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Question

Was there an estate or manor owned by the Goddard family in or around Swindon

Question asked on

04 September 2004

Answer

The Goddard family owned the manor of Swindon from 1562, when Thomas Goddard of Upham in Aldbourne bought it. The family remained at Swindon until the 20th century and were involved in many aspects of local life. The last local member of the family lived at the Lawn, the family home on the site of the medieval manor house, until 1931. The manor of Clyffe Pypard was also owned by another branch of the family. It was bought by John Goddard of Aldbourne in 1530 and has remained in the Goddard family and their successors by marriage.

The descent of these manors is detailed in volume 9 of A History of Wiltshire (OUP for the Institute of Historical Research) and there are other books on the family;

A memoir of the Goddards of North Wiltshire, by Richard Jefferies

The Goddard Book, 2 volumes, by John W. Harms and Pearl Goddard Harms. Gateway Press, 1984. This mainly contains details of all the Goddards of North America but there is a section on the Goddards of north Wiltshire in volume 2.

We also have a photocopied index of documents relating to the Goddard family. The documents themselves are held in the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office.

Bibliography