John Goodrich

John Goodrich (1722–1785) was a Virginia-born British planter, merchant shipper, and privateer. Uncommitted at the beginning of the American Revolution, he was recruited by Lord Dunmore to become a Loyalist privateer. By his own estimation, he destroyed five hundred vessels in the service of the British Crown.

Family Goodrich was born in Virginia in 1722, one of several children of John Goodrich (d. 1746). Unlike many Loyalists, Goodrich had deep roots in colonial America; his immigrant ancestor, "John Guttreidge", had patented land in Virginia in 1654. In 1747 he married the descendant of another prominent local family, Margaret Bridger, a descendant of the 17th-century Virginia political figure General Joseph Bridger. They raised a large family, including a number of sons that would follow their father into mercantile pursuits and, later, privateering. One of his daughters, Agatha, married Robert Shedden, who would also become a prominent Loyalist as well as Goodrich's business partner. Some of his close relatives ended up on the opposite side of the conflict, including two nephews who served as officers on the Patriot side.

Early Revolutionary War activities The Revolutionary War posed a serious threat to merchants like Goodrich, with blockades cutting off imports and exports, and privateers from both sides attacking merchant vessels. Goodrich himself does not seem to have been particularly ideological; both sides of the conflict apparently understood he was more motivated by profit than politics. Regardless, the Patriot side decided to enlist the aid of the Goodrich family. Using one of Goodrich's sons, William, as a go-between, they provided £5,000 for the purchase of powder in the West Indies, with the understanding that John Goodrich, the father, would assist him in successfully bringing the cargo back without attracting notice. The family elected to also purchase other cargo on the trip, risking the wrath of both the British and Patriot sides. Goodrich and two of his sons were almost immediately charged again, this time with violating the Articles of Association. On 9 March 1776, the Virginia Committee of Safety sequestered the lands and property of the Goodrich family, and when one of the Goodrich sons was caught attempting to transport slaves and stock from the sequestered property, the committee had the property confiscated and put up for auction. This marked a decisive break with the Patriot side; General Charles Lee ordered Goodrich's house, as well as two of his ships, burned, justifying it on the grounds that Goodrich was one "of the most notorious Traitors", and that it would be a warning to others not to work with Dunmore.

After the war After the war, Goodrich and several of his family members left the United States and settled in England. He died in November 1785, aged 63 years, and was interred at Topsham Church in Devon. His Shedden descendants prospered as well; they lived for several generations at their estate at Spring Hill, East Cowes.