Author: Goodchild, Lawrence
Biography:
GOODCHILD, Lawrence (1813-81: Monthly Chronicle)
Born at Pallion, Sunderland, to John Goodchild (1767-1822), a banker, and his wife, Elisabeth Nesham, he was baptised at Bishopwearmouth on 13 Dec. 1813. He became blind in early adulthood. His father was financially ruined when Goodchild was a boy and the family was forced to sell the Pallion estate; they moved to Perthshire but returned to Sunderland after the death of John Goodchild. He was taught at Dr Wood’s school at Monkwearmouth and became a classical scholar. Despite his blindness, he worked for many years as a classics teacher at a Newcastle school where he was known both for his excellent memory and his feats of long-distance walking. He is said to have travelled on foot across the north of England selling his book, Hoel; A Cambrian Tale, written during the early years of his teaching career. He died at Newcastle on 21 Mar. 1881 after a brief illness. (Monthly Chronicle of North-Country Lore and Legend [1889]; Leeds Mercury 9 Apr. 1881; ancestry.co.uk 14 Jan. 2025) SR