Sir Gabriel Goldney, 1st Baronet (25 July 1813 – 8 May 1900) was a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
politician who sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
from 1865 to 1885. He was created a
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
in May 1880.
Ancestry and early life
The
Goldney family
The Goldney family were a wealthy English merchant trading family, most associated with Wiltshire and latterly Bristol. Later branches of the family became the Goldney baronets.
Wiltshire
The Goldney family made their monies as weavers and clot ...
, from
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
, became clothiers in
Chippenham
Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...
in the sixteenth century and were long afterwards associated with Wiltshire, and particularly the town. An ancestor, Henry Goldney, had also been a member of parliament for Chippenham and was in 1553 appointed the first "
Bayliff" of Chippenham.
A 17th-century ancestor, also named Gabriel, 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".
[
Goldney was born on 25 July and baptised at Chippenham on 3 December 1813.] His father was Harry Goldney (1774–1852) and his mother Elizabeth (née Reade, c. 1789–1863). He was educated at Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex.
T ...
(of which he later became a governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
) from 1820 to 1828.
Goldney married Mary Anne Alexander in Corsham
Corsham is a historic market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the southwestern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 road (England), A4 national route. It is southwest of Swindon, east of ...
on 16 September 1839,[ and they had four children: Mary Catherine Goldney (14 October 1841 – 4 August 1854), Gabriel Prior Goldney (b. 4 August 1843), Frederick Hastings Goldney (b. 26 May 1845), and John Tankerville Goldney (b. 15 June 1846).]
Career
Goldney became a landowner, financier and banker. In 1854 he bought Sheldon Manor and in 1856, land in Hilmarton. His investments extended outside Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
to Camberley
Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...
in Surrey, as in 1860 he advanced money to develop a silk farm at Heatherside; however, the venture failed, Goldney foreclose
Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan.
Formally, a mort ...
d on his investment and took possession of the land, part of which later became Prior Park, Camberley, the residence of his two elder sons.
In 1863 he bought land at Bradenstoke Abbey from Frederick Methuen, 2nd Baron Methuen
Frederick Henry Paul Methuen, 2nd Baron Methuen (23 February 1818 – 26 September 1891), was a British peer and Liberal politician.
Methuen was the son of Paul Methuen, 1st Baron Methuen, and his wife Jane Dorothea (née St John-Mildmay). H ...
, and the following year, bought Stanley Abbey
Stanley Abbey was a medieval abbey near Chippenham, Wiltshire, England, which flourished between 1151 and 1536.
Foundation
The abbey was given by Empress Matilda in 1151 to monks from Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight. Originally at Loxwell, ...
from John Bayntun Starkey. By 1888 he also owned land at Monks Park, Corsham
Corsham is a historic market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the southwestern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 road (England), A4 national route. It is southwest of Swindon, east of ...
, which he leased for quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...
ing.
He was first elected to parliament as Conservative Member of Parliament for Chippenham
Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...
, Wiltshire, England on 11 July 1865 and made his maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
on 20 April 1866. By this time, he was a Director of the North Wilts Bank. In this capacity, he was persuaded by railway engineer Roland Brotherhood
Rowland Brotherhood (or sometimes Roland Brotherhood) was a British engineer. He was born in Middlesex in 1812 and died in Bristol in 1883.
Career
From 1835, he took on a number of contracts for building parts of the Great Western Railway (G ...
to relax the bank's conditions on his overdraft
An overdraft occurs when something is withdrawn in excess of what is in a current account. For financial systems, this can be funds in a bank account. In these situations the account is said to be "overdrawn". In the economic system, if there i ...
in return for help in getting Goldney re-elected in the forthcoming election; Goldney, having been re-elected, then advised the bank that the conditions could be relaxed. However, shortly after this, in 1869, the bank changed its mind, and Brotherhood's enterprise failed;[ Brotherhood blamed Goldney for this. Goldney was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire on 22 February 1869.
The position of Bailiff of Chippenham passed down to Goldney; he was also a ]Freemason
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
, holding the office of Grand Warden of England.[ He was created Baronet Goldney of Beechfield in the parish of Corsham, and Bradenstoke Abbey in the parish of Lyneham on 30 April 1880.
He died at Eaton Place, ]Belgravia
Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...
, London on 8 May 1900, and the baronetcy passed to his first son, Gabriel Prior Goldney.
Legacy
Goldney is commemorated in stained-glass windows of Chippenham parish church, The Foundling Hospital
The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...
, London and in the name of Goldney Avenue, Chippenham.
References
External links
*
Goldney papers
University of Bristol Library Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldney, Gabriel, 1st Baronet
1813 births
1900 deaths
People from Chippenham
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1865–1868
UK MPs 1868–1874
UK MPs 1874–1880
UK MPs 1880–1885
Deputy lieutenants of Wiltshire
Gabriel
In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...