John Goad (1616-1689) was head-master of
Merchant Taylors' School Merchant Taylors' School may refer to:
*Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood (founded 1561), is a British independent school originally located in the City of London and now located in Northwood in Middlesex .
* Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosb ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
Life
Goad was the son of John Goad of
Bishopsgate Street, London, and was born in St. Helen's parish there on 15 February 1616. After a preliminary training in Merchant Taylors' School he was admitted to
St John's College, Oxford
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pr ...
, in 1632, where he became a Fellow (B.A. 1636, M.A. 1640, B.D. 1647). In 1643 he was presented by his college to the vicarage of
St Giles' Church, Oxford, and during the
siege of Oxford
The siege of Oxford comprised the English Civil War military campaigns waged to besiege the Royalist controlled city of Oxford, involving three short engagements over twenty-five months, which ended with a Parliamentarian victory in Ju ...
performed divine service under fire of the parliamentary cannon. On 23 June 1646 he was presented by the university to the vicarage of
Yarnton
Yarnton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about southwest of Kidlington and northwest of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,545.
Archaeology
Early Bronze Age decorated beakers have been found in the p ...
,
Oxfordshire, which he held, with some trouble, until the
Restoration of 1660.
Anthony Wood Anthony Wood may refer to:
* Anthony Wood (antiquary) (1632–1695), English antiquary
* Anthony Wood (businessman) (born 1965), British-born American billionaire businessman
* Anthony Wood (historian) (1923–1987), British school teacher and his ...
's brother Christopher went daily to school with Goad in 1649, and Wood himself received instruction from him.
In 1660 he accepted the head-mastership of
Tonbridge School
(God Giveth the Increase)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding
, religion =
, president =
, head_label ...
in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, but was appointed head-master of Merchant Taylors' School on 12 July 1661. He was very successful in this position until the agitation at the time of the alleged
popish plot
The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the Kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate ...
. He was charged in March 1681 with certain passages that 'savoured strongly of
popery
The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...
' in a 'Comment on the Church of England Catechism,' written for the use of his scholars. The grand jury of London presented a complaint to the Merchant Taylors' Company respecting the religious doctrines taught in their school. His principal opponent was
John Owen John Owen may refer to:
Sports
*John Owen (footballer) (1849–1921), English footballer and educator
* John Owen (athlete) (1861–1924), American sprinter
*Johnny Owen (1956–1980), Welsh boxer
*John Owen (cricketer) (born 1971), English cricke ...
, who succeeded in obtaining Goad's place for his nephew,
John Hartcliffe
John Hartcliffe (1651 – 16 August 1712) was a Canon of Windsor from 1691 to 1712''Fasti Wyndesorienses'', May 1950. S. L. Ollard. Published by the Dean and Canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle and Headmaster of Merchant Taylors' School, N ...
. After hearing Goad's defence the company decided on 13 April 1681 that he was 'popishly and erroneously affected.' He was dismissed, but in recognition of his past services they voted him a gratuity. Goad's friends protested against his dismissal as the work of a factious party.
[Details are given in the postscript to 'Contrivances of the Fanatical Conspirators in carrying on the Treasons under Umbrage of the Popish Plot laid open, with Depositions,' London, 1683, written by William Smith, a schoolmaster of Islington, who describes Goad as a person of unequalled qualifications for the post.]
He now took a house in
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Cou ...
, and opened a private school with many of his previous pupils. This school he continued until shortly before his death. In the beginning of 1686 he openly declared himself a Roman Catholic; Wood stated that he had been reconciled to the Roman communion in December 1660 in
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ( ...
by a priest in the household of
Queen Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She was ...
.
Joseph Gillow
Joseph Gillow (5 October 1850, Preston, Lancashire – 17 March 1921, Westholme, Hale, Cheshire) was an English Roman Catholic antiquary, historian and bio-bibliographer, "the Plutarch of the English Catholics".
Biography
Born in Frenchwood H ...
argued that the sermons which he published after this date are inconsistent with this story (''Dictionary of English Catholics'', ii. 501).
Goad died on 28 October 1689, and was buried near the graves of his relations in the church of
Great St. Helen's, Bishopsgate Street
St Helen's Bishopsgate is an Anglican church in London. It is located in Great St Helen's, off Bishopsgate.
It is the largest surviving parish church in the City of London. Several notable figures are buried there, and it contains more monumen ...
.
Works

His works are:
* Printed sermons, some of which were preached at St. Paul's.
* 'A Treatise concerning Plagues, their Natures, Numbers, Kinds, &c.,' which was destroyed in the press during the
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past th ...
in 1666.
* 'Genealogicon Latinum. A previous Method of Dictionary of all Latin Words … &c., for the use of the Neophyte in Merchant Taylors' School,' 2nd edition, London, 1676.
* 'Comment on the Church of England Catechism.'
* 'Declamation, whether Monarchy be the best form of Government.' Printed at the end of 'The English Orator or Rhetorical Descants by way of Declamation,' by
William Richards William, Bill, or Billy Richards may refer to:
Sportspeople
* Dicky Richards (William Henry Matthews Richards, 1862–1903), South African cricketer
* Billy Richards (footballer, born 1874) (1874–1926), West Bromwich Albion football player
* B ...
of
Trinity College, Oxford
(That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody)
, named_for = The Holy Trinity
, established =
, sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge
, president = Dame Hilary Boulding
, location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH
, coordinates ...
; London, 1680.
* 'Astro-Meteorologia: or Aphorisms and Discourses of the Bodies Cœlestial, their Natures and Influences, Discovered from the Variety of the Alterations of the Air, temperate or intemperate, as to Heat or Cold, Frost, Snow, Hail, Fog, Rain, Wind, Storm, Lightnings, Thunder, Blasting, Hurricane, &c. Collected from the Observation … of thirty years,' London, 1686. This work gained him great reputation. The subject of it is a kind of astrology, founded for the most part on sacred authority, reason, and experiment.
* 'Diary of the Weather at London from July 1, 1677, to the last of October 1679,' Bodl. Libr. Ashmol. MS. 367.
* 'Astro-Meteorologia sana; sive Principia Physico-Mathematica, quibus Mutationum Aeris, Morborum Epidemicorum, Cometarum, Terræ Motuum, aliorumque insigniorum Naturæ Effectuum Ratio reddi possit. Opus multorum annorum experientia comprobatum,' London, 1690. Anonymously edited after Goad's death by
Edward Waple
Edward Waple (13 October 1647 – 8 June 1712) was an English Anglican priest.
Waple was born in the parish of Holy Trinity the Less in the City of London. He was educated at Merchant Taylor's and St John's College, Oxford. He was appointed Arch ...
, archdeacon of Taunton and vicar of St. Sepulchre's, London; with portrait of the author, engraved by
R. White
R. or r. may refer to:
* ''Reign'', the period of time during which an Emperor, king, queen, etc., is ruler.
* '' Rex'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning King
* ''Regina'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning Queen
* or , abbreviat ...
, prefixed.
* 'Autodidactica: or a Practical Vocabulary, being the best and easiest Method yet extant for young Beginners to attain to the Knowledge of the Latin Tongue,' London, 1690.
See also
*
Heliocentric astrology
References
*
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goad, John
1616 births
1689 deaths
Headmasters of Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
People associated with the Popish Plot
English Roman Catholics