Family and Education

5th s. of Sir William Goring, 1st Bt.^† (d.1658), of Burton, Suss. by Bridget, da. and h. of Sir Edward Francis of Petworth, Suss. m. (1) Aug. 1656, Lady Mary Tufton (d.1663), da. of Nicholas Tufton^†, 1st Earl of Thanet, wid. of Sir Edward Bishopp, 2nd Bt.^†, of Parham, s.p.; (2) lic. 23 Apr. 1667, Elizabeth, da. of George Hall of Maidstone, wid. of Sir Thomas Taylor, 1st Bt., of Shadoxhurst, Kent, s.p.1

Offices Held

Capt. of militia horse, Suss. c. Apr. 1660-?d., j.p. Suss. July 1660-d., Kent 1682-9; commr. for assessment, Suss. 1661-80, Kent 1673-80, loyal and indigent officers, Suss. 1662, recusants 1675.2

Biography

Goring’s family achieved county status in the late 15th century, and first represented Sussex in 1547. His father remained aloof during the Civil War, though he was appointed to two local commissions by Parliament in 1643-4; but his brother Henry was in arms for the King and was fined £250. Goring’s first marriage connected him with the leading royalist families of Kent and Sussex, and in April 1658 he was accused of possessing a seditious pamphlet.3

Goring was recommended as a militia officer at the Restoration, and stood for Bramber at the general election of 1661. His maternal grandfather had been the seneschal of Petworth manor under the 4th Earl of Northumberland, and he owed his christian name and probably this election to the Percy family, though his wife’s interest must have been helpful. He was involved in a double return with a local lawyer, and seated on the merits of the return. An inactive Member of the Cavalier Parliament, he was appointed to the committee of elections and privileges in six sessions and to only 14 others, most of which were for private bills. Lord Aungier (Francis Aungier) included him among Ormonde’s friends in the House in 1668. His name appeared on neither list of the court party in 1669-71, but he was on the Paston list and Secretary Coventry sent him the government whip in September 1675. On 4 Nov. he took part in the debate on providing and equipping ships for the navy. Impatient of the quibbling of some of his fellow-Members, he declared that he ‘would have no tricks put upon ourselves nor cheats upon the nation’, and gave offence by remarking that ‘building of ships and not making them useful is like those who declared for the King and kingdom in the late times of rebellion’. He was on the working lists as one to be spoken to by the King, in December Sir Richard Wiseman reported that he had ‘given hopes’ to ‘Mr Goring’, and at the end of the month he was granted a pension of £200 p.a. Wiseman regarded him as more dependable that his kinsman Henry Goring I, and he was marked ‘thrice vile’ on Shaftesbury’s list. On 28 Jan. 1678 Goring was the first speaker in the new session, when he moved for ‘a short day’ for considering the King’s speech. He was on both the court and opposition lists in 1678.4

Goring’s nephew, the 3rd baronet, became a Roman Catholic, and in October 1678 was accused of treason and imprisoned in the Tower. This may, perhaps, explain why Goring made way at the general election for his cousin Henry Goring II. Although blacklisted in the ‘unanimous club’, he stood again for Bramber in the autumn of 1679, but ‘consented to desist’ in favour of Henry Sidney, ‘if he might have his charge reimbursed’, which he reckoned to be £80. Sidney’s agent reported that he had passed away his interest for ever, but he regained the seat in 1681, though he left no trace on the records of the Oxford Parliament.5

Goring sold some of his Sussex property later in the year, and in March 1683 he applied for appointment as cursitor baron of the Exchequer, but the post was given to (Sir) Richard May. In February 1686 he petitioned for the grant of a fine of 1,000 marks which had been imposed on Sir Richard Newdigate, ‘his condition at present needing some post’. There is no evidence that he ever received it, but he was granted £424 8s. 10d. from secret service funds later in the year. Goring was a supporter of James II’s religious policy, agreeing in 1688 to all three questions concerning the repeal of the Penal Laws and Test Act, and was recommended for continuance on the commission of the peace in Kent and Sussex. As further evidence of his straitened financial condition he petitioned after the Revolution for the post of muster-master in the Sussex militia, but it is not known whether he was ever appointed.6

Goring was buried on 17 Feb. 1697 in the chancel of Burton church.7

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: B. M. Crook / Basil Duke Henning

Notes

• 1. Vis. Suss. (Harl. Soc. liii), 45-46; Suss. N. and Q. ix. 154-5.
• 2. SP29/42, f. 131.
• 3. Bodl. Rawl. A58, f. 401.
• 4. H. A. Wyndham, Petworth Manor, 6; J. W. Fitzwilliam, Parham, 62; Grey, iii. 402; v. 14; Cal. Treas. Bks. v. 415.
• 5. CSP Dom. 1678, p. 496; Sidney Diary, i. 115-16.
• 6. Fines of Manors (Suss. Rec. Soc. xix), 107; CSP Dom. Jan.-July 1683, p. 113; Cal. Treas. Bks. viii. 548; Secret Service Moneys (Cam. Soc. lii), 135; Kent AO, U269.
• 7. Add. 43446, f. 26.