Gooch of Beccles - Introduction

Introduction

Go To -> Table of Contents

    The trouble with a family tree is that it is usually concerned with descent only on the male side of the family. Our mother's families who are a good half of ourselves are not included in the roots. The good thing about it is that at least one can trace the half in its origins. One might think that if the genealogy of one's mothers are included in the tree then one's paternal grandfather would only represent one quarter of oneself and such a tree and, of course, that means that there must be, in reality, four quarters to make oneself. I would say One's Self, but parents and ancestors are only a part of what we are made of, as genetics do not determine the whole man or woman—environment and culture, history and the accidental nature of fate accounts for the rest. This particularly genealogy is therefore is not to be taken as the whole story of our origins but only a fraction of it —the rest must be made up from cultural and historical accounts of what transpired so long ago.
    It should be noted that apart from a few king lists and well maintained "pedigrees" very few families of England have genealogies going back earlier than the twelfth or thirteenth centuries. The reason is that it was only at this time that the "government", or actually the king, required people to register their place of birth and their patrinomy. Thus Geoffrey the Blacksmith and son George, become Geoffrey Blacksmith and son George Blacksmith. This new registry made identification easier and was really useful in land claims, taxation, role calls (for service drafts) and so on, especially as the population increased.
    That said, we should begin this journey by going directly to the past where we find my g4g (jee four-jee) or great great great great grandfather—the sixty-fourth part of my inheritance in the flesh by my father (for Mother's side please refer to Living Traditions, Hodgson). He was (and since souls are presumed to be immortal if they are Christian, still is) John Gooch born in Ringsfield near Beccles, Suffolk, England.

"JOHN GOOCH, of Beccles, Suffolk, b. 11 Aug. 1746, m. Barbara (d. 18 June, 1818), dau. of Michael Longridge, of Walbottle, Northumberland, and d. 24 Feb. 1818, having had, with other issue a son . . ."

    This item is from Burke's Peerage and Baronetage. For some people this respected text is merely a list of all the snobs to be found in England, but for others a handy reference book. Entries in Burke's include only the relevant genealogy for the particular listed peer or baronet and does not include "other issue" unless they establish the "pedigree" of the listed party. The recording of the pedigree meant bringing out the family records, which included deeds, portraits (in oil), family Bibles (with family trees) and other articles to establish one's family credentials and one's claim to status of one sort or another. The Herald, who traveled from place to place taking note of Who's Who in the kingdom, would then document that the family of such-and-such place and name is indeed legitimate heir, or not, to a title or position in society, and coat of arms.

"In the early mediaeval period the proclamation and organisation of tournaments was the chief function of heralds. They marshalled and introduced the contestants and kept a tally of the score. From this derive both their modern roles of organising ceremonial and of being expert in armory.

The knights taking part in tournaments were recognised by the arms they bore on their shields and the crests they wore on their helmets. Heralds soon acquired an expert knowledge of these and became responsible for recording arms, and then later for controlling their use.

As coats of arms were hereditary heralds soon came to add expertise in genealogy to their skills. The use of arms on the jousting field and in battle became steadily less important but at the same time the civilian, social and antiquarian uses of heraldry grew."

The College of Arms

This particular entry is from the listing for Sir Daniel Gooch, Baronet of Clewer Park. This John Gooch is his grandfather and is likewise grandfather to John Viret Gooch my own great great grandfather (g2g).
    This item doesn't seem to tell us very much, especially if we don't know about the background demographics, geography and history of the places and times mentioned. On the other hand by expanding on every word one can make a good story from it, get a great picture, imagine for oneself a drama or even invent a theory of the family. I found that I got to know myself by going into it with the tools of historical research, or of social psychology and such—and by using the internet, I didn't take long. I have not received a copy of the family tree so I didn't have the benefit of it. But even if I had it, I don't believe it would have improved my understanding much, as what is really required is the biographical details to flesh out the family story. My own knowledge of my ancestors stopped at grandfather (John William) and even there I had little beyond the fact he had a big house on St. Edmund's Drive (Lawrence Park, Toronto) and we used to go there every Christmas for a really wonderful holiday. I have often wished that Grandfather had told more stories, or any at all, but I'm afraid that he was a bit of an Edwardian (Upstairs/Downstairs) and thus he partly shared the sentiment that children were to be "seen and not heard," and, consequently, I was deprived of some of his wisdom, his capacity for understanding people and the heritage of the family. He was, nevertheless, very kind to me and never seemed to be angry or shouting, and so I felt secure and happy to be with him if ever I was entrusted to his care—which happened now and then, if only for a short time.

    Often I have resorted to Wikipedia for its knowledge base of 1.8 million articles: this is Gnu Licensed and can be reproduced if the License is appended to it.
    Get in Touch: electronic mail address-- family@goochoflondon.org

Click on the following arms to continue the tour . . .

else use this Table of Contents to go directly

Ancestor		Relation
Origin of name Gooch
The Baronets and Coat of Arms
John of Beccles		g4g
John of Bedlington		g3g
Children of John of Bedlington	Thomas Longridge	g2gUncle
(there were five girls as well but	John Viret	g2g
they don't have separate pages)	Daniel Longridge	g2gUncle
	George Henry	g2gUncle
	William Frederick	g2gUncle
John Viret	(same as above)	g2g
William David		g1g
John William		grandfather
Peter William		father

This popup "relatives chart" might be useful

Author:
Eric Paul Gooch
Etobicoke, Ontario
December 10th, 2006

Other websites by the same author:

earthmodal

Introduction to the works of United Nations and other global institutions. The website is a portal to ecosystem centered three-pillar sustainability