Mary Godkin

The Godkin’s were a wealthy farming family from the Melbourne area. Philip Godkin married Margaret Clifford in 1768. They had a daughter Mary, the subject of this memorial, who was born in 1773 but sadly died in 1786, aged just 13.

Margaret Clifford was an illegitimate daughter of Laurence Shirley, the 4^th Earl Ferrers. Her mother was also called Margaret Clifford, daughter of Richard Clifford, Earl Ferrers agent.

Margaret the elder had 4 children with Laurence Shirley, Margaret II being the eldest. All four were unable to inherit the title or estate as they were illegitimate in the eyes of the law. They were however, bequeathed £500 each (a huge sum at the time) by the Earl before he was hanged for murdering his chief Steward, John Johnson*. He also bequeathed money to the four children of John Johnson, the man he shot and killed.

*Earl Ferrers, born in 1720, came from an ancient family of nobles; his ancestral home was Staunton Harold, in Leicestershire, 4 miles south of Melbourne.

As he grew older he became increasingly violent towards his servants and his wife, who eventually obtained a rare separation order for cruelty. He then became convinced that his steward, John Johnson was plotting against him and shot him in cold blood at Staunton Harold, Johnson dying a few hours later.

Earl Ferrers was tried by his peers in the House of Lords, found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang. He drove from the Tower of London to the gallows at Tyburn in his own coach, drawn by six horses with huge crowds lining the streets. He wore his light coloured wedding suit, embroidered with silver and it is believed that, as a concession to his rank, he was hanged with a silk rope. He had the distinction of being the last nobleman to be hanged in Britain.