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The Goddard Associationof Europe

NEWSLETTER

GENS INTER GENTES No. 116 – October 2015

DAVID RODNEY GODDARD, MBEFounder of the Exeter Maritime Museum

As briefly recorded in the last Newsletter, David Goddard died on 30 June aged 88. Born in Cambridge on 16 March 1927, he was the second son of the Associationʼs first Patron, Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard. Educated at Wanganui Collegiate School in New Zealand when his father was appointed to command that countryʼs air force, and then Bryanston in Dorset, he did his national service in the Royal Marines, spending some of the time in charge of the anti-piracy detachment on Lamma Island, Hong Kong. He then went up to Peterhouse College, Cambridge, where he read geography and also became engaged to his cousin Susan Ashton whom he married in 1951.

On obtaining his degree and urgently in need of funds, he enlisted on the Balaena, a whaling factory ship bound for the Antarctic, and experienced three months at sea in the roughest of conditions. A brief spell at Abberley Hall School, Worcestershire, where his father-in-law was headmaster, and then at St. Michaelʼs, Tawstock, Devon, convinced him that teaching was not for him; and in 1952 he joined the Somerset Light Infantry, seeing action in the following two years against communist insurgents in Malaya and winning a Mention in Despatches. Ever unconventional, he was particularly noted for equipping his platoon with shotguns instead of the standard Lee Enfield .303 rifles, on the grounds that his men were thus more likely to record a kill on an enemy whose appearances in the jungle were at best fleeting.

In 1959 he arranged a secondment to the Kingʼs African Rifles in Kenya, where he was involved in recruiting soldiers

from the bush and, later, in frontier duty on the border with Somalia. He often took Sue and their three boys (Stephen born in 1952, Anthony 1954 and Thomas 1958 – Tessa was to come later in 1963) with him. In 1965 he was asked to lead the British Schools Exploring Societyʼs expedition of sixty teenagers on a 150 mile ʻlong march ̓ through Arctic Norway. This was followed by secondment to the Royal Marines training centre at Lympstone in Devon,

and it was here that he began to form the idea of creating a museum to preserve working sailing craft from around the world. And his last military posting to Bahrain enabled him to acquire the nucleus of his collection. He retired from the army with the rank of Major and devoted the rest of his life to his museum, for which he was awarded the MBE in 1985.

Before leaving for Bahrain David had persuaded Exeter City Council to lease to him some nineteenth century warehouses alongside the harbour basin together with 400 yards of canal waterfront to display the handling of the different boats. He was firmly of the belief that ʻhands on ̓ experience – then a new concept – was, provided too much deterioration did not ensue, essential to the publicʼs enjoyment of the collection; the boats were to be sailed as well as viewed. On 27 June 1969 the Exeter Maritime Museum was formally opened by Sir Alec Rose with 23 boats in situ. To help with the maintenance work a group of enthusiastic volunteers was recruited, whose main perk was to get to sail some of the exhibits. Gradually the collection grew and by 1990 there were 170, growing to over 300 during the next six years, many of them sailed back to the UK by David himself.

But finances were getting tighter and, despite winning a lottery grant and a strong supportive campaign by Exeter Civic Society, Exeter City Council refused to renew the lease, so in 1997 the Museum was forced to close. The collection was first housed in Bristol, then moved to Lowestoft from where many were dispersed to Eyemouth, Cardiff and Beale Park. Sadly no suitable permanent home has yet been found for the collection, though the Trustees are still looking. Eventual success would be a fitting memorial to a remarkable man.

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SLAVERY ABOLITION COMPENSATION You may or may not have seen that there has

been a good deal in the papers and on television recently concerning the not inconsiderable sums paid out by the British government to compensate slave owners in the Empire for their loss of approximately 760,000 slaves – some 700,000 of them being in the West Indies – in the immediate aftermath of the 1833 Abolition of Slavery Act. Documents of the period have been brought to light by University College London after a three year study. Not only do they show the meticulous care and attention to detail undertaken by the civil servants of the day and their fairness in attempting to process the 46,000 or so claims for compensation, varying according to sex and age (thus usefulness) of the slaves in question, but they also demonstrate that some of the top families in British society made their fortunes as a result. It is calculated that the government eventually paid out, in todayʼs value, some £16.5bn which equated to about 40% of the then Treasuryʼs annual spending budget, with John Gladstone – the father of the William Gladstone who was four times Prime Minister in the second half of the nineteenth century – receiving an incredible £106,769 (or about £65m today) for the 2,508 slaves he had owned across nine plantations.

Did the Goddards have any part to play in this sordid saga? Well, yes, unfortunately they did, though fortunately almost entirely at the opposite end of the scale to the Gladstones. The records reveal that thirteen Goddards made sixteen claims, all bar two relating to Barbados. The exceptions are Eliza Goddard who owned five slaves in Antigua and received compensation totalling £54 8s 9d (£54.44 in modern currency and somewhere around £40,000 at todayʼs value). The other is one of the claims of Isaac Drayton Goddard for 221 slaves at Pin Green Field in British Guyana; he was potentially awarded £11,927 0s 6d, but because of the size of the claim his case was referred to the Court of Chancery for ratification. If successful he would have received around £9m. As already indicated, the fourteen remaining Goddard claims all related to the island of Barbados:

David Goddard awarded £71 17s 0d for three slaves

Frances O. Goddard, £70 0s 1d, four slavesGeorge A. Goddard two claims, £23 6s 0d for two

slaves, and £29 2s 7d for oneIsaac Drayton Goddard (again), an unsuccessful

claim for £38 16s 9d for twoJohn Edward Francis Goddard, £56 6s 3d, four

slavesJohn Nathaniel Goddard, £29 2s 7d, one slave

Joseph Goddard, £64 1s 8d, three slavesRichard H. Goddard, £48 10s 11d, two slavesRichard Nurse Goddard two claims, £561 4s 5d

for 23 slaves and £120 8s 11d for ten (in all he would have received around half a million pounds at todayʼs rates)

Tobitha (?Tabitha) Goddard £29 2s 7d, one slaveWilliam Goddard, £48 10s 11d, two slavesWilliam Thomas Goddard, £44 13s 3d, also two

slavesI have got in touch with our resident expert on Barbados Richard Goddard, who has often contributed to this Newsletter, to see if he can throw any light on any of the above. Initially he has little information: “Regretfully I have not been able to make any research on these, as the only record I have is William Goddard making a will in 1751 where he leaves his wife and children his estate, and to one son William he gives two slaves, but if he marries Margaret Mahon he would get 1s. He marries Margaret Mahon and was read out of the will, and we became poor and landless after that. We know nothing of Margaret Mahon, but her name suggests that she was Irish and a Catholic, and we had no intention of contaminating good protestant blood! The name Richard Nurse Goddard certainly rings a bell. I do recall reading Church records where Nurse was a witness at a wedding or burial of a Goddard. I will follow that up.”

HEAD TEACHERVic Goddard, head teacher of an Essex school

and who has featured several times in these pages – notably Newsletter 112 – was quoted extensively in Waitrose Weekend for 16 July in support of the governmentʼs National Citizen Service scheme. Set up by the coalition government in 2011 for 15 to 17 year olds to structure half their long summer holidays, it was initially criticised as a non-military version of national service; but it now has all party support. The three week course costs just £50 to the participant while the government puts in over £1,000; it consists of one week staying in an activity centre trying out things like canoeing and abseiling, a second week learning life skills and meeting people from the community while living in university style accommodation, and a third week planning and setting up a community project. Since its inception 130,000 young people have participated and there are tens of thousands of places available. Feedback from participants is extremely positive and Vic Goddard believes every young person should try it; he strongly promotes it in his school, Passmores Academy.

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NEW MEMBERSA warm welcome to the new members who have

joined the Association since the last Newsletter:Mrs Dorothy Calderwood, 35 Massie Close, Willen Park, Milton Keynes, MK15 9HG.Mr Ben C. Goddard, `church Cottage, Kea, Truro, Cornwall, TR3 6AE.Mr Mark R. Goddard, 4 Brick Street, Fordham Heath, Colchester, CO3 9TQ.Mrs Alexandra M.T. Morris, 119 Blount Avenue, East Grinstead, W. Sussex, RH19 1JN.

NEW MEMBERS FAMILIESThe information below is given to enable existing

members to get in touch with new members who appear to belong to the same branch:

Dorothy Calderwood comes from a Birkenhead family whose origins were in Warwick with Richard Goddard born there in 1838, possibly one of the large family of Thomas (born c. 1796) and Ann. Dorothy would be pleased to hear of any Warwick connections.

Ben Goddard stems from a Sussex family whose members have moved westwards along the south coast from the Brighton / Eastbourne area starting with David 1795-1833, Thomas J. 1817-1871, Thomas 1848-1922 a fishmonger with a large family including Nathaniel 1881-1925, to Benʼs grandfather Thomas William of Portsmouth 1912-1984.

Mark Goddardʼs tree begins with John Goddard, who was born in 1805 in Beeding, Sussex. His son Charles was born in Hatfield in 1851, but had moved to Deptford where his son Alfred was born in 1881. Markʼs grandfather George was born in Forest Hill, London, in 1906, and his father Ralph in Epsom in 1968.

Alexandra Morris, daughter of long-standing member James Goddard of Chard, is the grand-daughter of the distinctively named Algernon Robertson Goddard 1835-1931, whose father Daniel H. 1811-1883 was a brother of Ebenezer, son of Daniel Poole Goddard of the Ipswich Gas Company referred to in Newsletter 63. Sir Daniel Ford Goddard of Ipswich was a first cousin of Algernon.

DIAMOND WEDDINGWarmest congratulations to John and Eileen of

Accrington who celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary on 20 August. Among two or three applications to join the Association, John regretted that the envelope from Buckingham Palace was not another one!

CONGRATULATIONSMargaret of Worsley tells me that Marjorie Goddard

of Stockport celebrated her ninetieth birthday on 13 October. So our warmest congratulations to Marjorie and the hope that she will have much happiness, good health, and enjoy many more of them.

FRENCH LETTERThe printer of the hard copies of the Newsletter is

kindly always on the look-out for matters Goddard, and has recently come up with this envelope. It is addressed to Lord Beauchamp at his London

residence 13 Belgrave Square, but has been forwarded to his country estate Madresfield Court, Malvern Link – in other words little over a mile away from where I am writing this. If from the postmarks I have deciphered the date correctly as September 1912, the recipient would have been the penultimate (7th) Earl Beauchamp, father of the ʻBrideshead Revisitedʼ generation of Evelyn Waugh. But what is interesting from our point of view is the sender. From an enlarged version the roundel at the top left reads: “A. Godard. Graveur, Éditeur. Médailles et Plaquettes Artistiques. 37 Quai de L̓ Horloge, Paris”. I wonder both what the letter was about and whether the company is still in existence?

OBITUARYThe Association is saddened to record the death of

member David Care of Broadstairs, Kent. He was a cousin of our Research Co-ordinator Joan Dibble, and we extend our sympathy to his family.

Likewise to the family of George Goddard of Faringdon, Oxfordshire. George was born there in 1922 and, apart from the war years, remained there all his life, working for the solicitorʼs firm of Crowdy & Rose (see Newsletter 105 for his photograph). The war took him first to Northern Ireland and then to Burma where he served with the Chindits in General Wingateʼs headquarters, receiving the 1939-45 Star, the Burma Star and a Mention in Despatches. He was one of the last surviving members of the Burma Star Association. Married to Isobel for 69 years, he was father to Dorothy, grandfather to her two daughters and great-grandfather to their six children.

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A few loose ends – Sir John Franklinʼs 1845 Northwest Passage ExpeditionNo. 7 of an infrequent series

On 8 September 2014 it was announced that the wreckage of one of two ships, HMS Erebus, from the ill-fated 1845 Arctic expedition of Sir John Franklin, to traverse the last unnavigated section of the hypothetical ʻNorthwest Passageʼ, had been found. The day before, after thirty years of searching and using a remotely operated underwater vehicle recently acquired by Parks Canada, an agency of the Canadian Government, the image of a vessel of the right type and age was found and subsequently identified by divers. The search for the two ships had become an almost annual effort since 2008 by Canadian agencies using the search in an attempt to assert sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, claiming the area as its own. Global warming is causing ice to melt, exposing huge areas of mineral-rich land, and the find will help to prove the area belongs to Canada.

The shipwreck was located in the sea just 36 feet deep in Victoria Strait, off King William Island. A sonar image shows the main mast, which was sheared off by ice when the ship sank, is among the deck structures still intact. This is the HMS Erebus, a Pembroke built ship, but the location of the wreck of the expeditionʼs second ship, HMS Terror built at Topsham, Devon, is still unknown. Although both were former bomber ships and both originally carried two mortars, one 13 in and one 10 in, Erebus was a Hecla Class, while Terror was an older and slightly smaller Versuvius Class. Both vessels were converted into exploration ships due to the extra strong timbers required for use as bomb vessels. They participated in several voyages to both the Arctic and Antarctic under various commanders prior to the 1845 expedition.

Sir John Franklin set sail from Greenhithe in Kent on 19 May 1845 in the two ships, Erebus of 375 tons

and Terror of 325 tons. The front of each ship was covered with sheets of iron to help them push their way through the ice. They were sailing ships, but had recently been fitted with small steam engines (20 HP) and a propeller. The engines had been designed for use on the London and Greenwich railway. The axel and propeller were the only changes made to the engines – even the funnel was a train funnel. The ships had enough coal for twelve days and the engines would only be used for breaking a path through the ice. People believed the power of steam would make Arctic exploration much easier. (20 HP engines are currently used to power ʻgo-carts ̓ or as outboard motors on dinghies weighing no more than half a ton.) Both ships had been extensively refitted and supplied with food, packed in tin cans, and equipment for three to five years ̓unsupported exploration. On board the two ships were 129 hand picked officers, sailors and Royal Marines.

(HMS Terror has a unique connection with the US as well as Canada, as it was one of the bomb vessels that participated in the 1813 attack on Baltimore.) A contemporary description for an earlier Antarctic expedition appeared in the Gentleman s̓ Magazine for October 1839: “The Erebus and Terror were both bomb vessels. They seem to be twin ships, alike in build, in colours, in masts and rigging and, indeed, in every external appearance. An inexperienced eye could not tell the one from the other. The Erebus is about 370 tons, the Terror 340.”

So far this latest multimillion dollar search has not found HMS Terror; when it does there is a tenuous Goddard connection in that interest centres on William Goddard who was on the ship as the ʻCaptain of the Hold ̓– the seaman rating attached to the provision party with responsibility for stowage and care of the provision holds with pay of about £2 per month. He was a Petty Officer aged 39, unmarried, from North Yarmouth according to the shipʼs muster now held in the National Archives at Kew. Petty Officers rank between naval officers (both commissioned and warrant) and ratings and most were enlisted sailors. These were men with some claim to officer rank, sufficient to distinguish them from ordinary ratings, without raising them so high as the sea officers. Williamʼs rank and job would have been similar to that of a quarter-master sergeant in the army.

On 26 July 1845 the captain of a whaling ship reported that he saw them off the coast of Baffin Island; this is the last time the ships or men were ever seen. In 1847, when people in England still

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had heard nothing from Franklin and his crew, rescue parties were sent to the Arctic. In the early years a total of 39 expeditions went to try to find them. From 1857-59 a private expedition sponsored by Lady Franklin and public subscription was sent to search the area of King William Island. Captain Francis L. McClintock, RN, commanded the screw yacht Fox in an attempt to establish how the explorers died and to bring back relics. The tragic story of what happened to Franklin and his crew has been slowly discovered by search parties, like McClintockʼs, and by later expeditions. It appears that in 1845 the Erebus and Terror explored the coast. They spent the winter of 1845-46 on Beechey Island. They continued exploring when summer came and the sea was less frozen. During the winter of 1846-47 the ships became trapped in thick ice and even when summer came they were unable to escape. In June 1847 Franklin died, and by April 1848 twenty-one of the men were dead. Captain Crozier (Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier) of the Terror, who had taken command of the expedition, decided to leave the ships and travel south. The Erebus and the Terror were deserted on 22 April 1848 having been beset by ice since September 1846. At the time of the abandonment by the crew Franklin had been dead for nearly a year. Using two boats as sledges, Crozier and the crew set out to find help. By now the men were weak from hunger and very ill. The party split up and some of the weakest men headed back to the ships to await rescue; some of the fittest went on ahead for help, and others followed at their own speed. There are no known survivors.

McClintockʼs second-in-command, Lt. William R. Hobson, RN, found a document signed by Capt. Crozier in a large cairn near Victory Point on the south west coast of King William Island. The document was dated 28 April 1848 and indicated that the Erebus and Terror had been abandoned a few days before, having been icebound in Victoria Strait since 12 September 1846. “Sir John Franklin died on 11 June 1847 and the total loss by deaths in the Expedition has been to date 9 Officers and 15 Men” ran the document. Further reference was made to “the late Commander Gore”. Crozierʼs stated intention was to start with the survivors on 26 April 1848 for the Back River, a trek of over 900 miles across frozen wastes on the North American mainland. Besides the three graves on Beechey Island (two sailors and a marine), the remains of only one other man were subsequently positively identified among the scattering of bones found up and down King William Island. In May 1859 McClintock purchased a relic

from the Inuit near Cape Norton on King William Islandʼs east coast. It was a silver tablespoon bearing Franklinʼs crest with the initials ʻWG ̓scratched upon it. Only two of the 129 expedition members bore these initials: one was William Goddard, Captain of the Hold of HMS Terror, the other was a young steward William Gibson. Nothing conclusive was heard of the fate of the expedition for nearly fifteen years, by which time the Admiralty had already written off the men, endorsing the shipʼs muster book with the words: “to be considered as having died in the service. Wages are to be paid to their relatives to that date, as of !st April 1854.”

However, there is an even more tenuous Goddard connection with HMS Erebus and this ill-fated expedition. Following the discovery of this wreck, the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre in South Wales – located in the former Royal Dockyard Chapel – is planning a new display featuring the Erebus and the Expedition. The find has been welcomed by the Heritage Centre team at Pembroke Dock since the ship was built and launched there as a bomb vessel in 1826, and later converted to a survey ship for the polar regions. This find comes as the Royal Dockyard celebrates its 200th anniversary, and HMS Erebus will play a key part in marking the anniversary. The Heritage Centre already has volunteers working on the exhibition. “Itʼs a very exciting and important discovery,” said naval historian Ted Goddard, a volunteer with the Sunderland Trust which runs the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre, and long standing member of the Goddard Association.

It would be very interesting to hear if the William Goddard, featured above, appears on any current Goddard Association memberʼs family tree. For those members requiring more gruesome details <http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27slost expedition> is a good place to start. Brian of Newbury

DNA PROJECTOver the last few months one or two members

have asked what has happened to their DNA test results. I have repeatedly urged patience, since we are entirely in the hands of Association member Dr Denise Syndercombe-Court who, as one of the worldʼs leading experts in the field, is incredibly busy, often at work on a Sunday when I tend to ring her. And she is just as likely to be in Poland or Chile as this country (as she was last week!). She does manage to advance the work from time to time and hopes to complete it soon. So please accept my apologies – and hers – and continue to be patient. She will speak to us again at the 2017 AGM.

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HMS COLUMBINE AND THE PIRATESFrom the Hong Kong Register of 29 October 1849:

“The P and O Companyʼs steamer Canton, Captain Jamieson, returned unexpectedly yesterday afternoon about 4 oʼclock, bringing despatches for the Admiral from Captain Hay of HM Brig Columbine, with seven seamen of that vessel badly wounded and, we regret to add, the body of Mr Goddard one of the midshipmen, a most promising young officer – who expired about two pm. on the passage down, from the effect of wounds received in an attack made by the Columbine on a division of Shap-ng-tsaiʼs pirate fleet, which will appear in its place in the following particulars.

The Canton left this on the morning of the 29th at three am. on a cruise northward, after the missing clipper Coquette. She spoke several fishing boats, but obtained no information from them. At 11 am. she sighted a fleet of fifteen large junks chased by a square-rigged vessel which turned out to be HM Brig Columbine. On seeing the steamer, one division of the junks stood out to sea, the other in shore. The Canton observing the Columbine hauling in shore with the view of cutting them off, hauled in likewise, determined to render the most effective assistance in her power to Her Majestyʼs ship, without in any respect compromising herself by any overt attack upon the enemy. When the intention of the steamer (to cut them off from the shore) was perceived by the junks, the whole fleet put about and stood out to sea – several of the weaker junks having been previously reinforced by drafts of men from the stronger.

The steamer then took the Columbine in tow and stood over towards a junk, which appeared from her size and equipment to be the chief of the fleet. Upon getting within range the brig yawed and poured in her a broadside, which only took effect in the pirateʼs rigging. The junk then rounded too – returned his starboard broadside without doing any mischief – shifted his helm and gave his port guns with like non-effect. Upon this the Columbine cast off and made sail in chase, the steamer following but keeping out of range of the junkʼs guns. The chase made for a small cove in Hong-hae Bay, the Columbine keeping up a sharp fire upon her from her bow guns, which was returned shot for shot by the junk. The latter, knowing the channel better, got safely through, into the cove; the Columbine having touched the ground outside was obliged to haul off. The junk, having thus got into a land locked position, the brigʼs guns could not be brought to bear on her, upon which Captain Hay immediately ordered out his boats. While this was being done, two small forts upon the shore opened fire upon the junk, which was

immediately returned, apparently without much effect on either side. By this time the launch and pinnace under command of Lieut. Bridges, first officer of the Columbine, were under weigh through the channel, to carry the junk by boarding. On rounding the point a heavy fire was opened upon them from the decks of the pirate, while she kept up, at the same time, a brisk cannonade upon the forts on shore. Mr Goddard, a midshipman in command of the pinnace, had by this time, in the most gallant manner, boarded the pirate over her bows, followed by his boatʼs crew. On seeing one who appeared to be an officer of the junk going down the fore hatch, he followed with a marine when, melancholy to relate, the vessel blew up, the magazine having been fired by her own crew supposed to number over ninety, with the whole of the boarders being blown into the air together. One marine was killed, Mr Goddard severely wounded and burnt, as well as the greater part of the boats ̓crews; two seamen being missing on the muster being called.

Mr Bridges, having boarded immediately after Mr Goddard, saved himself and one seaman of the Columbine by jumping overboard at the moment of the explosion, pulling the man along with him. The wounded men were immediately picked up by the boats and taken on board the Columbine – the junk being totally destroyed with all her crew but one, now a prisoner on board the brig. Through information received from this man, it was ascertained that the pirate fleet was bound for a place called Tai-poon, whither Captain Hay determined to follow them. Accordingly at 7 am. on the 30th the steamer took the Columbine in tow and proceeded towards Tai-poon. On nearing that anchorage it was ascertained from fishing boats that nine large junks had entered a place called Byas Bay and, on reaching the entrance, the two vessels saw a number of junks working up the inner waters, upon which the Columbine came to anchor in a position which commanded all the entrances. Captain Hay then despatched the Canton with the wounded (7 in number) to this place with letters for the Admiral, the Columbine remaining behind, keeping the pirate fleet under close blockade. The Canton started from Tai-poon at half past 11 am. And reached Hong Kong at a quarter to 4 pm., Mr Goddard having died on the passage. The steamer hauled up alongside the Hastings and delivered her despatches and the wounded men of the Columbine. HM Steamer Fury, Capt. Wilcox, got under weigh as quickly as possible and started about 6 pm. To the assistance of the Brig. The Canton proceeded

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again this morning before daylight in search of the Coquette.”

Charles Richard Goddard was born on 12 April 1831 and baptised in Swindon, Wiltshire on 11 May, the third son of Ambrose Goddard 1779-1854, MP for Cricklade, and his wife Jessy Dorothea (née Lethbridge) 1800-1843, living at The Lawn, Swindon with his nine siblings. At the age of about 14 he was apprenticed aboard a Royal Navy ship, probably HMS Columbine (a sloop of 18 guns) and the ship from which he died, serving as a midshipman aged 18, on 29 October 1849 [Burkes Landed Gentry is wrong in giving his date of death as 21 September]. Portsmouth Naval College had closed in 1837 and, until after other colleges opened in 1857, trainee naval officers started their naval career by immediately joining a ship on active service, with little or no introductioin to naval life. His name is inscribed on the monument to HMS Columbine in Hong Kong cemetery.

Brian of Newbury

BOYS WILL BE BOYSI am grateful to Joan Dibble for sending me

this story from The Northampton Mercury of late 1834: “A distressing accident occurred a few days ago since at Harrow School to the second son of Ambrose Goddard Esq., of Swindon, Wilts. Whilst playing with a schoolfellow in his study with some gunpowder the powder flask exploded in his hands severely wounding both his hand and eye. Skilful surgical aid was speedily procured and the hand it is hoped will be saved; but the injury to the eye is of so serious a nature that there is reason to fear the sight is permanently injured. The other little boy escaped unhurt.” The second son in question is John Hesketh Goddard born on 14 September 1821 and thus just thirteen at the time of the accident. He must have made a decent recovery since, as a second son, he joined the army and served in India with the 14th Light Dragoons, reaching the rank of major before dying there unmarried on 31 May 1854. As well as five sisters he had four brothers, and I am wondering if they were all educated at Harrow School as well.

RESEARCH WEBSITES – 4This note will consider a website which contains

some of the earliest information available on line. This site is www.historyofparliamentonline.org Enter this on your website search engine (eg. google). You will enter a search page – select members under the RESEARCH headline. You will then enter a new page which contains a GO TO SECTION which has a number of dates. Select, for example, the earliest date grouping 1386-1421 and then select G. You will then be presented with a list of members beginning with G. Under this you will find two entries for the surname GODARD. One of these is for John of Sandwich in Kent and the other is for Sir John of Bransholme in Yorkshire. Many members who use the Goddard Association facebook site have Kent ancestors. Select Godard, John, of Sandwich, Kent. You will then find that John was the constituency member for Sandwich for the following dates: January 1377, 1386, 1395, January 1397, 1399 and 1402. John was the son of Simon Godard of Sandwich and was married twice – firstly to Joan and secondly, before 1390, to Cecily. It then gives a list of offices held and a biography. Part of this biography shows that he was not above making profit from wrecks. Select next Sir John Godard of Bransholne, Yorkshire. This will show similar data to John of Sandwich. The biography shows that he was the younger son with few prospects of inheritance. He was involved with the military and took part in the expedition led by Edward, the Black Prince, and John of Gaunt, which went to Spain in support of Peter I of Castile (Pedro the Cruel). In later expeditions he went as far afield as Prussia and the Holy Land. This biography is quite extensive.

John of Fareham <johnogoddard@gmail.com>

MILLS BOMBJennifer Walker has sent me a Daily Mirror cutting

of 15 August concerning Keith Goddard, who is in his sixties and lives in Bournemouth. Working in his garden he disturbed a First World War hand grenade with its pin missing, though fortunately with the firing handle stuck to the grenade by mud. Keith called the Royal Navy Ordnance Disposal Team and they removed and destroyed it.

DESK EDITOR FOR REUTERSMy elder daughter Diana has drawn my attention

to another David Goddard obituary and also in Devon. This David aged 71, who leaves a widow Jackie and four sons, was for nearly three decades one of Reuters ̓top desk editors; he died on 13 March after a long illness. He had worked on various British newspapers and Radio Free Europe before joining Reuters in 1975 where for seven years he worked on the World Desk overnight shift. In 1982 he moved to Hong Kong as editor-in-charge of the Asia desk, and went from there to Nicosia to run first the Middle East desk and then the expanded Middle East and Africa desk. He returned to London in March 1994, but sadly was forced to take early retirement on medical grounds. His third son Matthew is following in his footsteps in pursuing a journalistic career.

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USEFUL ADDRESSESAssociation web page: www.goddard-association.org.ukAustralian Co-ordinator: Ian Goddard, P.O. Box 618, Balcatta, Western Australia 6914. Tel: (08) 9245 4510Email: australia@goddard-association.org.uk Canadian Co-ordinator: Robert Goddard, 1806-1816 Haro Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6G 2Y7, Canada. Tel: 604 669 5769Email: canada@goddard-association.org.ukMembership Secretary: John C. Goddard, 2 Lowergate Road, Huncoat, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 6LN. Tel: 01254-235135Email: membership@goddard-association.org.ukNew Zealand Co-ordinator: Julie Goddard, 2/36 Young Street, Christchurch 8024, New Zealand. Tel: 03-9815175Email: newzealand@goddard-association.org.ukPresident & Newsletter Ed.: Richard G.H. Goddard, Sinton Meadow, Stocks Lane, Leigh Sinton, Malvern, WR13 5DY. Tel: 01886-832404Email: president@goddard-association.org.ukSecretary: Miss Denise Goddard, 28 Wherretts Well Lane, Solihull, West Midlands, B91 2SD. Tel: 07752 165207Email: secretary@goddard-association.org.ukResearch Co-ordinator: Mrs Joan Dibble, 17 New Street, Kidwelly, Carmarthen, SA17 5DQ. Tel: 01554-890641Email: research@goddard-association.org.ukTreasurer: John W. Goddard, 7 Radbrook Road, Radbrook, Shrewsbury, SY3 9BB. Tel: 01743-357866Email: treasurer@goddard-association.org.ukUSA Co-ordinator: Mrs JoAnn Daniel, 1381Creswell Drive, Yuba City, California 95991, USA. Tel: 530-671-2111Email: usa@goddard-association.org.uk

AGM REMINDERThis is just to remind you that, as mentioned in the

last Newsletter, the 2016 AGM will be held on the afternoon of Sunday 15 May at The Railway, Station Road, Oakham, a pub run by Association member Shaun Jackson. Full details will be published in next Aprilʼs Newsletter.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEThe Executive Committee held its 56th meeting at

my house near Malvern on Sunday 18 October 2015. Seven of the nine members were present, Malcolm of Brisbane naturally recording his apologies; Joan Dibble was also unable to be present due to transport difficulties. By far the main topic of discussion on this occasion was the need to recommend an increase in subscriptions at next yearʼs AGM, This is always an emotive issue at the best of times and needs to be put in context. When the Association was founded thirty years ago, rightly or wrongly it was decided to have two annual rates of subscription: £7.50 and £5.00, the latter being the rate for senior citizens. Believe it or not there has been no change for the entire thirty year period (and I canʼt help wondering how many other organisations could make a similar claim!). Now, however, for the first time the Association has begun to run at a loss. This is almost entirely due to the ever increasing costs of printing and postage, hard copies of the Newsletter being by far the largest item of expenditure; and it is very largely the senior citizen category who continue to take the Newsletter by post. Thus we have reluctantly decided to recommend to next yearʼs AGM that, with effect from the new financial year in April 2017, all subscriptions will be at the £7.50 rate. Apart from anything else, this will make life a little easier for our Treasurer!

SNIPPETSAssociation member Jennifer Walker has an eagle

eye for Goddards featured in papers and periodicals. A recent batch of cuttings reveals motorhome owners Ken and Julie holidaying at La Manga, Spain; Ian farming in north Carmarthenshire; Steve of All Cannings, Wiltshire, representing Macmillan Cancer Support; and Kathleen, the ladies secretary of the

CAN YOU HELP?Re-joining member Professor Derek Goddard-

Nickolls whom we welcome back. His origins are in the High Peak of Derbyshire and are still being researched. Thomas William Goddard, born c.1816, moved to Nottingham about 1851; his son, Elijah Henry 1844-1920, had a large family including Frank, later of London, who is Derekʼs grandfather. If any of you recognise this branch, please contact Derek whose e-mail address is <profderek@gmail.com>

GODDARD GARAGEI am grateful to former member Anne Hockaday

via Julie of Newbury for alerting us to the existence of Goddard & Family Garage Services in the centre of Taunton. Their website can be viewed at <goddardandfamily.com>

County Ground Bowls Club in Swindon who, with her husbandʼs help, recently organised an event to commemorate ninety years of the Clubʼs existence. Anyoneʼs relations?