Goldney family
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Goldney family were a wealthy English merchant trading family, most associated with
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
and latterly
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. Later branches of the family became the
Goldney baronets The Goldney Baronetcy, of Beechfield in the Parish of Corsham and Bradenstoke Abbey in the Parish of Lyneham, both in the County of Wiltshire, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 May 1880 for Gabriel Gol ...
.


Wiltshire

The Goldney family made their monies as weavers and clothiers in
Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...
in the sixteenth century. Henry Goldney was a member of parliament for
Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...
, and in 1553 was appointed the first " Bayliff" of Chippenham. A 17th-century ancestor, also named Gabriel and a noted
Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
, left bequests in his
will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
to provide "greatcoats for six poor inhabitants". Many of the Wiltshire-resident branch of the family are buried at St Bartholomew's Church, Corsham.


Bristol


Thomas Goldney I

In 1637, his father sent Thomas Goldney I to serve as an apprentice for seven years in Bristol, to enable him to become a
freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...
. After almost nine years, on 22 June 1646, he paid his fee and became a freeman of the city of Bristol. In the same year, Thomas married Mary Clements, set himself up as a grocer, and moved to a property on the High Street near
Bristol Bridge Bristol Bridge is a bridge over the floating harbour in Bristol, England. The floating harbour was constructed on the original course of the River Avon, and there has been a bridge on the site since long before the harbour was created by impou ...
. Both Thomas and his wife joined the
Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
, also known as the
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
, after which they suffered both fines and imprisonment for their beliefs. In 1674 Thomas bought a
country estate An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which would historically generate income for its owner. British context In the UK, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, and woods that s ...
at
Elberton, Gloucestershire Elberton is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Aust, in the South Gloucestershire district, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 137. The village is located ne ...
for £700. He did not take up residence, but gained income from the associated rents for tenants and farmers. However, from 1681 financial difficulties forced him to lease out the estate on a long-term arrangement to his son-in-law, James Wallis. In 1688, Thomas built four houses on land formerly known as Castle Precincts. Taking one for himself, he rented the other three out, and rented his former house on the High Street to his son Thomas Goldney II and his family. Thomas Goldney I died in 1694, and his wife died in 1709.


Thomas Goldney II

Born in Bristol in 1664, in 1687 he married Hannah Speed, the daughter of merchant Thomas Speed. As his father was a freeman, Thomas II achieved the same level the following year through being the son of a free burgess. From 1688 he took over the family grocery business, but also invested in other ventures, including: merchant ships; farmland at Elberton; as well as acting as an agent for the Collector of Customs for the
Port of Bristol The Port of Bristol comprises the commercial docks situated in and near the city of Bristol in England. They are now operated by the Bristol Port Company, which owns both Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Docks. Until 1991 the Port of Bristol Authori ...
. Having invested in land at
Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...
, from 1694 Thomas leased an adjoining country estate complete with a
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
, which after purchase in 1705 for £100 he named
Goldney House Goldney Hall is a self-catered hall of residence in the University of Bristol. It is one of three in the Clifton area of Bristol, England. The hall occupies part of the grounds of Goldney House, built in the 18th century and remodelled in the ...
. Thomas became the principal shareholder for Captain
Woodes Rogers Woodes Rogers ( 1679 – 15 July 1732) was an English sea captain, privateer, Atlantic slave trade, slave trader and, from 1718, the first List of colonial heads of the Bahamas, Royal Governor of the Bahamas. He is known as the captain of ...
' voyage on the ''Duke'' and her sister ship ''Dutchess''. Rogers' crew rescued the real-life Robinson Crusoe,
Alexander Selkirk Alexander Selkirk (167613 December 1721) was a Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway (1704–1709) after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited island i ...
, from Juan Fernandez island. However, shortly after the ships sailed, Thomas ran into a series of legal difficulties, and was jailed over a debt from 1708 to 1710. In 1711, Woodes Rogers returned to Bristol, and for an initial investment of £3,726 Thomas received payments £6,800, a huge amount by today's standards. This enabled him in 1713 to make a large investment in
Abraham Darby I Abraham Darby, in his later life called Abraham Darby the Elder, now sometimes known for convenience as Abraham Darby I (14 April 1677 – 5 May 1717, the first and best known of several men of that name), was an English ironmaster and foundr ...
ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...
at
Coalbrookdale Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. It lies within the civil parish called the Gorge. This is where iron ore was first s ...
, Shropshire. With costs escalating, in April 1713 Darby mortgaged half of the Coalbrookdale works to Thomas for £1,700. After Abraham Darby I died intestate in 1717, Thomas protected his assets by acquiring 8 of the 16 shares in the Coalbrookdale works via his widow Mary Darby. In 1718 Thomas assigned two further shares to his son, Thomas Goldney III, which gave them the controlling interest in the works. Renamed the Dale Company, control allowed the Goldney's to invest and further develop the ironworks. Thomas Goldney II and his son, another Thomas, were linked to the
triangular slave trade Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset ...
, through the goods manufactured and sold by the ironworks. The works produced
manillas Manillas are a form of commodity money, usually made of bronze or copper, which were used in West Africa.Chamberlain, C. C.(1963). The Teach Yourself ''Guide to Numismatics''. English Universities Press. p. 92. They were produced in large number ...
and the brass objects which were traded for slaves in Africa to transport to the Americas. From 1723, Thomas began to retire, initially developing Goldney House and surrounding lands, and then from 1725 taking a two-month tour of Europe, from which he returned afresh to make more adjustments to his property. He died in 1731.


Thomas Goldney III

Born in Goldney Hall in 1696, after a top-level education he became apprenticed to his parents from 1711. His father trained him in accounts, enabling him to become an assistant bookkeeper at Coalbrookdale after the death of Abraham Darby I. Thomas III resultantly became involved as an investor in a number of businesses, including: the Willey furnace, across the River Severn from Coalbrookdale; the Bersham furnace near
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
; and the
Warmley Works Warmley is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. Warmley is situated in between Bristol and Bath. It is a parish, with its own church, and has some minor landmarks, such as a World War One memorial the focus of Remembrance Services, and ...
of William Champion, which produced copper, brass,
spelter Spelter is a zinc–lead alloy that ages to resemble bronze, but is softer and has a lower melting point. The name can also refer to a copper–zinc alloy (a brass) used for brazing, or to pure zinc. Etymology In his etymology of the Englis ...
and utensils. From 1750, Thomas invested in a mine at
Gronant Gronant is a village in Flintshire, Wales, about 2 miles east of Prestatyn. The population, as measured by the 2001 census, is 1,595, living in 697 households. The average age of the populace is 41.4 years, slightly higher than the national avera ...
, Flintshire, intended for the mining of lead, copper ore and calamine. A successful venture, it led to Thomas investing in other mines at Kellyn, Whitford, Devon, Cornwall and Ireland. From 1751, Thomas bought shares in three ships, which bought iron goods down from Coalbrookdale to Bristol, and onwards for sale to merchants. This led in 1752 to his becoming one of six partners who founded the Goldney, Smith and Co.
merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...
, one of the first six banks established in the UK. After the death of the original partners, after a series of name changes and takeovers it became part of the
National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...
, today a division of the
Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...
. From 1754, Thomas III financed
Abraham Darby II Abraham Darby, in his lifetime called Abraham Darby the Younger, referred to for convenience as Abraham Darby II (12 May 1711 – 31 March 1763) was the second man of that name in an English Quaker family that played an important role in the early ...
's construction of a new furnace at
Horsehay Horsehay is a suburban village on the western outskirts of Dawley, which, along with several other towns and villages, now forms part of the new town of Telford in Shropshire, England. Horsehay lies in the Dawley Hamlets parish, and on the north ...
. After the opening of a second furnace on the same site, and a third at
Ketley Ketley is a large village and part of Telford in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is a civil parish. Immediately to the north of Ketley is Hadley. Residential development East Ketley is currentl ...
, Thomas III and Darby II agreed to integrate their works through development of a
wagonway Wagonways (also spelt Waggonways), also known as horse-drawn railways and horse-drawn railroad consisted of the horses, equipment and tracks used for hauling wagons, which preceded Steam locomotive, steam-powered rail transport, railways. The t ...
. By 1757, of wooden track had been laid, transporting both raw materials and finished product.


Legacy

Thomas Goldney III died without heir in 1768. He left his shares to his surviving family, who retained their interests until 1773, when they sold them to
Abraham Darby III Abraham Darby III (24 April 1750 – 1789) was an English ironmaster and Quaker. He was the third man of that name in several generations of an English Quaker family that played a pivotal role in the Industrial Revolution. Life Abraham Darby wa ...
for £10,000. The shares in Ketley and Horsehay were bought in 1775 by the manager of Coalbrookdale, Richard Reynolds.


Goldney baronets

The Goldney baronetcy, of Beechfield in the Parish of Corsham and
Bradenstoke Abbey Bradenstoke Priory was a medieval priory of Augustinian canons regular in the village of Bradenstoke, Wiltshire, England. Its site, in the north of the county about west of Lyneham, is on a ridge above the south side of Dauntsey Vale. In the ...
in the Parish of Lyneham, both in the County of Wiltshire, was a title in the
Baronetage of the United Kingdom Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain. Baronetage of England (1611–1705) James I of E ...
. It was created on 11 May 1880 for Gabriel Goldney,
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Member of Parliament for
Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...
. The title became extinct on the death of the fourth Baronet in 1974. Sir John Goldney,
Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago The Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago is the highest judge of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and presides over its Supreme Court of Judicature. He is appointed by a common decision of the President of Trinidad and Tobago, president, the Prim ...
, was the third son of the first Baronet.


Goldney baronets, of Beechfield and Bradenstoke Abbey (1880)

*
Sir Gabriel Goldney, 1st Baronet Sir Gabriel Goldney, 1st Baronet (25 July 1813 – 8 May 1900) was a Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1885. He was created a baronet in May 1880. Ancestry and early life The Goldney family, from Bristol, becam ...
(1813–1900) *
Sir Gabriel Prior Goldney, 2nd Baronet Sir Gabriel Prior Goldney, 2nd Baronet, (4 August 1843 – 4 May 1925) was the first son of Gabriel Goldney, Conservative MP for Chippenham. The title passed to him in 1900 on the death of his father. Career Goldney studied at Exeter Colle ...
(1843–1925) *
Sir Frederick Hastings Goldney, 3rd Baronet Sir Frederick Hastings Goldney, 3rd Baronet of Beechfield and Bradenstoke Priory (26 May 1845 – 21 February 1940) was the second son of Gabriel Goldney, Conservative MP for Chippenham. The title passed to him on 4 May 1925 on the death o ...
(1845–1940) *
Sir Henry Hastings Goldney, 4th Baronet Sir Henry Hastings Goldney, 4th Baronet, (3 July 1886 – 26 February 1974) was the only son of Sir Frederick Hastings Goldney, 3rd Baronet. He inherited the title on 21 February 1940 on his father's death. Career Goldney married Violetta Alyns ...
(1886–1974)


Goldney Hall

Thomas Goldney III enlarged and improved the grounds of
Goldney Hall Goldney Hall is a self-catered hall of residence in the University of Bristol. It is one of three in the Clifton area of Bristol, England. The hall occupies part of the grounds of Goldney House, built in the 18th century and remodelled in the ...
. In 1724 the earlier house was partially demolished to be replaced by a grander building, possibly built by George Tully. The
grotto A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high ti ...
, built at enormous expense by Goldney to entertain his wealthy friends, is today a
Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, one of originally six
follies ''Follies'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on t ...
within the garden grounds, which today include a gothic tower which houses a steam pump produced at Coalbrookdale that was used to irrigate his estate. There is also a bastion, a rotunda and an ornamental canal. The house was recased, altered and extended in 1864–65 by
Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...
, who also designed the
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
. The house was later owned by other wealthy Bristol families, the Wills and the Frys; among them
Lewis Fry Lewis Fry (16 April 1832 – 10 September 1921) was a Quaker, lawyer, philanthropist and a Liberal and later Liberal and Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons in three spells between 1878 and 1900. Early life Fry was the son of ...
(1832–1921) who was a member of the prominent Bristol Fry Family and became a Liberal MP and the first chairman of the
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
University Council.


References

{{reflist, 30em English Quakers People from Wiltshire