Sir Henry Goodricke Fourth Baronet.

Sir Henry Goodricke 4th ,Baronet was born 8th September 1677. At the age of seventeen, 30th November 1694, he received a Commission as Ensign in Lieutenant Colonel William Ashton's Company of the 1st Foot Guards, commanded by the Earl of Romney. He was a Justice of the Peace for the West Riding of Yorkshire.
The following letter from him to Mr. Thomas Wotton, on the account of the Goodricke family which had been published in the "Baronetage" for 1727, is interesting and important: -
Ribston, July 7th 1728.
"In the preface to your account. of Baronets, you not only give leave, but desire that each Baronet will send any defect or mistake he may observe in the account of his own family that it may be rectified in another Edition. And in the next page we read that your design (amongst other things) is to give account of the Daughters & their respective marriages, which last I find wholly omitted in the account of our family. thou two Baronets (viz: Hawkesworth & Wentworth, of Howsham) are descended from Daughters of our Family & my own sisters Thou four of them are well married) are not named.
"There is a mistake in the date of my fathers death which should be Dec 10th instead of Sept. 10th 1705.
"The arms are also wrong blazoned, Which should be as follows: Argent on a fess gules between two Lyons passant Guardant sable, a fleur de lis or. Between two Crescents, Argent: this I copy from Sir William Dugdales pedigree of our family. The Crest has been since altered in King Williams Time & the patent for it I have now before me, therefore shall copy the words 'That Sir Henry Goodricke & his only Brother John Goodricke & his male descendants have the following Crest assigned, viz: a demy Lyon Ermines armed and langued gules, issuing out of a Ducal Coronet or, holding in his paws a Battle Axe proper, helved or, as depicted in the margent.'
"Our family also used two naked Boys for supporters, as our old Monuments Evince, and perhaps amongst our old writings may be found authority for it, but the oldest monument with a date & supporters is of my Ancestor Richard Goodricke Esq, the date being 1575 which makes it probable we had this Honour from Queen Eliz. To the seats may be added Altofts in the West Riding of Yorkshire thou now in jointure to my mother.
"Your Leave in the preface must be my Excuse for the trouble from
"Sir You're humble servant
Hen. Goodricke."


From this letter it will be seen that Sir Henry was very anxious that errors should not be allowed to creep into the printed accounts of his family, and the neatly written pages in the Family Bible containing the entries made by him testify to the value he set upon such records; but unfortunately his entries cease in 1719, the marriage of his sister Elizabeth Goodricke being the last event he noted.
Sir Henry enters his own marriage in his Bible as follows:-

"April 26th 1707. I was married to Mrs Mary Jenkyns in York Minster."

Mrs. Mary Jenkyns was only daughter of Tobias Jenkyns, of Grimstone, co. York, Esquire, by his second wife, Lady Mary, 2nd daughter of Charles Paulet, first Duke of Bolton.

The Ribston Pippin Apple

Introduced to this country by Sir Henry Goodricke in the early seventeen hundreds the celebrated Ribston Pippin. Though well-known and greatly prized as one of the best flavoured dessert apples grown, it is not now so generally cultivated in the north, having long ago apparently found a more congenial home in the warmer apple-growing districts of middle and southern England. The original tree at Ribston, the parent of the numerous family of Pippins in this country, was however a truly magnificent and prolific specimen, and in 1787 produced six bushels of fruit. The tree was blown down during a great storm of wind in 1810, but fortunately the lower portion of it was left standing, and from what was left standing new shoots grew, and the tree continued to produce fruit until about 1835, when it began to show signs of decay. Every care was taken to preserve it, and for many years the main stem, which extended itself horizontally, was supported by props, and there is an old oil painting kept at Ribston, executed in 1834, which depicts the tree in this position. The present tree is an off-shoot from the original stem's, and though the tree produces a few apples annually they are of no particular quality.
The present owners of Ribston the Dent family still have a Ribston Pippin on the site of the original tree, and I am grateful to Mrs Georgina Dent for the following details of the origin of the Pippin, and of its introduction into England. She says that Miss Clough, who was a great grand-daughter of Sir Henry Goodricke, and who spent much of her youth at Ribston, wrote the following interesting account of the introduction of the Pippin at Ribston:

A friend about the year 1709 sent these Pippins to Sir Henry Goodricke from Normandy; only one of them succeeded, and from that tree all the Ribston pippins have descended.

The Ribston Pippin came from Normandy about the beginning of the last century, my great grand-father, Sir Henry Goodricke, had a friend abroad who sent him three pippins in a letter which being sown two came to nothing, the present old tree at Ribston is the produce of the third of these pippins, and have been transplanted into all parts.

Another account by Miss Clough says:

Sir Henry, father of John, being at Rouen in Normandy he preserved the pippins of some fine flavoured apples, and sent them to Ribston, they were sown and the produce in due time planted in the park (now George Garth). Out of the trees, which were planted five proved, decided...........All dead, the other two proved good apples, they are.........yet, and they were never grafted.......

The manuscript, which is on a small scrap of paper in Miss Clough's handwriting, is from here unreadable.

How ever the Ribston Pippin got to Yorkshire it is certain that Sir Henry Goodricke played a large part in its success the trees still survive I my self have five examples.

Sir Henry died 21st July 1738, and was buried at Ribston. His monument on the inner south wall of the chapel bears the following inscription

NEAR THIS PLACE
LIES SIR HENRY GOODRICKE
BARONET. OF GREAT RIBSTON
IN THE COUNTY OF YORK.
HE WAS BORN SEPT. 5TH 1677
AND SUCCEEDED HIS FATHER
SIR JOHN GOODRICKE
DEC. 10TH. 1705.

HE MARRIED APRIL 26TH, 1707
MARY THE DAUGHTER OF
TOBIAS JENKYNS, ESQ.
BY THE LADY MARY POWLET.
DAUGHTER TO THE 1st DUKE OF BOLTON.
AND HAD ISSUE BY HER, EIGHT CHILDREN,
TWO WHEREOF DIED YOUNG, VIZ.,
HENRY, AND MARY.
THE OTHER SIX SURVIVED HIM,
NAMELY, JOHN, THOMAS. AND HENRY,
ELIZABETH. SARAH, AND JANE.
OB.: JUL11 21ST. 1738 CETATIS 6j.


Sir Henry's will, dated 11th February, 1737-8 was proved at York 31St July 1738, by Rev. Jaques Sterne, DD, and Rev. Francis Wanley, two of the executors. He desires to be buried in the chapel yard at Ribston. His eldest son succeeded him-