of his sister Sarah’s whereabouts.
The 1881 census has John at age 16 living at home and working as a telegraph boy. Frances too is still at home and going to school, but Isabella 24, David 22, Eliza Ann 20, and George 18 have left. However, William has returned home with a 2-year-old son Herbert. He was born in 1879 in London. We do not know the name of the mother and what happened such that William came home with a young child. Henry and Jane have lived in Petersfield, Hampshire, England on a street named “The Spain” for the last 30 years. Currently Henry is 67 years old. He dies two years later Feb.17, 1883.
We have a letter from Eliza Ann Osgood to Giles. It gives her new address in England with Mrs. Fox in Adbury, Berkshire and Henry Juniors address in New Orleans in the United States. The letter is undated but because she mentions Giles’ children in Fredericton so it would need to be later than 1877.
Henry had moved to the United States some time after 1865 when he left home at age 14 and before the1871 census. His last mention in a UK census was in 1861.
The 1891 census finds Jane living alone in Tything of Lower Newstead at age 65. She died in 1898 at age 72. Giles is in New Brunswick with his family. There continues to be no record of his Sister Sarah. William is a baker and lives in Buriton, Hampshire boarding with the William Knight family. There is no record of his son Herbert who should be 12 if he is living. Henry has gone to New Orleans USA. We have no record of Rosina and Isabella. David is a lodger at Bricklayers Arms on the same street as his family home “The Spain” * in Petersfield working as a bricklayer/labourer. Eliza Ann is in Adbury, Berkshire. George at 28 is a mail driver and is married to Alice 21 and they have 2 children Lamarrott 1 and Lawrence 2 months living in Lodsworth, Sussex. Their wedding was registered in the first quarter of 1888. John at 25 is a boarder in Petersfield in the home of the school master Joseph Dorman Marshall and works as a sorting clerk/telegrapher. Finally, the youngest Frances Catherine is a house maid/servant for Gertrude E Sayers in Midhurst, Sussex.
The 1901 census has George and Alice with 4 more children Lily E. 8, Hubert 5, Jack 3, and Hilda Rose 2.
* ‘The Spain‘ is a street in Petersfield (Google Maps) 
