Everything about William Goffe totally explained
William Goffe (
1605?–
1679?) was an
English parliamentarian. He was son of Stephen Goffe, puritan rector of
Stanmer in
Sussex, and brother of
Stephen Goffe (Gough), royalist agent.
He began life as an apprentice to a
London salter, a zealous parliamentarian. By his marriage with Frances, daughter of
General Edward Whalley, he became connected with
Oliver Cromwell's family and one of his most faithful followers. He was imprisoned in
1642 for his share in the petition to give the control of the militia to the parliament.
On the outbreak of the
English Civil War he joined the army and became captain in Colonel Harley's regiment of the
New Model Army in
1645.
He was a member of the deputation which on
July 6 1647 brought up the charge against the eleven members. He was active in bringing
King Charles I to trial and signed the death warrant. In
1649, he received an honorary
M.A. at
Oxford.
He distinguished himself at the
Battle of Dunbar, commanding a regiment there and at the
Battle of Worcester. He assisted in the expulsion of
Barebone's parliament in
1653 and took an active part in the suppression of
Penruddock's rising in July
1654. In October
1655 during the
Rule of the Major-Generals was appointed major-general for
Berkshire,
Sussex and
Hampshire. Meanwhile he'd been elected member for
Yarmouth in
Norfolk in the parliament of 1654 and for
Hampshire in that of
1656. He supported the proposal to bestow a royal title upon
Oliver Cromwell, who greatly esteemed him, and was included in the newly-constituted
House of Lords. He obtained
Lambert's place as major-general of the Foot and was even thought of as a fit successor to
Oliver Cromwell.
As a member of the committee of nine appointed in June
1658 on public affairs, he was witness to the protector's appointment of
Richard Cromwell as his successor. He supported the latter during his brief tenure of power and his fall involved his own loss of influence. In November
1659 he took part in the futile mission sent by the army to
Monck in
Scotland. In
1664, During the
Restoration, he escaped with his father-in-law, General
Edward Whalley, to
Massachusetts.
The two fled for
New Haven, Connecticut when their safety was compromised, where
John Dixwell, also condemned as a
regicide, was living under an assumed name. They were housed by Rev.
John Davenport. After a reward was offered for their arrest, they pretended to flee to
New York, but instead returned by a roundabout way to
New Haven. In May, the Royal order for their arrest reached
Boston, and was sent by the Governor to
William Leete, Governor of the
New Haven Colony, residing at
Guilford. Leete delayed the King's messengers, allowing Goffe and
Whalley to disappear. They spent much of the summer in
Judges' Cave at
West Rock.
Letters to Dr.
Increase Mather and others give hints as to Goffe's whereabouts, but very little is clear, perhaps due to his desire not to be captured and executed. He appears to have passed the rest of his life in exile in New England, separated from his wife and children, under one or more assumed names. Tradition has him sheltering for a decade at
Hadley, Massachusetts, reappearing, according to legend, to lead the town's defense during
King Philip's War, giving rise to the legend of the
Angel of Hadley. He died about
1679.
The three
regicides are commemorated by three intersecting streets in
New Haven ("
Dixwell Avenue", "
Whalley Avenue", and "
Goffe Street"), and in some neighboring
Connecticut towns as well.
Goffe's political aims appear not to have gone much beyond fighting "to pull down
Charles and set up
Oliver"; and he was no doubt a man of deep religious feeling, who acted throughout according to a strict sense of duty as he conceived it.
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