Bill,
Thanks for this. I’m already making contacts on the family history websites and doing some digging.
I went to look at Robert’s grave on Tuesday, but the writing at the bottom remains elusive to me, even after trying a wax crayon rubbing. I’m waiting on the cemetery people to get back to me to say if they have a written archive of what was originally engraved on the head stone.
I think I have found Walter and his father on the mid 1800s censuses, and it looks like I’ve also found Walter’s paternal grandfather, John, on the 1841 census. I am still trying to work out what link, if any, exists between Walter and Robert.
Professor Ian Inkster who wrote this article about Robert in 1980 (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1980JBAA…90..245I) is coming to Nottingham in October, so I am hoping to catch up with him then for a coffee and a chat – even if I don’t learn any more about either Goodacre, it will be a great opportunity to just chat with a fascinating academic.