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vital records sources
go to Thomas Gooch's page


Not much is known of the life of Ann. She grew up in Uggeshall, England, probably in a comfortable gentleman's type farmhouse.



Based on good evidence, the house above was likely where Ann grew up. When her widowed father died, the household was broken up and sold at auction. The items listed show they lived comparable to today's upper middle income bracket. The house, on Halesworth Street, dates from several time periods, but looked essentially like this when she lived there.



Ann married Thomas Gooch at her local church. They grew up only about a half mile apart, even though Thomas lived over the townland border in Stoven. Thomas must have moved to London during his apprenticeship, starting when he was thirteen and ending when he was about twenty. Ann was eleven when he left. He may have moved back to Stoven for a time, maybe to accumulate captial for opening his own shop, and developed his romantic relationship with Ann at that time. They moved to the Clerkenwell neighborhood of London by the time their first child, Albert, was baptized.





St. Mary's Church, Uggeshall, with with different designs in its thatched roof over the years.
(couldn't find copyright info for these, found on the internet)


Ann and Thomas raised their family at 32 Coppice Row, and late in life moved to a house in Turnham Green, Chiswick, on the outskirts of London, which would have been, for them, a move to the country. Ann may have known her husband fathered a child out of wedlock. The mother lived in the local workhouse, and it's likely she worked for the Gooch's, maybe as a maid. Thomas died soon after she was born and Ann moved to Ramsgate, Kent, to live with her daughter Juliana. She died five months after Thomas and was buried in the cemetery of Ramsgate's Ebenezer Chapel (where her son-in-law was rector). Given Thomas'"indiscretion," it isn't surprising that she wasn't taken back to Chiswick to lie with him. Ebenezer cemetery was later cleared for development, and the remains were taken to Ramsgate Cemetery. From The London Times:

On the 19th inst., at Ramsgate, Ann, widow of the late Thomas Gooch, Esq., of Turnham-green, in the 66th year of her age.


children of Ann Woodroffe and Thomas Gooch:

i. Albert Woodroffe b. 10 January 1790, bap. 30 March 1790, St. James
ii. Juliana b. 13 Oct 1790, bap. 17 April 1792, St. James
iii. Horace Gooch b. 14 February 1792, bap. 28 June 1793, St. James
iv. Louisa Ann b. 25 May 1793, bap. 1 July 1798, Spa Fields
v. Caroline b. 12 February 1795, bap. 1 July 1798, Spa Fields
vi. Charles Henry b. 14 December 1798, bap. 5 January 1799, Spa Fields
vii. Emily b. 16 January 1800, bap. 7 April 1802, Spa Fields
viii. Thomas b. 25 February 1801, bap. 7 April 1802, Spa Fields
ix. Maria b. 16 March 1802, bap. 7 April 1802, Spa Fields
x. Henry b. 19 July 1804, bap. 17 February 1809, St. James
xi. Eliza Ann b. 15 August 1807, bap. 11 April 1809, St. James
xii. Ann, b. 12 December 1808, bap. 11 April 1809, St. James
xiii. Edward Frederick b. 6 January 1812, bap. 4 April 1817, St. James





vital records sources:

1.

all text and photographs © 1998-2020 by Doug Sinclair unless where otherwise noted