Hugh Goodman of Carnarvonshire, Wales

Submitted by Dr. Ian Thompson, Ed. by Ron Goodman for this posting.

Dear all,

A quotation from Birdoff, S.T. "The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1509-1558" Vol. II, members D-M (Secker and Warburg, London, 1982).

"Goodman, Hugh (by 1515-1572 or later), of Beaumaris, Anglesey.
Beaumaris 1555, born by 1515, possibly son of Richard Goodman of Beaumaris, married, and had at least 1 daughter.
Bailiff, Beaumaris 1547-8, 1557-8, 1562-3, Capital Burgess 1562

Members of the Goodman family appear to have settled in Beaumaris about the middle of the 15th century, having probably come there either from Chester, where a Goodman family was to be prominent in the 16th century, or from Ruthin, Denbighshire. Hugh Goodman's parentage has not been established, but his forbears include Richard Goodman, bailiff of Beaumaris in 1483-4, and Rowland Goodman, who was engaged in the wine trade there in the early years of Henry VIII's reign. His daughter Agnes [Annes] married John Vaughan, himself a Bailiff of Beaumaris, and Ralph Goodman, escheator of Anglesey in 1579, may have been his son. Goodman's business activity is to be glimpsed in 1536, when with his frequent associate William Bulkeley II, he supplied the exchequer at Caernarfon with parchment; in October 1558 he was one of four merchants of Beaumaris to whom customs officials committed the inspection and measurement of a cargo of cloth confiscated in the harbour. His position amongst the wealthier townsmen is attested by his subsidy assessment of 20 pounds in goods in 1572. Of Goodman's part in the proceedings of the 1555 Parliament nothing is known save that he was not among the Members who opposed one of the government's bills. Of the Bulkeley faction in Beaumaris, Goodman was a member of the self-perpetuating town council under the charter of 1562. He is last heard of in his subsidy assessment ten years later. As he is omitted from a list of Richard Bulkeley's tenants in 1574 he may have died in that or the previous year."

A pedigree of a later Hugh Goodman, of Bodedern, Anglesey, who died 1671, may be found in J.E. Griffiths' "Pedigrees of Anglesey and Carnarvonshire Families" (Pwllheli, 1913) under "Elernion". He married Anne Meyrick, a widow, who died in 1685, and had a number of children (Bangor Wills of Hugh Goodman 1671 and Anne Goodman 1685):

The same Hugh Goodman (who died 1671) is shown in the "Rhosbadric" pedigree in the same book (which shows Anne Meyrick's first husband's family) and described as the MP for Beaumaris in 1555. This is an impossibility, and an example of one of J.E. Griffith's (many) mistakes.

Whether the two Hugh Goodmans are connected remains only a possibility at present.)

(1) John Goodman married Mary and died 1673 without issue. She remarried to Gabriel Bean in 1687 in Beaumaris, Anglesey.
(2) Gabriell Goodman married 1662 in Llangadwaladr, Anglesey to Elizabeth Glynne of Elernion, Llanaelhaearn, Caernarfonshire. He died in 1712 with issue.
(3) Richard Goodman of Tal y Llyn, Llanbeulan, Anglesey m Elizabeth Rowland and died 1688 without issue.
(4) Grace Goodman married Humphrey Roberts and inherited Place Yollen, Llangoed, Anglesey, from her mother in 1685. Issue?
(5) Elizabeth Goodman married 1675 in Beaumaris Richard Burnett. Issue?

Gabriell Goodman and Elizabeth Glynne had issue:
(1) William Goodman of Parkia, Criccieth, Caernarfonshire who died 1732 (3 daughters)
(2) Thomas Goodman "married an Irish lady" according to Griffiths fl 1688
(3) Richard Goodman fl 1671 (Bangor Will of Hugh Goodman)
(4) Catherine Goodman married William Wynne of Wern, Caernarfonshire and she died 1743 (1 son, 2 daughters)

The last Goodman will in Bangor probate records is that of the William who died in 1732, mentioning only his sister Catherine Wynne nee Goodman and one of her daughters. Why he shouldn't have bequeathed anything to his own children is a matter for debate, but he was tied up in court cases in the last 10 years of his life and may have had debts or bequeathed during his life.

I haven't found any reference to Goodmans in Anglesey or Caernarfonshire until my William Goodman married in 1768 in Llangian, Caernarfonshire (see Gwynedd Roots, Journal of the Gwynedd FHS, Apr 2003).

A large branch of Goodmans (?connected or not) exists in the parish registers of Denio, Pwllheli, Caernarfonshire from 1753 onwards.

It is tantalizing to note the similarities in naming patterns in the Anglsey and Ruthin Goodmans and makes one wonder about a connection.

I would be very willing to answer any queries on the above for anyone.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Ian Thompson