Sir Gabriel Goldney, 1st Baronet
Sir Gabriel Goldney, 1st Baronet (25 July 1813 – 8 May 1900)[1] was a Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1885. He was created a baronet in May 1880.
Ancestry and early life[edit]
The Goldney family, from Bristol, became clothiers in Chippenham in the sixteenth century and were long afterwards associated with Wiltshire, and particularly the town.[2] An ancestor, Henry Goldney, had also been a member of parliament for Chippenham and was in 1553 appointed the first "Bayliff" of Chippenham.[3] A 17th-century ancestor, also named Gabriel, left bequests in his will to provide "greatcoats for six poor inhabitants".[3]
Goldney was born on 25 July and baptised at Chippenham on 3 December 1813.[4] His father was Harry Goldney (1774–1852) and his mother Elizabeth (née Reade, c. 1789–1863).[5] He was educated at Christ's Hospital (of which he later became a governor) from 1820 to 1828.[6]
Goldney married Mary Anne Alexander in Corsham on 16 September 1839,[4] and they had four children: Mary Catherine Goldney (14 October 1841 – 4 August 1854), Gabriel Prior Goldney (b. 4 August 1843), Frederick Hastings Goldney (b. 26 May 1845), and John Tankerville Goldney (b. 15 June 1846).[7]
Career[edit]
Goldney became a landowner, financier and banker. In 1854 he bought Sheldon Manor[8] and in 1856, land in Hilmarton.[9] His investments extended outside Wiltshire to Camberley in Surrey, as in 1860 he advanced money to develop a silk farm at Heatherside; however, the venture failed, Goldney foreclosed on his investment and took possession of the land, part of which later became Prior Park, Camberley, the residence of his two elder sons.[10]
In 1863 he bought land at Bradenstoke Abbey from Frederick Methuen, 2nd Baron Methuen,[11] and the following year, bought Stanley Abbey from John Bayntun Starkey.[12] By 1888 he also owned land at Monks Park, Corsham, which he leased for quarrying.[13]
He was first elected to parliament as Conservative Member of Parliament for Chippenham, Wiltshire, England on 11 July 1865 and made his maiden speech on 20 April 1866.[14] By this time, he was a Director of the North Wilts Bank.[15] In this capacity, he was persuaded by railway engineer Roland Brotherhood to relax the bank's conditions on his overdraft in return for help in getting Goldney re-elected in the forthcoming election; Goldney, having been re-elected, then advised the bank that the conditions could be relaxed. However, shortly after this, in 1869, the bank changed its mind, and Brotherhood's enterprise failed;[15] Brotherhood blamed Goldney for this.[16] Goldney was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire on 22 February 1869.[17][18]
The position of Bailiff of Chippenham passed down to Goldney; he was also a Freemason, holding the office of Grand Warden of England.[3] He was created Baronet Goldney of Beechfield in the parish of Corsham, and Bradenstoke Abbey in the parish of Lyneham on 30 April 1880.[19]
He died at Eaton Place, Belgravia, London on 8 May 1900,[20] and the baronetcy passed to his first son, Gabriel Prior Goldney.
Legacy[edit]
Goldney is commemorated in stained-glass windows of Chippenham parish church,[21] The Foundling Hospital, London[22] and in the name of Goldney Avenue, Chippenham.[23]
References[edit]
- ^ "Sir Gabriel Goldney". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 5 March 2009.
- ^ "Wiltshire Community History Get Community Information". Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
- ^ a b c Anonymous (2003). Representative British Freemasons. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7661-3589-5.
- ^ a b "Sir Gabriel GOLDNEY 1813-1900". genealogy.links.org.
- ^ "Harry GOLDNEY 1774-1852". genealogy.links.org.
- ^ "Christ's Hospital Old Blues Association". Retrieved 5 December 2009.
- ^ Howard, Joseph Jackson; Frederick Arthur Crisp (1896). Visitation of England and Wales (1997 Reprint). Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc. p. 59. ISBN 0-7884-0622-1. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ "Parks and Gardens UK". Parks and Gardens data services Ltd, Archaeology Department, University of York. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
- ^ "Parishes–Hilmarton". British History Online. Institute of Historical Research and Parliamentary History Trust. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
- ^ "Surrey History: Exploring Surrey's Past – Archive Record". www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
- ^ "Parishes–Lyneham". British History Online. Institute of Historical Research and Parliamentary History Trust. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
- ^ "Bayntun History: John Bayntun Starky 1834". bayntun-history.com. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
- ^ "SUMSION Quarry transactions mentions Lankesheer". freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
- ^ "Sir Gabriel Goldney profile". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 5 March 2009.
- ^ a b "Chippenham Town Council – Museum & Heritage Centre – Characters – Rowland Brotherhood". www.chippenham.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ "A Centenary Note – R. Brotherhood". Industrial Railway Record. Industrial Railway Society. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
- ^ "No. 23483". The London Gazette. 30 March 1869. p. 2006.
- ^ "No. 24829". The London Gazette. 2 April 1880. p. 2358.
- ^ "No. 24840". The London Gazette. 30 April 1880. p. 2786.
- ^ "Full text of "Visitation of England and Wales"". 1893. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ "St Mary's in St Andrews". Bradenstoke Bugle. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
- ^ "The Foundling Hospital". British History Online. Institute of Historical Research and Parliamentary History Trust. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
- ^ 51°27′37″N 2°07′29″W / 51.4602°N 2.1246°W
External links[edit]
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Gabriel Goldney
- Goldney papers, University of Bristol Library Special Collections