Harry Goffey and Elinor Semple were my paternal grandparents and this website is a narrative history of the Goffey family of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, written originally for my grandchildren, but they they grew up faster than I could unearth the necessary data. Some of the following pages still show signs of having been written for small children.
For a quick overview open the page(s) entitled “Appendix A (surname)” for the name(s) you are interested in. In the two Appendices concerning Harry Goffey’s ancestors, 2.10a shows the male line, simply following the names shown in bold should be straightforward. One branch of a female line (the Graham family) is shown in 2.23a, showing the connection to the Goffey family at the foot of the “tree”.
All the Appendices (3.09a, 3.10a, 3.12a and 3.13a) concerning the ancestors of Elinor Semple are branches of the female line and inevitably more difficult to follow. However, either the name Goffey appears as a spouse at the foot of the “tree”, or there is an indication of the subsequent family name of the last female in the line.
In principle all the subject matter in these pages stops at my grandparents’ generation. The only exception concerns their eldest son John in chapter 2.30; I have entitled this chapter “Uncle Jock” and included it on the basis that he had strong links to Berkhamsted and pre-deceased both his parents. None of the chapters in the Semples section have any connection with Berkhamsted, but share a lot of the Goffeys’ connections with Liverpool in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The chapter 3.20, which I have entitled “Dutch Uncles”, recounts the exploits of a Dutch grandfather, cousin and uncle who appear to be the only ancestors who have made any impact on history. Unless you are interested in Anglo-Dutch history, chapter 3.20 is only marginally relevant to the rest of this website.
J. Goffey Berkhamsted, 23rd December 2018