Edward Goodman of Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales (1476-1560)

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Ancestry of Edward Goodman

The Father of Edward Goodman was Thomas ap Edward ap Ievan Goch, of Llandyrnog (a small village in Denbighshire, 3 miles E by S from Denbigh, and just north of Ruthin). Ievan (or Jevan) in Welsh translates to John. Based on Edward’s birth date, his father would have been born about 1456 or earlier. His father may also have been known as “Redsleeves”. Goch/Coch means “The Red” in Welsh. Thomas ap Edward ap Ievan Goch may have been one of the Welsh “billmen”, in the personal guard of Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, or at least one of the Welsh participants. This was the deciding battle of the War of the Roses, in which King Richard III of York was killed, and Henry VII became the first Tudor King of England. The emblem of the house of York was the white rose, and the red rose was the emblem of the house of Lancaster, to which Henry Tudor belonged. Unfortunately, there were no muster lists of participants of this battle, so this cannot be proven. More on possibly related participants in the Battle of Bosworth.

According to another source, “The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog …” by Jacob Youde William Lloyd, on p.187, he indicates that Edward Goodman’s patriarchal lineage was: “Edward Goodman ab Thomas ab Edward ab Thomas ab Edward ab John.” Lloyd seems to have added one too many ab Thomas ab Edward, as the Pedigree of his eldest son Gawen Goodman in 1584 does not include those extra generations. However, this naming pattern and lineage solidifies that this line was of pure Welsh/Celtic origins, and not from the various Romans, Vikings, Saxons or Normans that came into Britain later.

In “Annals and Antiquities of North Wales“, it is noted that this family did not remain prominent for long in Denbigh, except for Gawen, and his son Edward, as previously noted. Many apparently spread across Wales, England, and America, and possibly into Scotland and Ireland, from the mid-1500s through the 1700s, as they intermarried into other families, fought the wars for (and against) the King and Country, fled religious and political oppression, and expanded their businesses and inter-family associations.

See also:

Online Research Resources in Denbighshire

1718 Map of Denbighshire

A Fun Welsh Language Course

Edward Goodman’s Life and Family

Edward Goodman, Esq., a Welsh gentleman of Ruthin (Ruthyn) in Denbighshire, Wales. He was a prosperous mercer and a Burgess of Ruthin. In later days a mercer was a dealer in textiles and fabrics. But at this time it could have meant a merchant in a more general sense. Edward was reportedly the first of the family to bear the Goodman surname, at a time when surnames were first coming into general use in Wales. His name was originally Edward ap Thomas Edward before he took the Goodman surname. This is reflected in his marriage contract with Cicely Thelwall, as well as in his will. The use of surnames was not traditional in Wales, where they tended to use the connective “ap or ab”, meaning “son of”, to denote their lineage, as their Celtic ancestors did before them. So, Edward ap Thomas Edward would be Edward, son of Thomas Edward. The policy of using surnames in Wales was initiated by Henry VIII (1509-1558), with the intention of abolishing all distinction between the English and Welsh. Welsh Surnames and their Meaning. Why he chose Goodman as a surname is a mystery. Many Welshmen took surnames based on their father or grandfather’s given names. So he could have chosen Thomas or Thompson, or Edwards as his surname, and if he had brothers, they may have done that for themselves. A male with a father named William might have chosen Williams or Williamson as their surname.

Edward Goodman was born in 1476 and died 22 May 1560. In about 1518/19, he purchased the Estate of Sir Thomas Exmewe, a goldsmith and one time Lord Mayor of London, including his Exmewe Hall in Ruthin, which still stands today. However, is but a reproduction, reconstructed in the 1920s by Barklays Bank, which occupied it until recent years. There is some conjecture that Richard Exmewe may have been related to the Goodmans in some way, perhaps married to one of Edward Goodman’s sisters or aunts. This prestigious acquisition, just a few blocks down from Nantclwyd y Dre, aka: Nantclwyd House, then the home of the Edward Thelwall family, perhaps rented by them from John Holland, who was granted the property in 1490/91. The purchase of the Exmewe estate and home. and his status as a wealthy mercer, made him a prime suitor for the hand of Edward Thelwall’s daughters.  The close proximity of their respective family homes in Ruthin probably also helped. A 1522 marriage contract in Denbighshire County Records (DCR: DD/WY/6461) documents that he married Cisely Thelwell, spinster, daughter of Edward Thelwall, when he was 46 years old and she was 29. There is no evidence that either of them had been married before. In that record, he is named as Edward ap Thomas Edward, occupation Mercer, and she is named as Cisely Goodman, formerly Thelwell, spinster. He was already a prosperous man to be identified as a Mercer in the 1522. They had at least three sons. Gawen, Gabriel, and Godfrey are mentioned in his will.  They also had at least five daughters: Dorothy, Katherine, Fides, Clare, and Jane. The will of Edward Goodman was proved 3 January, 1561. (2 Loftis, Prerogative Court of Canterbury). Hypothetically, if Edward Goodman had been previously married and had sons before he adopted the Goodman surname, they might have retained their Welsh patronymics and not been recognized as sons of Edward Goodman. For example, they could have been Robert ap Edward ap Thomas or William ap Edward ap Thomas, or Jevan (John) ap Edward ap Thomas, and they may have taken surnames other that Goodman, such as Edwards or Thompson.

Cisely Thelwall Goodman was born 1493 and died 4 January 1583. She was the daughter of Edward Thelwell of Plás y Ward in Rhewl, Denbighshire. Edward Thelwell was also a Burgess of Denbigh, 1487-1544 (DCR: DD/WY/1532-9). Edward Goodman was probably a Burgess of Ruthin before he married in 1522. There were continuing Thelwell / Goodman connections in later generations, as mentioned in other pages on this site. Numerous records of this Edward Thelwell exist in the Denbigh County Archives, which may shed some light on this.

That Edward Goodman was an important man of his time is further confirmed by the existence of a brass tablet (See image and inscription above), originally in a nave at Ruthin Castle in Denbigh, then the home of the Thelwells. That brass is a portrait of Edward and Cisely with 8 children. (“A Manual of Monumental Brasses”, Rev. Herbert Haines, (1861), Bath, Eng., (Rep. 1970), p. 215). According to the names on the mural, the eight Goodman children in the brass mural at Ruthin Castle were Gawen, Gabriel, Godfrey, Dorothy, Katherine, Fides, Clare and Jonet.

The birth dates of Edward and Cicely can therefore be derived from their respective death dates and ages written above. This brass memorial was removed at some stage as Ruthin Castle changed ownership and was remodeled, and now resides on a wall in the Ruthin Parish Church. Ruthin Castle is now a premium hotel, at which regular Medieval Banquets are performed for tourists. It is unknown whether or not the remaind of Edward and Cicely were also relocated, as they would probably have been interred beneath the stones of the floor of the castle.

William, Hugh, Richard, Christopher, and Thomas Goodman all lived about the same time as Edward. However, these were not mentioned in his will, and may have been brothers, cousins, or other relations. See Other Goodmans page.

See PDF image of Edward Goodman’s will.

Digital Image of Portrait of Edward Goodman, on display at the National Museum and Gallery of Wales, Cardiff.

Issue of Edward Goodman and Ciselye Thelwell:

1. Gawen Goodman, Esq. (1526-1604) Eldest son and heir of Edward Goodman. He married 1st Ellin/Helen Griffith (Gryfudd), a daughter of Thomas Griffith Fychan of Pant-y-Llongdu. He married 2nd to Gaynor, daughter of Dr Ellis Prys/Price of Plas Yolyn.
   
2. Gabriel Goodman, (Nov 6, 1528 – 1601), supposedly born in Nantclwyd House, Ruthin, Denbighshire. He was a cleric, did not marry, and was Dean of Westminster 1561-1601.
3. Godfrey Goodman, Sr. (1533-1587)  He married twice, first to Alice ferch Hugh, and 2nd to Jane, a daughter of Simon Croxton.
4. Dorothy Goodman (ca 1525-1600). She married John Chambers/Chambre, Gent., of Lleweni.
5. Katherine/Catherine Goodman married, Rhys ap John Wynn of Mold, Flintshire, and they had son William Salusbury, one of the heirs of Bishop Godfrey Goodman.
6. Fides Goodman. Birth, death, spouse(s).
7. Clare or Claire Goodman. Birth, death, spouse(s) unknown.
8. Jane (aka Sionet or Janet) Goodman married William Griffith, a son Thomas Griffith Fychan of Pant-y-Llongdu and brother of her brother Gawen’s 1st wife, Helen Griffith.

Robinson is named as a brother in the will of Godfrey (Sr.) Goodman, but not with a Goodman surname. However, in that same will, Godfrey also names “my brother and sister Robinson”, indicating that one of his sisters probably married a Robinson, who was a brother-in-law, and not his natural brother. He would have been the husband of Fides or Clare, since the husbands of Dorothy, Jane and Katherine are documented and known.

Edward Goodman also served Sir Thomas Gruffin:

f. 70., f. 71., f. 72. – 1 Aug., … Edw. Goodman, for his master Sir Thos. Gruffin, coats and conduct of 500 men out of Northamptonshire, 167l. 10s. [‘Henry VIII: April 1546, 21-25’, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 21 Part 1: January-August 1546 (1908), pp. 305-334. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=80847&strquery=goodman