William Goffe

William Goffe
Judges' Cave, where Goffe and Edward Whalley reputedly hid during the early part of their exile in New England
Member of Parliament for Hampshire
In office September 1656 – February 1658
Rule of the Major-Generals, responsible for Berkshire, Sussex and Hampshire
In office November 1655 – January 1657
Member of Parliament for Yarmouth
In office September 1654 – January 1655
Personal details
Born	c. 1613 to 1618 Uncertain, probably Sussex
Died	c. 1679 New England
Resting place	Thought to be Hadley, Massachusetts
Nationality	English
Spouse	Frances Whalley (c. 1650)
Children	Anne; Elizabeth; Frances
Military service
Rank	Major General
Battles/wars	Wars of the Three Kingdoms Relief of Gloucester First Newbury Lostwithiel Second Newbury Battle of Naseby Langport Bridgwater Siege of Bristol (1645) Siege of Berkeley Castle Torrington Siege of Oxford Siege of Pembroke Preston Dunbar Worcester Penruddock uprising

Major-General William Goffe, probably born between 1613 and 1618, died c. 1679/1680, was an English Parliamentarian soldier who served with the New Model Army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A religious radical nicknamed “Praying William” by contemporaries,^[1] he approved the Execution of Charles I in January 1649, and later escaped prosecution as a regicide by fleeing to New England.

Goffe held several senior military and political positions under the Commonwealth, including administrator of Berkshire, Sussex and Hampshire during the Rule of the Major-Generals from 1655 to 1657. A close associate of Oliver Cromwell, to whom he was distantly related by marriage, he lost most of his political influence after Richard Cromwell resigned as Lord Protector in April 1659.

Shortly before the Stuart Restoration in May 1660, Goffe sailed for Boston with his father-in-law and fellow regicide General Edward Whalley. Sheltered by Puritan sympathisers in New England, little is known for certain of his life there. It was once suggested he was the Angel of Hadley, a figure who in 1675 allegedly helped repulse an attack by Native Americans, but this is disputed on various grounds. He died sometime after April 1679, the date of his last known letter to his wife, and is thought to have been buried in Hadley, Massachusetts.