Robert (1) Goldsmith

• Birth date            1769
• Christening         30 September 1770 at Redgrave Cum Botesdale, Suffolk
• Marriage              9 December 1788 to Esther Marsden at Collegiate Church (Cathedral), Manchester
• Death date          11 May 1854 at Stockport Workhouse
• Burial Date          13 May 1854 at St Mary, Stockport, Cheshire, England 

According to the entry for Henry Goldsmith in W T Pike, “Manchester and Salford at the close of the Nineteenth Century,”  his father, grand-father, and great-grandfather had all been architects.  In fact, the Goldsmith family practised as architects in Manchester over five generations beginning with Robert Goldsmith (I) 1769-1854, and ending with G H Goldsmith (II) 1886-1967.

PROVISIONAL – Robert Goldsmith was born in 1769 the son of Robert and Mary Goldsmith and christened at Redgrave cum Botesdale, Suffolk. The date of his removal to Manchester is unclear but he married Esther Marsden in 1788 at the Collegiate Church (Cathedral), Manchester at which time his occupation was given as a joiner. Children include Robert (II) 1793-1866 (qv), Margaret christened 8 August 1804 at St Mary’s Church, Stockport (she died 24 June 1810), Samuel and John, christened 26 September 1806 at St Chad’s church Romiley. His known architectural works, all churches, date from 1808 to 1813, but it would appear that he then returned to Suffolk. In 1814 Robert Goldsmith, architect, proposed to divide his time between offices in Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds as classified adverts in Bury and Norwich Post on 13 April and 5 October 1814. That this is the same architect as practised in Manchester is confirmed by the letter from Robert Goldsmith, Ipswich, in the archives of Manchester Cathedral.

Esther Goldsmith died 2 April 1832 and was buried in the family grave of Robert Goldsmith (II) at All Saints Church, Chorlton-on-Medlock, suggesting that Robert Goldsmith (I) had perhaps returned to the Manchester area by this date. However, he has not been found in the census records for 1841 and 1851.

Robert Goldsmith died in May 1854 at Stockport Workhouse and was buried at St Mary’s Church, Stockport.

Reference        W T Pike. Manchester and Salford at the close of the Nineteenth Century. 1899
Reference        Bury and Norwich Post 13 April 1814 – classified advertisements
Reference        Bury and Norwich Post 5 October 1814 – classified advertisements

Address
1770        Redgrave Cum Botesdale, Suffolk
1793        Manchester (marriage)
1804        Stockport (christening of Margaret)
1807        Stockport (letter to Samuel Oldknow dated 19 February 1807)
1814        Ipswich/ Bury St Edmunds
1854        Stockport