The Goodliffe Family of Nottingham

The Froggatt - Goodliffe Connection

Arnold Goodliffe's youngest daughter, Sarah, married William Froggatt in 1867 in Nottingham. William and Sarah had 6 children, the two oldest (William and James) emigrated to Australia then on to New Zealand. Only William had a family  to continue the family line. This story is told elsewhere on this website.

Here I record some information about Arnold, and his family, including his brothers and sisters. If you have more information to add, please contact me. I have also been able to make the Memoirs of Arnold Goodliffe available on this website. The memoir was written by Arnold in 1887 just before he died in 1888, and contains a wealth of memories about his family and his life.
You can access Arnold's memoirs from Arnold's page, or go directly to it from here.

Thomas Goodliffe (28 Dec 1722 - 28 Jul 1810) married Ann CURTIS on 25 Feb 1754 at Wardly, Rutland. They had five children: Thomas, William, Elizabeth, Ann and Sarah. A transcript (in PDF format) of Thomas' Will, dated 15 Sept 1800 can be viewed here.

Arnold recalls in his memoirs that his family had lived at Lambley Lodge for about 200 years. His Grandfather, Thomas Goodliffe, was a noted Yeoman, a tall, strong man.

(There is more information about Lambley Lodge here)

(And there is information and photographs about St Peters Church, Belton, where many of the Goodliffe family are buried.)

Thomas' son Thomas (13 Nov 1756 - 17 Dec 1829) married Mary ARNOLD on 20 Nov 1791 at Barrowden and they  resided at Lambley Lodge.

Copy of the painting of Mary Goodliffe (nee Arnold) painted by Mr James of Nottingham in 1848, when Mary was in her 78th year.

Arnold's Siblings - the children of Thomas and Mary Goodliffe of Lambley Lodge

The family bible (at one time in the possession of Mr Stokes Goodliffe of Old Lambley Lodge - although I do not know where it is today) records the family of Thomas and Mary:

• Thomas Goodliff and Mary Arnold was married Nov 20th 1791

• Their daughter Elizabeth was born August the 28th 1792

• A second daughter was born Oct 11th 1793, died the same day

• Thomas was born Oct the 8th 1794

• Anna was born Aug the 31st 1796

• John Goodliff was born Feb the 23rd 1798

• William Goodliff was born April the 11th 1799 and died April 18th

• James Goodliff was born June the 14th 1800

• William Goodliff was born June the 20th 1801

• Mary Goodliff was born June the 4th 1803

• Daniel Goodliff was born July the 5th 1805

• Arnold Goodliff was born May the 23rd 1807

• Sarah Goodliff was born Nov 7th 1809

• Thomas Goodliff Jnr died April 18th 1816 aged 21 years

• Mary Goodliff died June 29th 1825 aged 22 years

You may click on the highlighted names in the above list to link to information about each family.
Or you can view the family tree that has links to each family group in the family.

A dynamic family tree is also available here that you can browse through.

Lambley Lodge, Belton-in-Rutland

Memorial plaque for Thomas and Mary Goodliffe in the Baptist Church, Barrowden, Rutland. Arnold (their son) reports in his memoirs that he arranged for this plaque to be built and installed after Mary's death. (Photo by Keith Rippin)

Headstone of Thomas and Anna. Inscription on left reads: "In Memory of Thos Goodliffe of Lamley Lodge who departed this life July 28 1816 aged 88" Inscription on right reads "In Memory of ANNA, wife of Thos Goodliffe of Lamley Lodge who departed this life March 27 1792 aged 72" (Photo by Michael Thomas)

Some Notes on Lambley Lodge

The Name: In early documents and headstones, the Lodge is referred to as "Lamley", but in later documents a "b" had appeared - Lambley.

Apparently the area of Leithfield Forest was, and still is, well known for "The Hunt" and for rambling over the farms. In the early-1800s the number of visitors to the Lodge increased and some mistakenly pronounced the name as "Lame-ley" , ie "lame" as in disabled. Mary (Arnold) is reported to have taken exception to this, and insisted that the "b" be added to the spelling so that the visitors would pronounce it correctly - "lamb-ley" as in "lamb".

The Lodge and farm passed from Thomas and Mary to their eldest son, John (1798-1864), who in turn passed it on to his son Simpson Stokes Goodliffe (1842-1922).  Simpson and his wife Sarah had four daughters and a son, but none of these took up the farm so it was sold following Simpson's death.

Simpson Stokes Goodliffe

The farm was leased out for many years and the buildings fell into disrepair, until again being sold in the mid-1970s. The new owners demolished most of the buildings but restored one, so the buildings seen today are mostly post-Goodliffe era. The current owners are also not interested in the Goodliffe heritage of the farm and apparently are not welcoming of visitors.
 

The old road sign in the village of Belton in Rutland	Lambley Lodge on the crest of the hill, as viewed from Belton	The road up to Lambley Lodge
The Lodge from the driveway	Lambley Lodge in 2006	Sign for walkers at the end of the road to Lambley Lodge

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Last updated: 29/12/2008