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GOFFE (or Govc11), WILLIAM (fl. 1642-...

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 190 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GOFFE (or Govc11), WILLIAM (fl. 1642-1660)  ,
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English parliamentarian, son of Stephen Goffe, puritan rector of Stanmer in Essex, began
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life as an apprentice to a
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London salter, a zealous parliamentarian, but on the outbreak of the
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civil war he joined the army and became captain in Colonel Harley's regiment of the new model in 1645 . He was imprisoned in 1642 for his share in the petition to give the control of the militia to the parliament . By his
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marriage with Frances, daughter of General
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Edward Whalley, he became connected with Oliver Cromwell's
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family and one of his most faithful followers . He was a member of the deputation which on the 6th of
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July 1647 brought up the charge against the eleven members . He was active in bringing the king to trial and signed the
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death warrant . In 1649 he received the honorary degree of M.A. at Oxford . He distinguished himself at Dunbar, commanding a regiment there and at Worcester . He assisted in the expulsion of Barebone's parliament in 1653, took an active
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part in the suppression of Penruddock's rising in July 1654, and in
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October 1655 was appointed major-general for Berkshire, Sussex and Hampshire . Meanwhile he had been elected member for Yarmouth in the parliament of 1654 and for Hampshire in that of 1656 . He supported the proposal to bestow a royal title upon Cromwell, who greatly esteemed him, was included in the newly-constituted House of Lords, obtained Lambert's place as major-general of the
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Foot, and was even thought of as a
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fit successor to Cromwell . As a member of the committee of nine appointed in
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June 1658 on public affairs, he was witness to the
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protector's appointment of Richard Cromwell as his successor . He supported the latter during his brief tenure of power and his fall involved his own loss of influence .

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November 1659 he took part in the futile
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mission sent by the army to Monk in Scotland, and at the Restoration escaped with his
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father-in-law General Edward Whalley to Massachusetts . Goffe's
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political aims appear not to have gone much beyond fighting " to pull down Charles and setup Oliver "; and he was no doubt a man of deep religious feeling, who acted throughout according to a strict sense of duty as he conceived it . He was destined to pass the rest of his life in exile, separated from his wife and children, dying, it is supposed, about 1679 .

End of Article: GOFFE (or Govc11), WILLIAM (fl. 1642-1660)
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