CHAPTER IX.
SIR JOHN GOODRICKE, 5TH BART. 1708-1789.
Arms on Hunsingore communion Plate: -
Goodricke impaling Benson. First Argent on a Fesse Gules between two Lions passant guardant Sable, a Fleur-de-lis Or between as many Crescents Argent, Second Argent three Trefoils in bend Sable Cotised Gules. Motto (Leal Y Libre) "Loyal yet free."
On the death of Sir Henry Goodricke, the 2nd Bart. the Baronetcy and estate of Ribston devolved upon his half-brother John, only son of Sir John, the first Baronet, by his second wife Elizabeth, relict of William, third Viscount Fairfax, of Gilling Castle. Sir John, the 3rd Bart. was born 16th October 1654 and therefore fifty-one years of age at the time of succeeding to his paternal estates. In early life he had resided at Haddockstones, near Ripon, a property he inherited under his father's will, but in 1705 when Ribston fell to him he was residing at Altofts Hall, Normanton, which was then a fine Elizabethan mansion, built by Admiral Frobisher, purchased by Sir Francis Goodricke and bequeathed by him to this nephew John.
There is nothing of importance to record about Sir John, the 3rd Bart. He had a family of five sons and five daughters. He enjoyed Ribston only nine months, dying on 19th December 1705. (Vide Goodricke History). His eldest son Henry, born 8th September 1677 succeeded to Ribston at the age of twenty-eight. At the age of seventeen he received a commission as ensign in Lieutenant-Colonel William Ashton's Company of the lst Foot Guards, commanded by the Earl of Romney. He was a Justice of the Peace for the West Riding and High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1718.
Sir Henry appears to have loved his home where he spent his life in quiet and retired devotion to arboriculture, the improvement of his estate and the general happiness of his tenants. It is to him Ribston Park and gardens now owe some of their finest and rarest trees as also that delicious apple known as the "Ribston Pippin."
He married 26 April 1707 in York Minster, Mary, only surviving daughter of Tobias Jenkyns, Esq., of Grimstone, Co. York by this wife Lady Mary, second daughter of Charles Paulet first Duke of Bolton, and died 21st July 1738, leaving issue four sons and four daughters.
His eldest son John who was the fifth Baronet succeeded him in Title and Estate. Sir John Goodricke, 5th Bart. was born at Ribston 20th May 1708. He was thirty years of age when he succeeded to Ribston and he lived to enjoy his ancestral home for fifty-one years, a much longer period than had been granted to any of his predecessors.
He married at the early age of twenty-three, (28 Sept. 1731) at Hendon, Co. Midd. Miss Mary Benson a natural daughter of Robert Benson, Lord Bingley, who had died on the 9th April in the same year.
Sir John had issue, an only surviving son, Henry, born at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, 6th April 1741. A daughter, Mary, was born at Ribston 23rd October 1732 but she died in the following July. Another daughter, Harriet, was born at Bingley House, London, 9th March 1739 but she also died in infancy (1746).
The quiet life led by his father at Ribston does not appear to have appealed very strongly to Sir John. Three years after succeeding to his paternal acres we find him at Boulogne in France, and in March 1745 he was at Rotterdam making a very strong appeal to Sir Thomas Robinson, British Ambassador at Vienna to obtain for him a commission in the Wallon Regiment of Prince Charles as he was "extremely desirous to be in the Queen of Hungary's Troops and to serve the Glorious Defenders of the Cause of Liberty." (Add. M.S. 23819, p. 422). He begs Sir Francis to use his interest to obtain for him this commission, as a Captain and thus place him under "eternal obligations." Whether or not his commission was obtained I do not know but in August 1750 Sir John commenced a career in the Diplomatic world, which continued for twenty-three years during which time (1750-1773) he appears to have resided almost entirely abroad, in the discharge of several important positions under the State.
On 18th August 1750 Sir John was appointed Resident at the Court of Brussels, eight years later (14 March 1758) he was appointed
"Resident at the Court of the King of Sweden"
though he appears to have acted as British Minister in Denmark, and to have resided at Copenhagen. (Signet Office Docquet Books and Foreign Office Calendars).
In February 1764, he was appointed
"His Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary to the Court at Stockholm"
with effect as from 20th December 1763. The Signet Office Docquet Books at Record Office contain warrants to pay him £2 per day on his appointment as Resident at the Court of Brussels, 18 August 1750; £300 for his equipage and £3 per day on his appointment to the Court of Sweden, March 14th 1758; and £5 per day from 20th December 1763.
His appointment to Stockholm on 14th March 1758 does not appear to have taken immediate effect, as he seems to have continued to reside at Copenhagen. His secretary Charles F. Sheridan in his "History of the late Revolution in Sweden" 1783 p.p. 201, 204, writes that in 1763 Sir John was at Copenhagen until after the war, left there at the end of that year and arrived at Stockholm in April 1764.
This agrees with one batch of Sir John's Correspondence in the Brit Museum Library (Hardwicke Papers Add. M.S. 35885, p.p. 99-142). He remained as British Envoy Extraordinary at Stockholm from 1764 to his retirement in 1773. (It may be here noted that Charles Francis Sheridan was second son of Thomas and Frances Sheridan and elder brother of the celebrated Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 1751-1816. Charles F. Sheridan was appointed Secretary to the Legation in Sweden in May 1772. It was while he was on his journey to Stockholm that his brother Richard fought his second duel at Bath with Mr. Mathews in which he nearly lost his life. "Sheridan" by W.F. Rae, Vol. I. 197).
In the Manuscript department of the British Museum Library there is, dispersed over many files, a voluminous correspondence between Sir John and various high officers of state, between the years 1750 and 1773. A careful examination of this would undoubtedly reveal much of great political interest for at that time Sweden occupied a vastly different position in Europe to that she now holds, but I have not had the time at my disposal to devote to this research work. In his work entitled "A Queen of Tears" or the History of Caroline Matilda, wife of Christian VII, Mr. W.H. Wilkins says that Sir John was nominated Minister Plenipotentiary to Sweden, but through the intrigues of the French Government he never got nearer to Stockholm than Copenhagen. This is, of course, quite incorrect as the heavy correspondence from Sir John in the B. Mus. Liby. Shows. At pages' 136-147 of his book, Mr. Wilkins relates a story about Sir John's relationship with Anna Catherine Bathaken who went by the nickname of "Storlep Katerine" or "Catherine of the Gaiters” while he was resident at Copenhagen. After Sir John's departure from that City, Catherine became mistress to the new King of Denmark and Norway, Christian VII a semi-idiot, over whom she gained a great ascendancy. I do not propose to repeat this story - it can be read, if desired, in Mr. Wilkin's book.
As we have seen, Sir John Goodricke commenced his diplomatic resident at Stockholm in the spring of 1764. In 1766 the celebrated French artist Lundberg painted his portrait in pastel at Stockholm, and a photograph of this same picture now in my possession, is here presented. It represents Sir John in Court dress scarlet
velvet coat, salmon silk vest, the whole elaborately embroidered in gold, lace cravat, etc. The King of Sweden, Adolphus Frederick died in 1771 and was succeeded by his eldest son Gustavus III. The condition of Sweden was deplorable and Gustavus finding himself little better than a hostage for the maintenance of existing anarchy at once turned his thoughts towards the bold project of a revolution as the only means of saving his country from utter ruin. A revolution headed by a King was a somewhat anomalous expedient but Gustavus planned this revolution so skilfully that it was carried out at Stockholm on 19th August 1772 with the greatest success and without the loss of a single life! Sir John Goodricke was a close and deeply interested spectator of this event. He was,
"by common consent the most
quick-witted and keen-sighted of the whole diplomatic corps” and appears to
have been the first to possess direct proof of the King's designs. In addition
to the exhaustive account of Gustavus III in the Encyc. Brit., Vol. 12. p. 736,
interesting accounts of the Swedish revolution of 1772, the immediate
consequences of which threatened to involve Europe in a general war, will be
found in Bains Gustavus III etc. 1894, and C. F. Sheridan's "History of the late
revolution"1783.
In the year 1773 an event occurred which caused Sir John, then in his
sixty-sixth year, to resign his appointment at Stockholm and to return to
England. That event was the death, on 21st February, of George Fox Lane, second
Baron Bingley, who left his beautiful domain of Bramham Park and many other
properties to Sir John and Lady Goodricke for their lives. Sir John's probable
retirement was foresaw by Thomas Sheridan in a letter he wrote to his son
Charles, Sir John's secretary under date 16th March 1773. Sheridan said: -
"Sir J. Goodricke has by the death of some Lord come into a considerable fortune. If so, it is probable he may entirely relinquish his present post for which I should be extremely sorry, as I fear it would not be easy to find a successor of such abilities to give you information or such humanity to make your situation agreeable." (Temple Bar, March 1900. p. 398)
The "Annual Register" under date 29 November 1773 announces the appointment of
Lewis de Visme, A.M. as Envoy Extraordinary to Sweden in the room of Sir John
Goodricke
"Who has obtained his Majesty's permission to resign.” (See also Signet Office Docquet Books).
While at the Swedish court the King, Gustavus, presented Sir John with a very fine miniature portrait of himself set in gold, and to Lady Goodricke the Queen presented a ring. These two interesting relics which I have seen and which were offered to me at an extravagant price were formerly the property of the late Mrs. Fairfax of Gilling Castle, Sir John's grand-daughter, and all now in the possession of Mrs. Randolph, wife of Rev. E.S.L. Randolph.
Sir John and his Lady now returned to their native county and took up their residence at Bramham Park which place it is on record (Batham's Baronetage) Sir John preferred to his paternal estate while Ribston was Lady Goodricke's favourite home. Sir John was made a Privy Councillor to George III, September lst 1773 and he was M.P. for Ripon.
BENSON, ROBERT, BARON BINGLEY. (1676-1731), politician, was the son of Robert Benson, of Wrenthorpe. Yorkshire a gentleman described by the proud Lord Strafford as ‘an attorney, and of no great character for an honest man,’ and by Sir John Reresby in his ‘Memoirs’ (ed. 1735), p. 23, as a man of mean extraction and of little worth by Dorothy daughter of Tobias Jenkins, MP. for York city. ‘who afterwards married Sir Henry’ Belasyse. From his father the younger Benson inherited an estate of £1,500 a year, which, in spite of very ‘handsome’ living, he largely augmented In later years. In 1702 he was returned to parliament for the borough of Thetford, retaining his seat I until 1705, when he was elected for the city of York, and continued to represent it until his elevation to the peerage. He began life as a whig, but was induced to join the tories, though he remained ‘very moderate’ in the expression of his political views. In Harley’s administration he became a lord of the treasury (10 Aug. 1710), and when his chief was elevated to the peerage Benson became chancellor and under-treasurer of the exchequer and a privy councillor (Jane 1711). These appointments were retained by him until he was raised to the peerage, 21 July 1713, as Baron Bingley, of Bingley, Yorkshire, a creation, which led to some indignation among the more rigid members of the peerage, and provoked some pleasantries fleer his want of a coat of arms. Charles Ford writing to Swift at this time said that Lord Bingley had ‘disobliged both sides so much that neither will ever own him, but not withstanding this prophecy he was appointed (December 1713) ambassador extraordinary to the court of’ Spain. In 1730 the post of treasurer of the household was conferred on him, but. he held it only for a year. He died on 9 April 1731, aged 55, and was buried on 14 April in St. Paul’s chapel, Westminster Abbey. Through the friendship of Lord Dartmouth he was introduced to and married, at St. Giles-in-the-fields Middlesex, 21 Dec. 1703 Lady Elizabeth Finch. eldest daughter of the first Earl of Aylesford. She died 26 Feb. 1757, and was buried with her husband in St. Paul’s chapel. A copy of verses on her vanity in. old age is printed in Horace Walpole’s ‘Letters’ (ii. 205). They’ had issue one daughter, Harriet. (Who inherited £100,000. in cash and £7,000. a year in land), the wife of George Fox, who afterwards took the name of Lane and was created Baron Bingley in 1762. Robert Benson, Lord Bingley, had an illegitimate daughter Mary to whom he left large sums. Mary, the natural daughter of Robert Benson, Baron Bingley. Lord Bingley was cousin to Sir John Goodricke, his mother being Dorothy, daughter of Tobias Jenkyns, Esq., of Grimstone, and half-sister to Mary Lady Goodricke, Sir John's mother. He also left a considerable Legacy to Anna Maria, wife of John Burgoyne. and, in certain eventualities the residue of his estate to her son and his godson, John Burgoyne, the general. Horace rd Walpole said (Letters, vi. 494) that the general was a natural son of Lord Bingley, in and the statement has been often repeated, but it does not seem to rest on any foundation of fact. Lord Bingley took great interest in architecture; Harcourt House, Cavendish Square, London, was built by him in 1722, and originally called Bingley House.
ARMES, Argent three trefoils in bend sable cotised gules
(Chester’s Westminster Abby Registers, 331-32, 390, 413, 450, De Fonblanques Burgoyne, 5-8 Burkes Extinct Peerage, Wentworths Papers, 84-85, 133, 347-8,442.)
Dictionary of National Biography. In my next Chapter, I
will describe Bramham Park.
The British Compendium of Rudiments of Honour London 1725.
Arms Pearl, three trefoils slipped and pierced in bend diamond, cotised ruby.
Supported two bears of the field. Crest, on a wreath of his colours, a bears head erect and erased as the supporters muzzled of the third.
Bramham Park, the residence of Sir John Goodricke from 1773 until his death, August 3rd, 1789, was described at the beginning of the nineteenth century in "Jones' Seats" as follows: -
"This noble residence was built in the reign of Queen
Anne, by Robert Benson, Lord Bingley, who employed for that purpose an Italian
architect. It is designed upon a scale of much grandeur, consisting of a large
centre, in which are the grand apartments, and wings, for the domestic offices,
connected by corridors of the Doric order; the whole fronting a spacious court,
elevated five feet above the Park, approached by iron gates affixed to dwarf
piers, bearing sphinxes, which occupy a space within two lofty rusticated
columns, each surmounted by a Bear upholding the shield of arms of the founder.
The mansion presents a magnificent and singular character, seldom paralleled
in the form and dimensions of the truly elegant apartments it contains; some of
them decorated with the rich and tasteful carvings of Grinling Gibbons, others
are hung with curious specimens of tapestry, in excellent preservation. Among
the pictures is a fine original portrait of Queen Anne presented by her Majesty
to Lord Bingley, as an acknowledgment of the attention of his Lordship during a
visit to his seat.
The Gardens correspond in their style with the House, and consist of the
timber cut in straight hedges of the height of the trees, the whole kept up with
the greatest precision, and are said to resemble those of St. Cloud, in France;
gravelled walks extend for miles through the pleasure grounds; the Deer Park is
finely wooded, and the views are rich in beautiful scenery. Very handsome
kennels for the foxhounds are at one extremity of the Park; the kennels for the
harriers are near the house. It stands in a fine sporting country, and his
present Majesty once spent two nights at this venerable mansion, and partook of
the delights of the chase. The House is situated in Barkstone Ash Wapentake,
ten miles northeast from Leeds, four miles southwest from Tadcaster and fourteen
miles from York. 
Such was Bramham at the time of Sir John's residence there, and I am fortunate in being able to present here a reproduction of the engraving of the mansion, which accompanies Jones's description.
On 29th July 1828 a most disastrous fire took place, which destroyed this noble mansion with most of the furniture, plate and pictures, the loss being estimated at over £40,000. In 1907, the present owner, Mr. George R. Lane Fox rebuilt the Hall to some extent. A writer in the Yorkshire Weekly Post for 18th May 1907 referring to Bramham says: -
"Since 1828 the erstwhile beautiful apartments have shown like yawning vaults to the sky, open to the rains and winds of heaven, and free to all the birds of the air. They have been picturesque ruins, and their beauty was enhanced by the loveliness of the surroundings; the trim Italian gardens, with their beech avenues; the fine old elms and sycamores; the distant views of wood and dell. One can only, in passing, think what an enchanting place this must have been in the days of its glory."
I must not omit to mention the long famous Bramham Hunt, which was one of the first established in the north of England. Lord Bingley first hunted the country in the time of Queen Anne, and a pack of hounds has been kept there continuously since. My grandfather, Mr. William Goodricke of Durham often talked of the hunting parties and of the hospitality he witnessed at Bramham on the occasion of a visit he paid when a boy in company with his father to their kinsman Sir John. Mr. W. S. Dixon has written an interesting volume on the Bramham Moor Hunt, but, although he says that there can be little doubt that it was regularly established prior to 1773, he could not discover authentic accounts of what really happened in the country about that period.
I will conclude my chapter on Bramham by referring my
readers to an account I contributed to the Yorkshire Weekly Post of 25th October
1902 explaining how that places became Sir John Goodricke's residence. In
regard to this I would remark that it may doubtless be presumed, in the absence
of evidence to the contrary, that the disposition of the Bingley Estates in
1771-1773 by George, Baron Bingley was accepted by Sir John and Lady Goodricke
without protest but Lord Bingley's action would, in the light of evidence now
available certainly appear somewhat unjust to the Goodricke’s having regard to
all the circumstances I have related. Lord Bingley, no doubt, took advantage of
his then strictly legal position, but one would have thought that in consequence
of the death of this son Robert and the failure of issue to Harriet Benson, the
estates of her father ought, in justice, to have devolved upon Mary Lady
Goodricke as her right in accordance with the will of her father, Robert first
Lord Bingley, dated 27 June 1729 and not upon Mr. James Fox, who was a stranger
in blood. but the complex nature and uncertainty of the law relating to
property is very great and at times past understanding, and the succession of
the Lane-Fox family to the Bingley estates was, no doubt, in perfectly legal
order.
INSERT John Goodricke born in Groningen Holland 17th September 1764, and baptized two days later in the Anglican Church there, the eldest of five, the son of a British diplomat Henry Goodricke and of a Dutch merchant’s daughter, Levina Benjarmina Sessler of Namur, Woldthuzen in Friesland. In 1769 at the age of five he contracted scarlet fever leaving him totally deaf. John had such a profound hearing loss that he was not aware of voices, but after a good education he was able to read lips well and to speak
The name of John Goodricke has been rendered immortal in the annals of astronomy by his great discoveries. He was the elder-son of Mr. Henry Goodricke of York, and his wife Levina Benjamina, nee Sessler, and elder grandson of the Right Honourable Sir John Goodricke, 5th Baronet. He was born at Groningen in Holland, 17th September 1764.
In November 1782, when only eighteen years of age, he noted that the brilliancy of Algol waxed and waned, and he devoted himself to observing it on every fine night from the 28th December 1782 to 12th May 1783. He communicated the results of his observations to the Royal Society in two papers and suggested that the variation in brilliancy was due to periodic eclipses by a dark companion star, revolving round Algol. His conclusion was confirmed spectroscopically in 1888-1889 by the late Dr Vogel, of Potsdam and it is now universally accepted as correct.
The Royal Society recognized the importance of the discovery by awarding to Goodricke, then only nineteen years of age, their highest honour, the Sir Geoffrey Copley Gold Medal (1783). His later observations of Lyrx and Cephei were almost as remarkable as those of Algol, but unfortunately Goodricke's career which was of such extraordinary promise was cut short by death, to the infinite loss of science, on 20th April 1786, when he was but twenty-one years of age after his election to the Royal Society.
The records of his observations are to be found in the "Philosophical Transactions' of the Royal Society Vols. 73, 74 and 75.
The wonders of Astronomy are not only definite but endless and some small conception of this may be derived from the fact that Astronomers estimate the distance of Algol to be so great that it takes 93 years for its light to reach the Earth so that the variations which we may see in its light this evening will be those which actually occurred in November 1819! There is still much curiosity as to the kind of body, which John Goodricke suspected and Dr Vogel proved, was eclipsing Algol by passing between that stars about three days. That it is comparatively dark is said to be certain; and although it is nearly the size of our own sun it has never seen even with the most powerful telescopes. Miss Agnes Clarke, a great astronomer, describes it as being to all intents and purposes a gigantic planet. It has been found that of the companion is 830,000 miles!
Mr. John Goodricke's portrait was painted in pastel in the year 1785 when he was twenty-one years of age and this fine picture, together with that of his grandfather Sir John painted by Lunberg, at Stockholm in 1766 became my property in the year 1898 as I will explain later on (Chapter X11). As I am anxious that this portrait should be carefully preserved in perpetuity where it will be valued, I presented it to the Royal Astronomical Society, on 8th November 1912 on the occasion of the first meeting of the winter session and an account of what then took place can be read at p.p. 419 and 435 of "The Observatory" Vol. 35, December 1912, and I annex here a copy of my letter to The Society on the same date which is taken from their "Monthly Notices," Vol. 73, for November 1912. The foregoing account of John Goodricke embraces; I think all that is now known of him, which is sufficiently interesting to be recorded.
INSERT Since the above was written in 1913 I have since discovered a magazine article, written in 1984 entitled John Goodricke 1764-1786 astronomer extraordinary. The author of the article is Mr Geffrey Hope, an E.N.T. consultant at York, who has graciously given me his permission to use a copy of his article. Although this not part of the original book, I hope the reader will accept this article as an update and expansion on the knowledge of this brilliant young astronomer. A.A.Y.
The article starts out with a picture of a plaque on the
wall of Treasurer's House which reads:
“From a window in the Treasurer's House near this tablet, a
young deaf and dumb astronomer”
JOHN GOODRICKE 1764 - 1786
who was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society at, the age of 21, observed the periodicy of the star ALGOL and discovered the variation of * CELPHEI and other stars thus laying the foundation of modern measurement of the Universe.
In 1784 Exactly 200 years ago, there was a 19 year-old
living and working within a hundred yards of York Minster. His interest was
astronomy. He would plot the movement of stars over the Minster and observe
their fluctuations in brightness. These observations were meticulously recorded
in his diary and reported to the Royal Society in London. They recognised his
merit and awarded him the Copley Medal and by the age of 21 he became the
youngest Fellows of the Royal Society.
Why do we remember John Goodricke? The story of his life is remarkable in any
case and even more so when one knows he was described as "deaf and dumb."
To quote Patrick Moore, the TV astronomer,
"He was deaf and dumb and remained so all through his life, but there was nothing the matter with either his eyesight or his brain, he became an expert observer as well as a theorist."
Do any of our deaf children today, with the benefits of early diagnosis, special education and electronic aids, aspire to become Fellows of the Royal Society...? John was born at Groningen, Holland, on September 17, 1764, the eldest child of Henry Goodricke of York, and his wife Levina Benjamina from Namur. The Goodricke family were landed gentry living at Ribston hall, north of Wetherby, close to the A1. They owned this land for more than 200 years.
John Goodricke's grandfather, Sir John Goodricke Bart. was the fifth baronet? He had been Envoy Extraordinary to the court of Stockholm, later MP for Ripon and a Privy Councillor to George III.
Little is known of John's early childhood, except it is recorded
"He lost his hearing by fever when an infant and was consequently dumb."
The family returned to York to live in Lendal when John would have been aged around 7 to 11.
Ten years earlier in 1760, Thomas Braidwood opened the first school for the deaf in Edinburgh and it was there that John was destined to be taught. Unfortunately Braidwood was secretive, so his pupils and his methods are not fully recorded, but the school did attract eminent visitors such as Samuel Johnson. It can only be presumed that John Goodricke went to Edinburgh between the ages of 8 and 10. He must have made good progress in both language and learning, as he was found suitable to be admitted to the Warrington Academy in 1778 at the age of 14, but they made no special provision for the handicapped pupils. The Warrington Academy was a school of high academic reputation run by the Unitarians. Goodricke's report stated
"He made a surprising proficiency becoming a very tolerable classic and an excellent mathematician"
Teachers at the school had included Joseph Priestly the
chemist, but the teacher who had influenced young John Goodricke appears to have
been William Enfield who had written a volume entitled "Institute of Natural
Philosophy, Theoretical and Practical" which was principally devoted to
astronomy.
He returned to York in 1781 at the age of seventeen and is thought to have lived
with his aunt in Ogleforth. He made friends with Edward Piggott, son of
Nathaniel Piggott FRS, an astronomer who lived in Bootham. John Goodricke
started his "Journal of Astronomical Observations" on November 16, 1781 and
"Journey of the Going of my Clock" in July 1782. In this latter journal there
are some telling statements of how he tried to overcome his deafness.
His friend, Mr. Hartley, made him his special astronomical clock and writes
"I know how to pull down ye string, but I am afraid that I might sometimes fail on account of not being able to hear ye spring."
Both John Goodricke and Edward Piggott would synchronise their astronomical clocks using the last stroke of the Minster clock chiming twelve. He writes
"I must mark the time of my clock at the last stroke of the Minster at twelve o'clock and Mr. Piggott must do the same thing with his... Some faithful person upon whom I can depend always tells me every stroke of the Minster and when he tell me the last I always mark the clock."
A later note in December 1782 adds.
"As Mr Piggott is a greater distance from the Minster than I am, he must hear it somewhat later, therefore judge it necessary to make some allowance... where his clock is being set about half a mile from the Minster I always subtract one second from Mr. P's time. My distance from the Minster is only a few yards, therefore, no allowance."
This comment that his observatory was only a few yards from the Minster led to a fascinating piece of detective work by Sidney Milmore in 1956 who deduced the site of John Goodricke's observatory. By using an astronomical atlas of 1776 together with a plan of the city of York of the same era, and also knowing that he chiefly studied the southern sky, he was able do a reverse fix from the stars Rigel, Spika and Corvi and deduced that there was only one possible building that could have been used, namely the Treasurer's House. Then by going around the Treasurer's House he identified the upper window where Goodricke worked. From here the pinnacles at the east end of the Minster are ideal objects to time astronomical bodies.
As so happens, handicapped children compensate by being more alert with their remaining senses and Goodricke was no exception. When one considers he worked with a simple optical device such as a binocular, his powers of observation and perseverance are amazing. He writes in his journal 12th November 1782.
"This night looked at Beta -Persei (Algol) and was much amazed to find its brightness altered. It now appears to be fourth magnitude...I observed it diligently for about an hour upwards...hardly believing that it changed its brightness, because I had never heard of any star varying so quick in its brightness. I thought it might be perhaps owing to an optical illusion, a defect in my eyes or bad air, but the sequel will show that its change is true and that it was not mistaken."
Using nearby stars to gauge
the varying brightness of Algol, he found that it changed from second-degree
illumination to fourth degree illumination and back in the space of seven hours.
He deduced correctly that this was due to a moon of Algol passing between Algol
and the Earth every seven hours, hence the name "an eclipsing binary star." He
reported his findings to the Astronomer Royal and the Royal Society and finally
the Reverend Anthony Shepherd read his paper to the Royal Society on his behalf.
He then studied the light intensity from the star Delta-cephei from October 1784
for the next year. He measured a periodicity of brightness every five minutes,
which is virtually identical to today's value of 5.37 days. His latter work was
an example, not of an eclipsing star, but of a variable brightness star, which
formed the basis for measurements of the Universe. So within a short period of
four and a half years, Goodricke diligently searched the skies over York making
many important discoveries and reporting them to the Royal Society in four
papers.
In the spring of 1784, at the age of nineteen, he was awarded the Copley Medal
for the most important scientific discovery of the year. In April 1786 he was
elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, although tragically he died the same
month. He was buried in the family vault at Hunsingore Church close to Ribston
Hall.
John Goodricke has been remembered in York by naming one of the University Halls of Residence after him. Thus ends an update on John Goodricke, a deaf and dumb astronomer, whose life was cut short tragically at the age of twenty-two, and who should never be considered as handicapped but as a man with several disabilities.
Continuation of Charles A Goodricke's narrative;
I must now revert to the year 1788. As stated in Chapter IX, Sir John Goodricke, the 5th Bart. had only one son Henry, born at Boulogne, on 6th April 1741. This gentleman has been described as a "literary character much esteemed by all men of science." He was the author of several works among which was one in Latin entitled "Tentamina jurisprudentive rationalis de jure puniendi Devino et Humano" (A copy in the Brit. Mus Lib). He married at the too early age of nineteen (31 January 1761) and resided at Groningen for some years.
He had issue 1. John, the Astronomer, 1764 to 1786; 2. Henry afterwards the sixth Baronet, and three daughters. Mr Henry Goodricke died at his house in Lendal, York on 9th July 1784 in his fourty-fourth year and this event was followed in 1786 by the premature death of his elder son, John, as already stated. There remained now living only two young male members of Sir John's line, viz. Henry, Sir John's only grandson, who in 1788 was only twenty-three, and his nephew Thomas Francis Henry, who was just six and twenty.
The deaths of his son and grandson must have caused Sir John much grief and anxiety for on reading through his will one cannot help feeling he had had in contemplation a vision of his only grandson Henry, then his heir, dying issueless and the contingency of the family estates passing to his nephew Thomas Francis Henry, or even to a more collateral branch. So anxious was Sir John to prevent any alienation of the properties that he made his will on 20th May 1788 with the most stringent clauses, and further, to the intent that his wishes should not be frustrated, he appointed Sir George Allanson Wynn a trustee to see that every article of furniture, the family pictures, library etc. should descend to the rightful heir as heirlooms. Alas! for all these careful precautions, as we shall soon see. (Sir George Allanson-Winn was raised to the peerage in 1797 by the style and title of Lord Headley, Baron Allanson and Winn, of Aghadoe, Co. Kerry.)
Sir John's death took place on 3rd August 1789 and he was succeeded in Title and Estate by this grandson Sir Henry the sixth Baronet, then just twenty-four years of age.
Sir Henry has been described as a gentleman of eccentric habits who resided, not at Ribston, but chiefly in a house close to Micklegate Bar, now known as No. 58. He married, 30 November 1796, Charlotte, fourth daughter of the Right Hon. James Fortescue, of Ravensdale Park, in Ireland, and sister to William Charles, second Viscount Clermont, by whom he had an only son, Harry James, born 26th September 1797.
Sir Henry died in the prime of life, 23rd March 1802, and was succeeded by his son Harry James, then just four and a half years old.