How many people coming across the name Goddard Vilett would assume this is probably a man? Well I did at first and very nearly overlooked yet another important woman in Swindon's history.
I found a marriage entry dated 1710 in the Holy Rood parish registers when William Horne married Mrs Goddard Vilett, and I wondered if William was marrying a widow still using her deceased husband’s name, but no, that wasn’t the case.
The South Marston parish registers record that 'Mr Thomas Vilett & Mrs Elleanor Goddard were married December 11th, 1681.' Their daughter Goddard Vilett was baptised at the same church on June 24, 1683, but obviously grew up in Swindon where her Vilett family lived.
Eleanor's branch of the Goddard family settled in South Marston and the parish records include the baptism of James Goddard's eight children between 1657 and 1673 with Eleanor (Ellen) baptised in 1661.
Sadly, Thomas and Eleanor's marriage was a short one as she died in 1685 and was buried in the churchyard at Holy Rood in Swindon.
And as usual it is difficult to find out anything about Goddard. There are a number of babies by the name of Horn(e) baptised at Holy Rood in the years following William and Goddard's marriage and I can only assume they belong to them.
The couple's wedding at Holy Rood on December 26, 1710 may have been a hasty affair as William son of Mr William Horn was baptised there on March 26, 1711.
Then there's Anne Goddard daughter of Mr William Horne baptised on May 11, 1716. She has to be their daughter, surely. However, baptised the same year on April 27 is Edward son of Mr William Horn - whose child is he? Perhaps Anne was baptised as an older child and he was the new baby?
And sadly there are two burials as well - Thomas son of William Horne on December 13, 1721 and Lucy daughter of Mr Horne January 24, 1726.
If only the entries in the registers had included Goddard's name I would be able to positively identify them.
When William died in 1730 the entry in the registers describe him as an attorney, and as you'd expect he left a comprehensive Will, which at last gives us some information about Goddard.
William opens his Will with a bequest to his loving wife Goddard 'all my household goods ffurniture Rings and plate and all provisions of housekeeping and all such pieces of Gold and other moneys which She now esteems her own '
Next he deals with the disposal of his estate and we discover where the Horne family were living in 1730.
'and also to her my said Wife and to my Well beloved Kinsmen Edward Horne the Younger of Watlington in the County of Oxon and Samuel Horne of the City of London Mercer I give and devise all that my Messuage or dwelling house with the Outletts Gardens and Appurtenances wherein I now Inhabit in the High Street of Swindon aforesaid and all that my other Messuage or Tenement in Newport Street in Swindon aforesaid now in the possession of John Edmonds'
I wonder which property the family lived in? Could it have been the house where John Harding Sheppard lived in the nineteenth century, long gone now, it's foundations beneath the Co-op Store on the corner of Newport Street and High Street.*
William makes Goddard joint executor (executrix) of his Will along with Edward and Samuel Horne to organise the estate so long as she remains a widow.
Well we know she never remarried as the entry in the registers records the burial of Goddard Horne on September 6, 1763 and there is an impressive memorial to the couple in the chancel at Holy Rood.
William's worn and faded eighteenth century memorial is made doubly difficult to read as the inscription is in Latin. However, it is possible to pick out the all important names and dates - William who died on September 23, 1730 aged 43 and at the bottom Goddard who died on September 3, 1763 aged 81.
As a prosperous, property owning woman I find it difficult to believe that Goddard didn't leave a Will but as yet I haven't been able to find one.
And I don't suppose there is a diary deposited at a Record Office somewhere, or maybe letters, perhaps a shopping list. Ah well!
Join the Swindon Heritage team for a guided walk at Holy Rood Church, the Lawn on Sunday July 28. Meet at 2 pm.
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Photograph published courtesy of Duncan and Mandy Ball.
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Photograph published courtesy of the Swindon Society.
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Could this have been the Horne family home?
![]()
Or maybe this was?
![]()
Or perhaps this house was once Goddard's des res?
The South Marston parish registers record that 'Mr Thomas Vilett & Mrs Elleanor Goddard were married December 11th, 1681.' Their daughter Goddard Vilett was baptised at the same church on June 24, 1683, but obviously grew up in Swindon where her Vilett family lived.
Eleanor's branch of the Goddard family settled in South Marston and the parish records include the baptism of James Goddard's eight children between 1657 and 1673 with Eleanor (Ellen) baptised in 1661.
Sadly, Thomas and Eleanor's marriage was a short one as she died in 1685 and was buried in the churchyard at Holy Rood in Swindon.
And as usual it is difficult to find out anything about Goddard. There are a number of babies by the name of Horn(e) baptised at Holy Rood in the years following William and Goddard's marriage and I can only assume they belong to them.
The couple's wedding at Holy Rood on December 26, 1710 may have been a hasty affair as William son of Mr William Horn was baptised there on March 26, 1711.
Then there's Anne Goddard daughter of Mr William Horne baptised on May 11, 1716. She has to be their daughter, surely. However, baptised the same year on April 27 is Edward son of Mr William Horn - whose child is he? Perhaps Anne was baptised as an older child and he was the new baby?
And sadly there are two burials as well - Thomas son of William Horne on December 13, 1721 and Lucy daughter of Mr Horne January 24, 1726.
If only the entries in the registers had included Goddard's name I would be able to positively identify them.
When William died in 1730 the entry in the registers describe him as an attorney, and as you'd expect he left a comprehensive Will, which at last gives us some information about Goddard.
William opens his Will with a bequest to his loving wife Goddard 'all my household goods ffurniture Rings and plate and all provisions of housekeeping and all such pieces of Gold and other moneys which She now esteems her own '
Next he deals with the disposal of his estate and we discover where the Horne family were living in 1730.
'and also to her my said Wife and to my Well beloved Kinsmen Edward Horne the Younger of Watlington in the County of Oxon and Samuel Horne of the City of London Mercer I give and devise all that my Messuage or dwelling house with the Outletts Gardens and Appurtenances wherein I now Inhabit in the High Street of Swindon aforesaid and all that my other Messuage or Tenement in Newport Street in Swindon aforesaid now in the possession of John Edmonds'
I wonder which property the family lived in? Could it have been the house where John Harding Sheppard lived in the nineteenth century, long gone now, it's foundations beneath the Co-op Store on the corner of Newport Street and High Street.*
William makes Goddard joint executor (executrix) of his Will along with Edward and Samuel Horne to organise the estate so long as she remains a widow.
Well we know she never remarried as the entry in the registers records the burial of Goddard Horne on September 6, 1763 and there is an impressive memorial to the couple in the chancel at Holy Rood.
William's worn and faded eighteenth century memorial is made doubly difficult to read as the inscription is in Latin. However, it is possible to pick out the all important names and dates - William who died on September 23, 1730 aged 43 and at the bottom Goddard who died on September 3, 1763 aged 81.
As a prosperous, property owning woman I find it difficult to believe that Goddard didn't leave a Will but as yet I haven't been able to find one.
And I don't suppose there is a diary deposited at a Record Office somewhere, or maybe letters, perhaps a shopping list. Ah well!
Join the Swindon Heritage team for a guided walk at Holy Rood Church, the Lawn on Sunday July 28. Meet at 2 pm.
Photograph published courtesy of Duncan and Mandy Ball.
Photograph published courtesy of the Swindon Society.
Could this have been the Horne family home?
Or maybe this was?
Or perhaps this house was once Goddard's des res?