Thursday 12 July 2012

12th July 1812: Arms raid at Newton, near Hyde, leaves a Mr. Goodier gravely ill

Between 11.00 p.m. and 12.00 a.m. in the evening of Sunday 12th July 1812, 4 men appeared at the door of a house belonging to the well-to-do Mr. Goodier of Newton, near Hyde in Cheshire.

The men demanded entry, saying they wanted Goodier's guns. Goodier responded by telling the men that the guns had already been taken, but they weren't satisfied: they continued to demand entry, and then threw stones through one of the windows. Two of the men eventually managed to get in and set about assaulting Goodier - it was a one sided-contest, with Goodier being over 80 year of age, he was delivered a savage beating, leaving him with a dislocated and broken left thigh and two broken ribs on his left side.

Goodier's housekeeper tried to help, but was also hit about the head but eventually managed to escape, albeit pursued by one of the raiders. When she returned after raising the alarm, Goodier was found lying in agony and the raiders escaped having taken nothing.

This is from a letter from the Reverend William Hay to the Home Office dated 20th July 1812, which contains a deposition from Goodier's nephew, John Andrew. A Thomas Goodier had been raided for arms on 11th June 1812, and if one searches the internet, one can find a Thomas Goodier of Newton, born 1730 who, despite William Hay predicting he would die from his injuries, managed to live until 1817.

No comments:

Post a Comment