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Gough/Goff History & Genealogy Norman Gough School
of Computing and Information Technology, University of Wolverhampton, Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1EL,
UK. |
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Goughs in the Wool Trade in London and
Wolverhampton
It is suggested by Shaw that Sir Mathew Gough had two sons, Thomas and Richard, although the pedigrees vary here. Thomas Gough (?-1437) was a merchant in Bread Street, London; Richard Gough (?-1495) citizen of London, was a merchant of the Staple. After this Shaw is very hazy about the line of descent. Mathew's younger brother, Thomas may have been the father of John Gough (?-1513) woolstapler of London; but Shaw's Pedigree shows that Richard Gough was the father of Thomas Gough (?-1532) of Wolverhampton, merchant of the staple. His son was Henry Gough of Wolverhampton. Henry had five children one of whom was John Gough of Wolverhampton. John Gough (?-1572), merchant of the Staple had two wives. One branch of the family descends from his wife Elizabeth Blunt of Ridware (died 1615) and their son, Richard Gough (?-1609), citizen of London,. The other un-named wife had three children including Henry Gough of Wolverhampton, who purchased the house Old Fallings located at Bushbury, Wolverhampton. Henry Gough (-1655) of Wolverhampton married three times - to Elizabeth Leigh, Frances Fellowes and Isabel Allen. He had eight children by his first wife, Elizabeth Leigh including Richard Gough (1613-43) who died on 26 December 1643 when 1,200 rebels assaulted Dudley Castle and John Gough who went on to become one of the most influential land-owner in the region. Wolverhampton is in the West Midlands of England on the border with
Shropshire and not far from Myddle. A Richard Gough wrote the famous History of Myddle in the 1700s. In 1642 Prince Rupert passed through Wolverhampton on his way to Worcester
to protect a convoy of royal treasure and he returned with the King to carry
out business with Foley's arms factory at Stourbridge. Charles I stayed
overnight in Victoria Street, Wolverhampton (where the Star and Garter
Hotel was) at the home of Madame St. Andrew, who (according to Shaw) was
either sister or aunt of Henry Gough, John's father. John was the wealthiest
man in Bushbury (and probably Wolverhampton). A public collection was made
for the Royal cause but Henry Gough refused to contribute. That evening
however, old Henry "putting on his hat and cloak" went furtively to
Charles and in a private room donated a sum, said to be £1000 : "May
it please your majesty to accept this, it is all the cash I have by me or I
would have brought more." Kings Charles had dissolved parliament in
1629, but used the old feudal system to obtain money. Freeholders worth £40
pa were expected to gain a knighthood, or they must compound with a fine,
which was usually £10. There were few freeholders in Wolverhampton, most
being copyholders. However the small array of potential knights in the lists
of 1630-31 contained "draper Henry Goughe of Wolverhampton, Fine
£10". Apparently there was no choice - one paid the fine and remained a
gentleman (Mander & Tildesley 1960). Now the King
offered him a knighthood which he refused, but after the Restoration, Charles
II accorded the honour to his Grandson (Henry of Perry Hall, knighted
7 April 1678). "It is presumed these services were not forgotten in the
reign of Queen Anne, as Sir Henry obtained for his two sons, while very
young, the places of page to the queen and the duke of Gloucester." John Gough (-1665) of Old Fallings, Bushbury (near Wolverhampton)Old Henry's son, John Gough
(-1665) first married Margaret, daughter of Ralph Wedgewood (-1636). They
lived at Old Fallings and had two daughters. John's second wife was
Bridget, daughter of John Astley of Wood Eaton and they had eight children
including Henry Gough (1649-1724) and Richard Gough. Henry and Richard were both knighted.
Knights in Wolverhampton and Birmingham Sir Henry Gough (1649-1724)Sir Henry Gough is a figure of considerable interest to students of political history. The eldest son and heir of John Gough of Old Fallings, Beffcote and Walton by his second wife Bridget, he matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, 1666 aged 17; he was a student at Middle Temple in 1667, having succeeded his father 1665. He was elected as a Tory MP in Tamworth in 1685 and was an MP at various times until 1708. He became High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1671. Sir Henry, like previous generations before him, was a member of Merchant Taylors and an active supporter of Wolverhampton Grammar School (Mander,1913). He was considered "one of the finest gentlemen of his time", and knighted in 1678 for the services his grandfather had rendered to the King in 1642. Walter Gough (1677-1730) of Perry Hall and Old FallingsWalter Gough is described by Shaw as the "pious and learned son" of Sir Henry Gough of Perry Hall, "a profound scholar and polite gentleman." In 1724 when his father died, Walter, a great traveller and a very learned writer, became owner of Perry Hall and Old Fallings. He rebuilt Old Fallings Hall and married Martha Harwood, a niece of Sir Richard Hill. Perry Hall, near Birmingham UK, is the origin of the name given to Perry Hall in Baltimore, USA. Walter Gough Jr (-1773)In 1730 Walter was succeeded by his son, another Walter Gough (-1773) who married Bridget Kempson, daughter of Willis Kempson of Bilston (near Wolverhampton), who owned Low Hill in the 1750s. In 1742 Walter Gough married Mary Hunt. When old Walter died, the will was disputed. Their son John Gough (1780-) married Jane Elizabeth Paget of Cranmore Hall in Somerset and died without children. Following Jane's death in 1848, the estate passed to her brother John Moore Paget (1791-1866). At the turn of the century Sir Richard Paget intended to establish a garden city on his estate between Heath Town and Bushbury (an area now covering Fallings Park, Newbolds and Bushbury), but the scheme was shelved. In 1925 Old Fallings Hall was sold by the Pagets to be opened as St. Chad's College and in 1977 it became a comprehensive school.
Sir Richard Gough (-1728)The third son of Henry Gough of Old Fallings was Richard. Since he was unlikely to inherit directly, he was obliged to work for a living and became a successful merchant, travelling to the Mediterranean and the East. He went four times to India and China and became very rich. His brother Richard Gough also went to sea. It is thought that on one of his voyages in 1731, it may have been Charles Gough who rediscovered the island roughly half way between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, which became known as Gough Island. In 1717 Sir Richard Gough, younger brother of Harry Gough of Perry Hall purchased Edgbaston Hall, Birmingham from Viscount Fauconberg (the Middlemore family) while his nephew, Harry, bought the remaining Middlemore property from Sir John Shelley, including ancient burgages in the Bull Ring, an estate in Ladywood, and a farm of 25 acres, now marked by Gough Street. There were also large estates in Warwickshire and Worcestershire. The next Lord of the Manor was Sir Richard's elder son Henry Gough. Soon after he was made a baronet. He married twice, his second wife being Barbara, only daughter of Reynolds Calthorpe of Elvetham, Hampshire. On the death of his uncle and his mother, he took the estate of Sir Henry Calthorpe at Elvetham and the additional name of Calthorpe in 1776. Cholmondely-Gough-CalthorpesHenry Calthorpe's Lordship was inherited by his three sons in succession; Frederick Gough (-1863), the fourth Baron, married Lady Charlotte Sophia Somerset, eldest daughter of the Duke of Beaufort. His two sons succeeded him: Frederick William Henry Gough (-1893) and Sir Augustus Cholmondeley Gough-Calthorpe (1829-1910) who became the 6th Baron Calthorpe. An agriculturist, educated Eton and Merton College Oxford, he started at Elvetham a famous herd of shorthorn cattle, Southdown sheep and Berkshire pigs. He was a generous donor of land to Birmingham City (1894) and University (1900). On his death in 1910, the Lordship of the Manor of Edgbaston passed to Captain John Somerset Gough-Calthorpe and then to Augustus Cholmondeley Gough-Calthorpe's daughter Rachel. She married FitzRoy Hamilton Anstruther in 1898, who took the additional name of Gough Calthorpe. The Gough-Calthorpe Baron title died out in June 1997 when the last Baron died without issue but the name lives on - for example Miss Isabella Anstruther Gough-Calthorpe. Links to pages on: Richard Gough (1703-1809)Harry's son, Richard Gough (1703-1809) was an eminent antiquarian. Educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, FRS 1775, he had the good fortune to purchase a rare map, now known as The Gough Map. William Camden's Brittania, which traced the history of Britain from pre-Roman times intil the middle of the sixteenth century was first published in 1586. Richard Gough produced an extremly popular edition entitled Britannia: or, a chorographical description of the flourishing kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1789 with folio maps done by John Cary (Smith, 1982). The Bodleian Library, Oxford houses the map collection of Richard Gough. For an excellent family tree on more recent Goughs of Wolverhampton and Deptford, including the armigerous Goughs of Gorsebrook House and their heirs the Hoare family see the page by Andrew Gough. More recent Wolverhampton links include: References Barnsby, G.J. (1985) A History of Housing in Wolverhampton 1750-1975, Wolverhampton Library. Chatwin, P.B. (1914) A History of Edgbaston, Cornish Bros, Birmingham. Chatwin, A.H. (1991) Bushbury Parish and People (1550-1950). Gough, R. The History of Myddle, Ed. D. Hey, Penguin, 1981. Mander, G.P. (1913) The History of the Wolverhampton Grammar School, Steens Ltd at the Old School Press. Mander, G.P. & Tildesley, W. (1960) History of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton Corp., W. Gibbons & Sons, Wolverhampton. Mason, F. (1976) Wolverhampton. The Towm Commissioners 1777-1848, Wolverhampton Public Libraries. Mason, F. (1979) The Book of Wolverhampton, Barracuda Books. Smith, D. (1982) Antique Maps of the British Isles, BT Batsford, London. |
