Norman Gough's Home Page

William Goffe was a leading figure in Oliver Cromwell's army during the Civil War in the 1600s. The son of a vicar, the Rev. Stephen Goffe, he had firmly-held religious convictions, and he gained the label "regicide" as he one of the first to sign the death warrant of King Charles I. He and other generals including Whalley fled to America on the restoration of Charles II when a warrant was issued for their arrest. Charles's agents searched for them in vain for many years but they were well hidden by sympathisers. One place where Goffe and Whalley hid at New Haven is known as the Judges' cave. William Goffe is also famous for the story about how he saved a community by appearing to fight off an attack of marauding Indians. The story has clearly gained in stature through frequent narration by many authors! In spite of recent attempts to prove the contrary, it is most unlikely that any of William Goffe's close family joined him in America; we know that his wife remained in England and they communicated via coded letters.
William's brother John Goffe was also a vicar, who had difficulties with the authorities. The other brother, Dr. Stephen Goffe, worked for the King and acted as a Royalist spy. Disturbed by the fued, and on the opposite side to his brother, he eventually became a famous Roman Catholic and settled in Italy.
Many claim descent from William but evidence for this would be very difficult, if not impossible, to find. Most genealogies do list other siblings. It is known that there were family connections in Ireland, where William had been given and then forfeited land. There are also probably links to Quakers in the Lake District. One possibility in England is given in Peter Gough's excellent site on a Gough Family in Lancahire and Wetmorland.