JOHN AND ANNA GOOCH, of Bedlington
The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to the application of modern mass conscription. French power rose quickly, conquering most of Europe, but collapsed rapidly after France's disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. Napoleon's empire ultimately suffered complete military defeat, resulting in the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France. Meanwhile the Spanish Empire began to unravel as French occupation of Spain weakened the Spanish hold over its colonies, providing an opening for nationalist revolutions in Latin America.
No consensus exists as to when the French Revolutionary Wars ended and the Napoleonic Wars began. Possible dates include November 9, 1799, when Bonaparte seized power in France; May 18, 1803, when Britain and France ended the only period of peace in Europe between 1792 and 1814,[citation needed] and December 2, 1804, when Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor.
The Napoleonic Wars ended following Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo (18 June 1815) and the Second Treaty of Paris. Some sources (in the United Kingdom) occasionally refer to the nearly continuous period of warfare from 1792 to 1815 as the Great French War, or as the final phase of the Anglo-French Second Hundred Years' War, spanning the period 1689 to 1815.
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JOHN GOOCH, of Bedlington, Northumberland, b. 17 March, 1783, m. 23 Dec. 1805, Anna (d. 24 Nov. 1863), dau. of Thomas Longridge, of Newcastle‑on‑Tyne, and had issue,
(called John, the Younger or Jr. here)
Daniel's diary entry: GOOCH, Anna (Daniel's mother). Daughter of Thomas Longridge, b 17 March 1783, m John Gooch of Bedlington 23 December 1805, died 24 November 1863 and buried at Claines, Worcester. Mr. John Gooch d. 28 Aug. 1833
John, Jr.'s eldest son was born in Brompton, Kensington. Since the marriage to Anna Longridge had taken place in 1805 and since they were resident in Brompton at least by 1808, and did not move to Bedlington until ~1815 we might safely conclude that the family was resident here for up to ten years.
"He [ed. TLG] was born at Brompton, Kensington, on 1 November 1808, the second child and eldest son of John Gooch (1783‑1833), for many years cashier at the Bedlington Iron Works, near Morpeth, Northumberland, and his wife Anna Longridge. John Gooch's father, another John, was born at . . .Ringsfield, near Beccles."
... he had not traced the one in Highgate, and the precise address of his birthplace in Queen Street, Brompton (now Hans Road), was not known. Regarding a query on the missing volume 3 of Gooch's MSS, . . ." Thomas Longridge Gooch, 1808‑1882, Michael Robbins, The Newcomen Society, 1984
Neighborhood where John Gooch lived prior to Thomas' birth
Large View
View section online at MapCo with reference to Queen Street
Cruchley's New Plan Of London 1827
Victorian London - Directories - Dickens's Dictionary of London, by Charles Dickens, Jr., 1879
Brompton.—was at one time almost exclusively the artist quarter and is still largely frequented by the votaries of the brush and chisel, though of late years Belgravia has been encroaching upon its boundaries, and Belgravian rents are stealing westward. Lies rather low, and on what was at one time swampy ground, but thoroughly well drained, Climate mild, as evidenced by its selection for the Consumption Hospital. Since the fields have been covered with rows of splendid houses a considerable portion of what was once Brompton has thrown off its former name, and taken that of South Kensington. Thus South Kensington Museum is separated only by the Oratory from Brompton Church. It may be questioned whether anything remains of Brompton except the name of its road, and of the row and square and it is probable that even the inhabitants of Brompton-square, head their letters South Kensington, while Thurloe-square, Onslow Square and Pelham-crescent, once the heart of Brompton have all gone over to the more fashionable quarter. The name, however, exists in West Brompton. This locality, which was once called little Chelsea, took its new name just about the time that Brompton assumed the name of South Kensington. In another generation people will wonder why the church and road are called Brompton, when the only Brompton known lies near Chatharn. NEAREST Railway Stations, West Brompton, Gloucester-road, and South Kensington Omnibus Routes, Brompton-road and Fulham-road."
See Sir Daniel's Memoirs to 1846 in the section on Sir Daniel for more of the next text. Of course Sir Daniel's father here is John Viret's father also, and this is my great great great grandfather (g3g). With this the foreparents of the family become more of actual persons rather than just a names associated with a places. The grandparents begin to beam into history, or like an interlaced graphic, the download is started.
"I was born at Bedlington in Northumberland (or rather in the county of Durham, as this parish [is], on account of the remains of St Cuthbert having rested there when being removed from Holy Island to Durham), on the 24th day of August 1816. I have often heard my mother say my birth occurred about 3 oclock in the morning during an awful thunderstorm. My father had then lived in Bedlington about a year. He was engaged in the Bedlington Iron Works, at the time the property of my Second cousins the Longridges and Mr Gordon of London.
The village of Bedlington was a tolerably clean and large country village with half a dozen good houses in it. The house we then lived in stood at a in the annexed plan of the village. We removed from this
Fig 1. Gooch's sketch plan of Bedlington, showing 'a—born in this house', ‘b—2[nd] house lived in', 'c—school' and the parish church. The river Blyth is at right
house to a house marked b5 when I was probably about 3 years old, as I can remember my trying to carry part of my cot over the street. I certainly was not more than 3 years old at this time, as I was only 4 years of age when I went to school. How well I remember the first day I was led there by the servant, and also the appearance of the 2 ladies who kept it. Its situation is marked c on the plan.6 The ladies were a Miss Robson and her sister Miss Betsey. They must have been kind to me as was very fond of them, and long after looked back upon them as old friends. My mother has often told me I was sent so early to school as I was rather inclined to keep the house in hot water from one piece of mischief or other.
There was also great excitement in the village at the time of the Burke and Hare murders in Edinburgh. What were called resurrection men used to rob the graves of the bodies for the doctors, and all that the church yard was watched for some time after anyone had been buried. Hare, who had turned King's evidence, and was let off, was supposed to be at Bedlington one night; at any rate, a man believed to be him was there, and the whole place turned out to lynch him. It was wonder he was not killed; had he not possessed good legs he certainly would have been, as his fleetness enabled him to keep ahead of those in and they did not get hold of him, but pelted him with stones until he got away in the dark. He certainly was a bad looking fellow; I had seen him in the afternoon begging. My father, as churchwarden, and a constable used to go round to all the lodging houses for tramps to see who was in them at night, and I used often to accompany them. It was winter of great dread which was made worse by many practical jokes, by a piece of sticking plaister being put over people's mouths in the dark, the belief being that a number of people were killed by the resurrection men in that way, they having a plaister which the person operated on could not get off. I had a dagger made out of an old bayonet that I used to carry about with me when out after dark altho' I dare say I would have used my legs freely had I fancied any real danger.
. . . . .
My father was rather strict with us on a Sunday. We went to church morning and afternoon, and at the afternoon service I, with the rest of the young people, had to say our Catechism before the congregation. We all stood in a circle round the reading desk, a large open space in the church was well fitted for it, and the questions were put by Mr Coates, the minister. He was a true pattern of a clergyman, a gentleman in every sense of the word, beloved by all. The church and church yard at that time (it has since been much altered, I think for the worse) was kept in the most beautiful order. It was the great pride of Mr Coates to see the church yard kept neat and filled with flowers and pretty shrubs, and so much was he liked that even us mischievous boys respected them for his sake altho' we used often to play there as it was always open, yet we never did any harm. A grandson of Mr Coates was also a play fellow of mine and I used often to be at the parsonage.
III (Below) The second house occupied by the Gooch family in Bedlington, where Daniel spent his boyhood, now the King's Arms Hotel. Note the plaque commemorating Daniel Gooch's association with the house
Thomas L. went with his parents to Bedlington in about 1816. John Viret was born in 1812. He
would have lived first then in Brompton (see TL's bio) and would be 4 years old on arrival in
Bedlington. Since Daniel was about three when John, Jr made the move to this (second) house
that would be about 1819, and therefore JV is 7 years old. Presumably JV would have had
similar childhood education and experience to that such as Daniel did.
"When 11 or 12 years old my father indulged my taste for mechanics by buying me a lathe and box of tools, the former I still have, or rather what is left of it, and I took lessons in turning. This was a source of great amusement and usefulness to me, as it caused me to think, and also to read useful books on mechanics. I acquired a considerable amount of skill in fancy turning and got a good deal of employment from the ladies for screw handles, chess men &c. I collected all the large bones I could get, to make things in bone. My poor father took a great deal of interest in what I did. He was a man very fond of a little carpentry himself and had a good idea of mechanics, although he had received no mechanical training. I quite understood the details of the steam engine and, for a boy who had to depend upon himself, got from books and such experiments as I could make, a fair knowledge of natural philosophy. Arnold11 was a very favourite book of mine; a plan I found very useful was to write down from memory what I had been reading. In science, to enable you to do this requires you to understand fully what you have read, as you have to put it in your own language.
"That beautiful sentence Sir Daniel Gooch quoted to the Swindon workmen, and which I treasure as Mrs. Gooch’s Golden Rule, or the Divine Injunction “Be ye Perfect” done into British,–the sentence Sir Daniel Gooch’s mother repeated to him every morning when he was a boy going to work: “Ever remember, my dear Dan, that you should look forward to being some day manager of that concern!"–this fruitful maxim is perfectly fitted to shine forth in the heart of the Hyde Park rough also, and to be his guiding-star through life."
Culture and Anarchy, Matthew Arnold.
Note that Mrs. Gooch is Anna (nee Longridge) Gooch, mother of the Gooch boys of old, and my great great great grandmother.
. . . . .
"I have ever looked back upon my years spent at Bedlington as very happy ones; I know they have been very useful to me in after life, giving me a feeling of self reliance which I have needed, having my way to fight in the world. My dear parents gave me all the education they could and such as was to be obtained in private schools, and while leaving me much liberty they set me a right example. I may say Sunday was the only day when my time was not at my own disposal out of school hours, and I often used to be out of the house on a Saturday morning before anyone was up. I remember eating my breakfast before going to bed to save time next morning. Before I left Bedlington (I do not know in what year it was) I went to Morpeth to see a steam engine working on the common road. It was built by Messrs Hawthorn of Newcastle, and drew a threshing machine after it. I believe it was for the Duke of Northumberland; it was on its way from Newcastle to Anwick [Alnwick]. I found it at a stand, from some defect, on a hill a little before reaching Morpeth, but waited to see it repaired, and it went on into the town, making the turnings of the streets capitally. It made a strong impression on me. I knew an about the iron horses, as they were then called, on the waggon ways; George Stephenson was frequently at my father's house and used to take a great deal of notice of me by taking me on his knee and talking to me about pits &c. At that time he was much engaged in advising on colliery matters & had just commenced his glorious career. My eldest brother Tom went to his works at Newcastle as a pupil.
"Mr Locke was also there, and used frequently to come to Bedlington to spend his Sunday with my brother. I well remember the discussions about railways, then called waggon ways, and the first introduction of the long wrought iron rail.
. . . . .
In February 1831 my father left Bedlington to go to Tredegar iron works in Monmouthshire, and took his family with him. I remember well what a pleasant journey it was. We had a kind of omnibus built, with curtains round it, in which we all travelled, posting. I do not know how many days it took us to make the journey, but I well remember it, and the beautiful view as we crossed the Malvern hills; it was a bright moon light evening.
Modern Tredegar, at Town Clock.
JV was now nineteen
may have already left to apprentice with Stephenson and Locke.
. . . . .
"About early in 1833 my father's health began to fail him, altho' we had no idea of any danger. He went to London for advice & stopped at my uncle Robinson's at Worcester on his return, where my mother went to meet him. He was very weak but quite cheerful. The evening before he died he sat up to the usual hour, then went to bed and fell asleep. A few hours afterwards my mother woke and found him dead, (28th August 1833). It was a great and unexpected blow to us all. I went to Worcester hoping to be in time to attend his funeral, but was too late, the funeral having taken place the day I reached there. My father was buried at a pretty country church yard a little distance from Worcester called Claines, where his sons put up a monument16 to his memory a little later. I thus, at a very early age, lost a good father, and my poor mother was left to care for 4 others younger than myself, and nobly she performed her task.
16 There is now no trace of the grave or monument. Gooch gives the inscription as follows (see 11, n 35).
Sacred to the beloved memory of John Gooch, late of Tredegar, Monmouthshire, and formerly of Bedlington in the County of Durham, who, after having in an exemplary manner discharged the relative duties of son, husband & father & brother, departed this life on the 28th Augst 1833 in the 51st year of his age.
On the 24th of November 1863 at Birmn, Anna Gooch his widow also 'fell asleep in Jesus' in her 81st year. Her remains are laid in this vault by the side of those of her husband by their children, to whom her memory will ever be precious.
'When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.' Col 3, 4
By the time I read this footnote I was already starting to think what a great "pilgrimage" it would be to visit this monument. But then upon realizing that it had disappeared, started searching around on the web for Claines, and inquired with their local genealogist whether they knew anything about it. She couldn't find anything on them. The British, you know, are really big on ancestry and have taken to photographing gravestones, and digitizing the old records, so if the remains are not there they are really not there. Good Grief!! Had someone stolen the remains of the ancestors, or had they been moved by some other descendent to another location? I assume that the Scotland Yard would not be interested in reviving a cold file 140 years old. Perhaps one day a forensic archaeologist could do the job.
**The remains might be at Kensal Green Cemetery where Thomas Longridge Gooch and Anna Longridge (nee Gooch) Fitzpatrick (and Isambard Kingdom Brunel) are located.
 Church in Claines built 1500's Photo: courtesy Friends of Claines Church |
 Claines, UK, near Worcester View Large |
"I remained in the house at Tredegar after the death of my father and I continued at the works. During the time I was there the Merthyr riots took place; I forget the year.17 The Tredegar men did not join the rioters. On the Friday a large body of men, collected from Nant y Glo & Ebbw Vale, passed through Tredegar on their way to join the Dowlais & Merthyr men, where they attacked the Castle inn, in which a number of one of the Highland regiments and the magistrates were. The soldiers were obliged to fire from the windows upon the mob and I think 21 were killed. They were beaten off for the time, but determined to collect additional strength by the Monday.
"Early on the Monday morning a much larger number passed through Tredegar and got hold of all the men they could to force them to go with them. I was amongst the unwilling ones, and with the others was placed in front, the men behind having sticks with spikes in the end to poke us on. There were 8 or 10,000 altogether. When we got to Phymney we saw a lot of soldiers drawn up along the ridge of Dowlais hill, instead of meeting the Merthyr men there as had been arranged. A considerable amount of bluster took place as they ascended the hill, we in the front not liking the look of things at all. When we reached the soldiers some of the magistrates came forward to advise the men to disperse and return home. This could not be listened to, and they would march on to Merthyr in spite of the soldiers. The magistrates then retired and the soldiers were ordered to present arms, no pleasant sound to us in front, as one word of command more and who could say how many of us would roll in the dust?
"A panic certainly took possession of us in the front and was as quickly communicated to those behind, and a general scramble down the hill took place, so that in very few minutes the word 'Fire' would have done us no harm. We Tredegar people were right glad to get back, and we had some revenge on our oppressors as they, in parties of 2 & 3, passed back through Tredegar on their way home. We gave them a fair amount of chaff. The soldiers managed this matter very well, as they took possession of the hill first and so prevented the two bodies of men meeting. This put an end to the riots.
"On the Friday the men disarmed a troop of yeomanry coming up from Cardiff, I think, & got one of the bayonets off the musket of one [of] the Highlanders when they made a rush upon them at the Castle Hotel. This bayonet, with a small flag tied to it, was carried on a pole by the party with whom I had the honour of marching. I have often asked myself since whether I was really frightened at the position I was in, but I think not. It is true the number of lives lost on the Friday made me feel the soldiers would fire if necessary, but I seemed to enter into the spirit of the march and the excitement of the shouting and noise, and I had no real occasion to get into the mess. Had I stayed at home I would not have done so as they only went into the workmen's houses."
"On Jany 28th 1834 I left home to go and work at the Vulcan Foundry near Warrington in Lancashire, under Mr Robert Stephenson. He and a Mr Tayleur of Liverpool had just built their works; indeed, they were not quite finished when I went there. They were intended chiefly for building locomotives. This was the first time I had left my home, and my dear mother gave me much good advice, much of which has been of use to me through life. I remember well her telling me always to keep my thoughts fixed upon obtaining for myself a good position in life, never to be satisfied to stand still, and altho' I was going to the Vulcan as a boy and a pupil, to strive to one day become the manager.20 I have often, in after life, thought over my mother's words and seen the wisdom of them. The road to success in life is open to all who will with determination and honour follow it, never looking back, but keeping the eyes & soul ever fixed forward. Men are much more indebted to their mothers, I think, for their feelings and impressions that guide them through life, than they are to their fathers. There is more of sympathy between the boy and his mother than with the father, the advice is probably given more in love, and less as a duty, from her, and comes nearer home to the heart of the boy, while from the father, it appeals more to the reason, and all who have lived 50 years feel and know how much greater a power the heart is with us than the reason. The heart is ever true to itself, the reason argues with itself, and is often divided against itself, and so cannot stand. I left my mother's roof with great regret; I was going out alone into an unknown world amongst strangers, and I can quite well remember I did not feel very happy."
The Regency period in the United Kingdom is the period between 1811 and 1820, when King George III was deemed unfit to rule and his son, later George IV, was instated to be his proxy as Prince Regent. The term is often expanded to apply to the years between 1795 and 1837, a time characterised by distinctive fashions, politics and culture. In this sense, it can be considered to be a transitional period between "Georgian" and "Victorian" eras. The era was distinctive for its architecture, literature, fashions, politics, and snuffboxes. It was a period of excess for the aristocracy: for example, it was during this time that the Prince Regent built the Brighton Pavilion. However, it was also an era of uncertainty caused by, among other things, the Napoleonic wars, periodic riots, and the concern — threat to some, hope to others — that the British people might imitate the upheavals of the French Revolution.
The term is sometimes used in various ways to include years surrounding the decade of the formal regency. If "Regency" is considered to be transitional between "Georgian" and "Victorian" then it would refer to the entire period from approximately 1811 until the accession of Queen Victoria, encompassing the actual period of Regency, along with George IV's reign in his own right and that of his brother William IV. If "Regency" is contrasted with "Eighteenth century", then it could include the whole period of the Napoleonic wars.
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Bedlington