Sir George Goodman (17 November 179113 October 1859) was an English

wool-stapler A wool-stapler is a dealer in wool. The wool-stapler buys wool from the producer, sorts and grades it, and sells it on to manufacturers. Some wool-staplers acquired significant wealth, such as Richard Chandler of Gloucester (England) who built W ...

, a magistrate for the borough and county of

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, as well as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politician. On 1 January 1836, he was elected the first

Mayor of Leeds The Lord Mayor of Leeds (until 1897 known as the Mayor of Leeds) is a ceremonial post held by a member of Leeds City Council, elected annually by the council. By charter from King Charles I in 1626, the leader of the governing body of the bo ...

after the

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 ( 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The le ...

, and he served as a member of parliament (MP) for

from 1852 to 1857.

Early years

Goodman was born in

, the son of Benjamin Goodman (b. 1763 - d.10 June 1848), a wool merchant, and his wife, Ann Radford. He was baptised at Leeds South Parade Baptist Church and remained a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

. He had at least one sibling, a sister Eleanor (1791–1877).

Career

Goodman started his career learning his father's business and becoming a partner in his father's firm of B. Goodman & Sons at 21 Hunslet Lane, Leeds. He prospered as a wool-stapler in Leeds and Bradford, and was a Director of the

Leeds and Bradford Railway The Leeds and Bradford Railway Company (L&BR)The abbreviation L&BR is more commonly seen referring to the London and Birmingham Railway. opened a railway line between the townsLeeds obtained city status in 1893; Bradford became a city in 1897. on ...

. His firm acquired other local firms including, in 1846, Thomas Pearson and Sons, manufacturers of

worsted Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead (from Old English ''Wurðestede'', "enclosure place"), a village in the English county of Norfolk. T ...

. He was elected Mayor of Leeds on 1 January 1836, the first Mayor of the City of Leeds after the Municipal Corporations Act. In April, he was presented a gold chain with an inscribed pendant to honour his mayoral election. Following the resignation of C. G. Maclea, Goodman was again elected mayor on 1 January 1847 and left office on 9 November 1847. He was re-elected for a third term on 9 November 1850, and a fourth term on 9 November 1851. He resigned from his position as mayor in March 1852 in order to be eligible to run for Parliament. A Whig, Goodman was elected to Parliament with

Matthew Talbot Baines Matthew Talbot Baines (17 February 1799 – 22 January 1860) was a British lawyer and Liberal politician. He most notably served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in Lord Palmerston's 1855 to 1858 administration. Background and educ ...

in 1852. He was a magistrate of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, and appointed a deputy lieutenant on 27 January 1853. In 1851, Goodman served as Leeds' civic representative at

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

, after which, on 26 February 1852, he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

, shortly before his resignation as mayor. Goodman sat for the Borough of Leeds in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

for five years, beginning at the 1852 general election, before retiring upon the 1857 dissolution of Parliament because of poor health brought about by a stroke of paralysis and neuralgia.

Personal life

Goodman was a member of the

Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society is a learned society in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1819, and its museum collection forms the basis of Leeds City Museum, which reopened in September 2008. The printed works and p ...

. He once made a donation to the society of fourteen birds from Australia. Although Goodman was recorded as living at Newton Hall estate in

Potternewton Potternewton also Potter Newton is a suburb and parish between Chapeltown and Chapel Allerton in north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is in the Chapel Allerton ward of Leeds City Council. Potternewton is bounded by Scott Hall Road ...

, near Leeds in 1846, he had sold the estate to Arthur Lupton by 1845. Goodman never married. ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...

'' reported that he died on 13 October 1859 at his

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

, Roundhay, near Leeds aged 67. In compliance with Goodman's request, an autopsy was conducted, revealing softened spinal marrow. Goodman, a

, was interred at

Whitkirk Whitkirk is a suburb of east Leeds, England. It is situated between Cross Gates to the north, Austhorpe to the east, Killingbeck to the west, Colton to the south-east and Halton to the south-west. The Temple Newsam estate lies directly sou ...

Church. He inherited his father's Roundhay estate, Goodman House, which was renamed Beechwood by Arthur Lupton's brother, Francis Lupton, who had purchased the estate by 1860, following George's death. In 1816, a portrait of George's father, Benjamin Goodman, was painted by

Charles Henry Schwanfelder Charles Henry Schwanfelder (1774–1837) was an English animal, landscape and portrait painter. Schwanfelder was born and died in Leeds. He was the son of a German decorative painter and started out helping his father to paint clock faces ...

, also from Leeds and "Animal Painter" to King George III and King George IV.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, George Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Politicians from Leeds English Baptists UK MPs 1852–1857 Mayors of Leeds Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deputy lieutenants of the West Riding of Yorkshire Knights Bachelor 1791 births 1859 deaths 19th-century English businesspeople