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The Goldwyers of Somerford
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William Goldwyer d. 1630
b. March 1571/72 at Upper Clatford, Hants.
Baptised 17 August 1572.
m. (Bridget Barton) 9 April 1594 at Romsey Abbey.
Requested ‘Charter of Exemplification’ from King James I in 1612.
Steward of the Manor of Christchurch in 1614.
d. 18 December 1630 at Somerford Grange, Hants.
M.I. :- “HERE LIETH THE BODY OF MR | WILLIAM GOLDWIER OF SOMERFORD | WHO WAS BVRIED THE 23TH OF | DECEMBER 1630 | DIES MEI SICVT VMBRA INCLINATA | ET EGO SICVT FÆNVM ARESCO | I.R.”
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William Goldwyer d. 1676/77 (son of William Goldwyer d. 1630)
b. 10 July 1597 at Somerford Grange, Hants
m. (Sarah ???)
d. 16 February 1676/77 at Somerford Grange, Hants
M.I. :- “HERE LIETH THE BODY OF MR | WILLIAM GOLDWIER OF | SOMERFORD WHO DIED THE | 16TH OF FEBRVARIE | 1677 | E.N.”
William's Will can be found in 'The Roddick Collection' in the National Library of Wales.
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Edward Goldwyer d. 1681 (son of William Goldwyer d. 1676/77)
b. bef. 1654
m. (Mary ???)
Churchwarden at Christchurch 1660/61.
d. 27 October 1681 at Christchurch, Hants
M.I. :- “Here lyeth the Body of MR | EdWard GoldWier of | Somerfoord Who departed | this life october ye 27th 1681”
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Rev. Henry Goldwyer d. 1688 (son of William Goldwyer d. 1676/77)
b. bef. 1655.
m. (Elizabeth ???).
M.A. 1685 of Wadham College, Oxford.
Vicar of Christchurch; 6 August 1673 - 1688/89.
d. 30 January 1688/89 at Christchurch, Hants.
M.I. :- “Here lieth the body of Henry | Goldwier Vicar of X[Christ]Church | who departed this life ye 30th | of January Anno Domi 1688”
"HENRY GOLDWYER, Vicar of Christ Church, second son of WILLIAM of Somerford, came to the living in 1673, with Holdenhurst adjoining and died in 1689. He appears to have been a man of influence in Christ Church, from a letter from Lord Chancellor CLARENDON (penes me) desiring him to interest himself in the election of Members of Parliament in favour of JAMES Duke of York, otherways JAMES the second. Little notice of this has come down to me except an interleaved Almanack from 1674 with his memoranda" - from the notes of a later relative, William Henry Goldwyer, kindly supplied by Mrs. Bronwen Frost.
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William Goldwyer d. 1740 (son of William Goldwyer d. 1676/77)
b. bef. October 1663
?Admitted Free Burgess of the Borough of New Lymington 1699?
m. (Elizabeth Ayscough) 1725 at Winchester.
?Admitted Free Burgess of the Borough of New Lymington 1726?
?Mayor of Christchurch in 1735?
Nominated Burgess of Christchurch 21 August 1736
d. May 1740 at Somerford Grange, Hants.
Salisbury Journal 10th June 1740 page 4 - All persons who are any way indebted, or have any claim on William Goldwyre, late of Somerford in the Parish of Christchurch in the County of Southampton esq. deceased are desired to send the accounts thereof to Mr James Stevens of Christchurch, aforesaid gent who is impowered to receive and settle all demands due and owing for his Executor. And there are two farms to be let immediately, one about 120L and the other about 240L a year near Christchurch aforesaid with or without a very good dwelling house for for any gentleman and a pigeon house and two fish ponds all well stocked with or withouth 10, or upwards of 300 acres of arable meadow and pasture particulars to be had of James Stevens aforesaid. - from Mrs. Bronwen Frost
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Captain William Goldwyer d. 1723 (son of Edward Goldwyer d. 1681
b. bet. 1654 -1655 at Somerford Grange, Hants.
Donated five pounds to the church in 1678.
Member of the ‘militia’ (Army).
m. (Elizabeth Fisher) bef. 18 December 1693 at Milford, Hants.
d. 16 August 1723 at Somerford Grange, Hants.
M.I. :- “Here lieth the body of Captn | William Goldwier of Somerford | who departed this life the 16th day | of Auguft Anno Domini 1723 | and in the 69 year of his age.”
Dorset Record Officce. ref D/805/F1/2 Red Exercise Book entitled Christchurch Families - "[6[ Abstract of Will of WILLIAM GOLDWYER of Somerford Co. South. gent. 16.8.1723. PCC165. Bolton To D. ELIZABETH £600, To MARY now wife of Wm.HOOKEY 5/-, to D. HENERETA, EDITH AND ANN GOLDWYER £600 at age 21 or on marriage, son WILLIAM GOLDWYER sole executor, loving kinsmen Mr. GEORGE LEWEN, Mr. WILLIAM TULSE, Mr WILLIAM GOLDWYER, Mr WILLIAM RUSSELL guardians of my children and overseers"
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William Goldwyer d. 1748 (son of Rev. Henry Goldwyer d. 1688)
b. bet. 1665 - 1666, reputedly in Ireland.
m. (Mary Smith) 18 December 1690 at Salisbury, Wilts.
d. 29 June 1748 in The Close, Salisbury, Wilts.
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George Goldwyer d. 1757 (son of Captain William Goldwyer d. 1723
Baptised 20 November 1705
Elected a Burgess in 17 February 1735.
?Overseer for Bure and Hinton Tithings in 1725?
m. (Mary ???) bef. 4 July 1752)
d. 22 January 1757
M.I. :- “Last male heir of that ancient family”
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Goldwyer Armorial Bearings
 | Goldwyer Arms:- Azure, on a bend voided or three stirrups of the second.
Goldwyer Crest:- A stag’s head erased proper, attired or.
The above description is given in Herbert Druitt's 'Christchurch Miscellany' and a consistent description is given in Reeves, John A. (Editor) ‘Abstract of Monumental Inscriptions In Salisbury Churches Mainly up to 1852’ Salisbury Museum., 1975. (ISBN: 0950233870). Scans of armorial bearings kindly supplied by Mrs. Bronwen Frost of the Goldwyer family held in 'The Roddick Collection' at the National Library of Wales provided further confirmation that the image above is a faithful representation of the Goldwyer armorial bearings.
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The Goldwyers at Somerford
 | It is not entirely clear whether the Goldwyer family lived at Somerford Grange or at an adjacent house. The popular image of the Grange, shown above, comes from Grose's 'Antiquities..' via a sketch executed in 1777. The engraving shows the chapel (on the right) and a living house (on the left) both in a state of dilapidation. Grose describes the Grange as follows :-
'Somerford Grange stands about two miles east of Christ Church, and was formerly a farm or grange of the monastery of that name. At the disillusion it was, with the manor, granted to John Draper the last prior. It consists of a ruined \ brick house, apparently not older than the reign of Charles I [i.e. built no earlier than 1625], but probably erected on the site of a more ancient building. At the east end of this house is an ancient chapel, which by the initials J. D. cut on a square stone window block, seems as if it was built or repaired by John Draper the prior above-mentioned; the roof of this chapel is handsomely arched with wood, the building itself is of stone; in it is a place for keeping the holy water. This farm is held by —— Dagge, esquire, under a lease from the dean and chapter of Winchester, together with the great tithes of Christ Church, the barns and granary (a stone building) being appropriated for their reception. Here are also several large fish-ponds, whence the priory was formerly supplied with fish.'
The Victoria County History tells us the following :-
'The farm-house or 'site of the manor' of Somerford was in lease to William Goldwyre in the reign of James I [1602-1625] , and his family continued to hold it down to 1781, when it was acquired by Gustavus Brander , who pulled down the old house and built a new one on its site. It has descended in the Brander family, and now belongs to the Rev. Gustavus Brander.'
It seems from the records given above that the last Somerford Goldwyer was George who died in 1757, some twenty years before Grose's sketch was completed. The VCH statement that the Goldwyers held a house at Somerford until 1781 therefore demands further research. On the subject of the Grange, the VCH continues:-
'The 'mansion-house’ of Somerford known as the Prior's Lodging' (distinct from the farm-house or 'site of the manor') was granted in 1539 to John Draper, the late Prior of Christchurch, in addition, as we have seen, to his pension . In 1541 it was included in the grant of the rectory of Christchurch to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester, with whom it remained until sold in 1799 to James Harris, Lord Malmesbury, with the rectory of Christchurch. The deed of sale was enrolled in Chancery in 1801 . In 1834 James Edward second Earl of Malmesbury exchanged 'my old tythe barn called Somerford Grange' for some land in Bure and Hurn belonging to John Spicer . This was presumably the ancient 'mansion-house.'
It seems that the Goldwyers lived in the farm-house or 'site of the manor' as opposed to the Grange itself. Whether these were separate or co-joined is open to speculation. |
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Map of Site
 | A comparison of the Ordnance Survey plan of the site made in 1871 and the site as it appears today. The site of the Grange and the Farm have been hemmed in on all sides by development, however the site of the Grange remains as woodland. The medieval fish ponds that served the Priory still exist, although in altered form. The walled-garden has now become the Council Works site, the original wall surviving as evinced by the 'Flemish garden wall' bond of the brickwork. The 'ford passable in summer' is no longer in use, a road bridge having been constructed sometime after 1871.
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Australian Connection
Mrs. Bronwen Frost's research into the Goldwyer genealogy indicates that the Somerford Goldwyers are related to a later William Goldwyer who was killed by Australian Aborigines in 1864. The story can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Goldwyer
The lineage is as follows :-
Rev. Henry died Christchurch 30.1.1688.
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William b 1665 or 1666 reputedly in Ireland
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George b 1702 Salisbury, Wilts
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William b 1728, Marlborough, Wilts
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William Henry Goldwyer b 1763, Bristol
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William Goldwyer b 1798 Bristol
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William Henry Goldwyer, born 1829, Bristol, died 1864 Western Australia
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Acknowledgements & Notes
These notes by Fraser Donachie, who is very much indebted to Mrs. Bronwen Frost. Mrs. Frost has undertaken extensive research into the Goldwyer genealogy. Mrs. Frost is a member of the 'Guild of One Name Studies' and her researches have yielded a far more complete family tree for the Goldwyers, which I could not do justice to here.
I apologise in advance for focusing on the male line - at least two further Memorial Inscriptions for Sarah (d. 1663, wife of William) and Elizabeth (d. 1708, wife of Captain William) can be viewed in the South Aisle of the Quire at the Priory Church, along with the others shown here. It is believed that at one time the South Aisle of the Quire was known as the 'Goldwyer Aisle'.
Sources for Goldwyer genealogy include:- 'The Pedigree Register Vol2 Page 261. June 1912' and 'GOLDWYER OR GOLDWIRE FAMILY - BAYLEY, Notes and Queries.1887; s7-III: 249'. If anyone has further information on the Somerford Goldwyers we would be pleased to hear from you. |
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