William Goffe | |
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| Member of Parliament forHampshire | |
| In office September 1656 – February 1658 | |
| Rule of the Major-Generals, responsible forBerkshire,Sussex andHampshire | |
| In office November 1655 – January 1657 | |
| Member of Parliament forYarmouth | |
| In office September 1654 – January 1655 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1613 to 1618 Uncertain, probablySussex |
| Died | c. 1679 New England |
| Resting place | Thought to beHadley, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | English |
| Spouse | Frances Whalley (c. 1650) |
| Children | Anne; Elizabeth; Frances |
| Military service | |
| Rank | Major General |
| Battles/wars | |
William Goffe,c. 1613/1618 - 1679/1680, was a religious radical fromLondon who fought forParliament during theWars of the Three Kingdoms. Nicknamed “Praying William” by contemporaries, he approved theExecution of Charles I in January 1649, but escaped prosecution as aregicide by fleeing to theNew England Colonies.
Goffe held several senior military and political positions under theCommonwealth, including administrator ofBerkshire,Sussex andHampshire during theRule of the Major-Generals from 1655 to 1657. A close associate ofOliver Cromwell, to whom he was distantly related by marriage, he lost most of his political influence afterRichard Cromwell resigned asLord Protector in April 1659.
Shortly before theStuart Restoration in May 1660, Goffe sailed forBoston with his father-in-law and fellow regicide GeneralEdward Whalley. Sheltered byPuritan sympathisers in New England, little is known for certain of his life there. It was once suggested he was theAngel of Hadley, a figure who in 1675 allegedly helped repulse an attack byNative Americans, but this is disputed on various grounds. He died sometime after April 1679, the date of his last known letter to his wife, and is thought to have been buried inHadley, Massachusetts.
William Goffe was the fourth of five sons born toThe Reverend Stephen Goffe (1575–after 1628), and his wife Deborah (1587–1626). The precise date and location of his birth are uncertain; his father wasrector ofBramber,Sussex, but lost this position in 1607 for his part in organising aPuritan petition toJames I.[1]
His eldest brotherStephen (1605–1681), was baptised in the nearby village ofStanmer, while his mother was buried there in 1626, so Sussex seems most likely.[a] William was probably born between 1613 and 1618, since he became an apprentice in 1634, the maximum age for which was 21, and admitted to theWorshipful Company of Grocers as a freeman in 1642, the minimum age being 24.[2]
The two elder sons, Stephen and John, attendedMerton College, Oxford, and followed their father aspriests in theChurch of England, but took different paths from their younger brother. Stephen acted as aRoyalist agent in Europe during theWars of the Three Kingdoms, and wasordained as aCatholic priest in 1654.[3] John was removed from hisliving inHackington,Kent, for refusing to subscribe to thePresbyterian-inspired 1643Solemn League and Covenant.[4] His other brothers were alsoLondon merchants; James (1611–1656), became a member of theWorshipful Company of Leathersellers, while Timothy (1626-after 1649), was reportedly aShip chandler.
Sometime around 1650, Goffe married Frances Whalley (1635–1684?), daughter of GeneralEdward Whalley, a cousin ofOliver Cromwell; they had three daughters, Anne, Elizabeth, and Frances.[1]
In 1634, Goffe was contracted as anApprentice to William Vaughan, aPresbyterian Londondrysalter, and member of the Company of Grocers.[5] In early 1642, he was briefly imprisoned for organising a petition demanding that control of theLondon Trained Bands be transferred fromCharles I toParliament.[1] TheFirst English Civil War began in August, and by July 1643 Goffe was serving as acaptain in an infantry regiment led byColonel Harry Barclay, a Scottish veteran of theThirty Years' War. Raised in autumn 1642 to reinforce theParliamentarian field army commanded by theEarl of Essex, in 1643 this unit helped lift theSiege of Gloucester and fought at theFirst Battle of Newbury. During the 1644 Western Campaign, it was among the 5,000 troops forced to surrender atLostwithiel in August, but released in time for theSecond Battle of Newbury in September.[6][b]
Along with his regiment, Goffe transferred to theNew Model Army in April 1645, withEdward Harley taking over from Barclay as colonel.[8][c] Over the next year, this formation served in numerous actions, including the battles ofNaseby,Langport andTorrington, as well as the sieges ofBridgwater,Bristol,Berkeley Castle andExeter.[9] The surrender ofOxford in June 1646 brought the First Civil War to a close, with the exception of a few isolated Royalist garrisons that held out until 1647.[10]
However, victory resulted in increasingly bitter disputes over the post-war political settlement between radicals within the New Model like Cromwell, and moderateMPs in Parliament, the most prominent beingDenzil Holles.[11] In July 1647, Goffe was part of a military deputation which demanded Parliament suspendeleven MPs identified as key opponents of the army. As well as Holles, they included Harley, who was replaced as colonel byThomas Pride, with Goffe promoted tomajor.[12][d]
Like fellow New Model officers such as GeneralsThomas Harrison andRobert Overton, both members of the Christianmillennialist sect known as theFifth Monarchists, Goffe was convinced theSecond Coming was imminent. This belief influenced his interventions in thePutney Debates, held in late 1647 to reconcile competing demands from different army factions on the details of the peace settlement. Goffe argued Charles I should be put on trial, and suggested those in favour of continuing negotiations with him were preventing the return ofJesus Christ by "thwarting God's will".[13] Since these discussions were being led by Cromwell, who strongly believed all his actions were directed by God,[14] he demanded an apology from Goffe for what he considered a personal insult.[1]
When theSecond English Civil War broke out in 1648, Goffe's regiment was part of the force which put down the rising inSouth Wales, including the recapture ofPembroke Castle in April. This was followed by the defeat of the ScottishEngager army atPreston in August, which effectively ended the rebellion.[15] Now a Lieutenant Colonel, Goffe and others argued the renewed fighting was "God's punishment" for failing to bring the king to "justice", a viewpoint which had been adopted by Cromwell. In December 1648,Pride's Purge excluded MPs who opposed doing so, and the reduced body known as theRump Parliament accordingly voted to putCharles on trial. Goffe was one of the fifty-nine judges who approved hisexecution in January 1649.[1] His Royalist brother Stephen, then serving as chaplain to the exiledStuart court inThe Hague, was chosen to informCharles II of his father's death.[16]
Although Charles was king of bothScotland andEngland, the Scottish government was not consulted. In 1650, they responded by crowning his son king of Scotland, andagreeing to restore him to the English throne, leading to theAnglo-Scottish War.[17] Goffe commanded Cromwell's own infantry regiment atDunbar in September 1650, and was subsequently promoted its colonel, then fought atWorcester a year later, two victories that ended the war.[18] Charles IIescaped to theDutch Republic, but defeat resulted in Scotland being incorporated into theCommonwealth of England in 1653, and confirmed Cromwell's position as leader of the newrepublic.[19]
Rewarded for his service with grants of former Crown lands inHertfordshire, Goffe backed the dismissal of the Rump in April 1653, and its replacement with a nominated body known asBarebone's Parliament. However, he supported Parliament's dissolution in December 1653, and Cromwell's subsequent appointment asLord Protector. These actions marked his break with former New Model colleagues, both Fifth Monarchist sympathisers like Thomas Harrison, and republicans such asEdmund Ludlow.[e] Goffe became one ofThe Protectorate's most loyal supporters, and was elected MP forGreat Yarmouth in the 1654First Protectorate Parliament.[5]
In early 1655, he helped suppress the pro-RoyalistPenruddock uprising, and was promotedmajor general in October 1655; during theRule of the Major-Generals, he served as administrator for the region composed ofBerkshire, Sussex, andHampshire. The regime proved both unpopular and expensive, and when elections for anew Parliament were held in September 1656, Goffe was returned as MP forHampshire.[1] This failed to resolve disputes over the constitutional settlement; one solution was tomake Cromwell king, an offer he ultimately refused.[21] Whether Goffe actively supported the idea, or simply accepted it, is unclear.[22]
The new constitution included a second chamber for the first time since the abolition of theHouse of Lords in 1649. Known asCromwell's Other House, it included 63 nominated individuals, including Goffe.[5] However, only 42 of the 63 accepted, while Parliament was determined to kill the Other House at birth. As a result, it was dissolved in February 1658 without anything other than a preliminary meeting.[23] When Cromwell died in September, Goffe transferred allegiance to his son and successor as Lord Protector,Richard Cromwell, whose inability to control either Parliament or the New Model led to his resignation in May 1659.[24] This ended Goffe's period of influence, although during their struggle with the re-installed Rump Parliament, the military-backedCommittee of Safety made him part of a four-man delegation sent in November to seek support fromGeorge Monck, military governor in Scotland. This proved unsuccessful.[1]
In negotiations leading up to the 1660Stuart Restoration, a general pardon was agreed for all "crimes" committed since 1642, with certain exceptions, including the regicides. Aware that they faced prosecution and probable execution, Goffe and his father-in-law Edward Whalley sailed forBoston, Massachusetts on 13 May 1660, one day before warrants were issued for their arrest.[25] Arriving on 27 July, one writer has claimed "they were the most prominent public officials from the Mother country ever to land in New England".[26] They initially lived openly inCambridge, where they stayed withDaniel Gookin, a prominent member of thecolonial administration.[27]
However, at the end of November it was confirmed that they had been excluded from theIndemnity and Oblivion Act passed by Parliament in August,[f] making it impolitic for the Massachusetts authorities to openly protect them.[28] In March 1661, the two fugitives moved on toNew Haven, Connecticut, where they were later joined by another regicide,John Dixwell.[29] Here they were housed by the local Puritan minister,John Davenport, before Royalist agents arrived in May seeking to arrest them. Forewarned by local sympathisers,Goffe and Whalley evaded their pursuers by hiding inJudges' Cave, where they spent most of the next few years.[30]
In 1664, fresh efforts to arrest Whalley and Goffe meant they relocated toHadley, Massachusetts, where they were sheltered byJohn Russell.[31] Thereafter, very little is known for certain of their life, although Goffe's letters to his wife Frances make it clear he retained his religious and political convictions.[1] Based on these letters and papers discovered a century later, he and Whalley built up a small trading business, and were prosperous enough for Goffe to tell Frances not to send any more money.[32] Whalley died sometime between 1674 and 1675.[33]
In the 19th century, Goffe was suggested as a candidate for being theAngel of Hadley, who in 1675 supposedly helped repulse an attack on the town byNative Americans.[34] However, whether this incident even took place remains disputed, let alone Goffe's involvement.[35][36] In 1676, he reportedly left Hadley forHartford, Connecticut; his last letter to Frances is dated April 1679, and he probably died shortly thereafter.[37] He is thought to have been buried next to his father-in-law in an unmarked grave at Hadley.[1][g]
Various towns in New England have streets commemorating Dixwell, Whalley and Goffe, including Hadley and New Haven.[38] Goffe and Whalley are protagonists in British authorRobert Harris’s 2022 novelAct of Oblivion, which depicts their flight across New England.[39]
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