| William Gooch |
Article Index for William |
Website Links For William |
Information AboutWilliam Gooch |
|
Gooch’s military policy focused on protecting the western territory from Native Americans and French encroachment. He promoted the settlement of the Shenandoah Valley in order to buffer the rest of the colony from Indian attacks, and to prevent the French from settling the land. He had many military credentials including fighting under John Churchill, 1st Duke Of Marlborough in his campaigns in the Low Countries and with Admiral Edward Vernon in his expedition against Cartagena, New Grenada (now in Colombia ) as part of the War Of Jenkins’ Ear . During King George's War , Gooch received an appointment as brigadier-general in charge of the army raised to invade Canada , but declined. He was made a Baronet in 1746 and a major general in 1747 . Also in 1747, he made a speech condemning all religious groups aside from the established Church. However, in 1738 , Gooch had given a group of Presbyterians the right to settle new territory under the conditions of the English Act Of Toleration . In 1749 , he left Virginia and returned to England. Gooch married Rebecca Staunton (for whom Staunton, Virginia is named), the daughter of a squire in Middlesex, England . The two had a son named William who grew up in Williamsburg . William became a naval officer, but died of the “bloody flux” at the age of 26, shortly before his parents returned to England. Gooch honored himself with the naming of Goochland County, Virginia in 1727. |
|
|