When Rebecca Banner left her husband Francis Goodall and fled to London in March 1745 she must have known trouble was brewing. A month later her lover John Turner, who was also a friend of her husband, joined her and they began living together as man and wife.
Rebecca Banner
Rebecca Banner was baptised at St Philip’s, Birmingham on 2 March 1721, the daughter of Richard Banner and his wife Elizabeth. She came from a very well to do family. Her father was a cutler, a maker of knives and metal instruments, and when he died in 1743 his detailed will listed extensive large bequests to his wife Elizabeth, daughter Rebecca and to his extended family members.1
On 18 July 1741 Rebecca married Francis Goodall at St Mary’s Handsworth, Staffordshire. In the space of three years Rebecca and Francis had three children – Rebecca Goodall b.1742, Robert Banner Goodall b.1743 d.1743, and John Goodall b.1744.
Francis Goodall
At the time of their marriage Francis was a successful mercer in Birmingham. In 1766 he founded a bank initially known as the bank of Francis Goodall and later as the Birmingham Bank.2
John Turner
The Turner family established a brass works in Birmingham around 1740. John Turner and his brother William operated the business. Although the business had only been in operation for a few years by 1845 it was to be very lucrative for John Turner.
Rebecca Banner and John Turner in London
When Rebecca left her husband she did not take her two surviving children Rebecca Goodall and John Goodall. They remained in Birmingham with their father Francis Goodall.
Rebecca Goodall and John Turner did not waste any time producing their own children. Henrietta Maria Turner was born in 1845, Sarah Turner was baptised on 2 March 1748, Maria or Mary Turner b.1749, Lucy Turner baptised 28 September 1750 and Charlotte Turner b.1751..
A messy court case
It was not until 1751 that Francis Goodall claims he was aware that his wife and John Turner were living in Coleman’s Buildings, London. Why he waited that long to address his matrimonial situation is open to speculation. The first action Francis took was to claim damages from Turner for ‘criminal conversation’ with his wife. The verdict against Turner was for 2500 pounds. Perhaps his business was not performing well and he saw an opportunity for some money from the by now very wealthy Turner.
In 1756 he charged Rebecca with ‘criminal conversation’ and that she had eloped with Turner. Rebecca responded that she had left her husband due to his cruel usage of her. Rebecca’s adultery was acknowledged by her counsel who also admitted there was not sufficient evidence of cruelty. They proposed that the charge against Rebecca should be dismissed as Francis Goodall was also guilty of adultery.
Both parties produced witnesses, Rebecca’s witnesses gave detailed descriptions of incidents involving Francis Goodall having his own criminal conversations. In two of the witness accounts he was alleged to have offered money to the women to become his mistresses.The witnesses for Francis Goodall extolled his very good character and all but one of the witnesses (Mary Pinkstone) for the defence were described as ‘infamous characters, common prostitutes and notorious liars…’. Perhaps Mary Pinkstone was the current mistress of Francis Goodall.
The judgement of Sir George Lee granted separation a mensa et thoro by reason of adultery by the wife. The legal term ‘a mensa et thoro’ meant that the husband and wife were not legally obligated to live together and neither could remarry.
Read the account of the court case of Goodall v Goodall online and you can browse some other cases.
After the court case:
Rebecca and John Turner
Rebecca and John continued to live in London as a couple. They were never able to marry as Francis Goodall was still alive when John Turner died in 1779.
When their eldest daughter Henrietta Maria married Richard Ware, a glazier and corporal in the 15th regiment of foot, she came with a dowry of 5000 pounds. Second daughter Sarah Turner married the leading Staffordshire potter Thomas Whieldon as his third wife. As well as his pottery work one of Whieldon’s apprentices was Josiah Wedgewood.
Third daughter Maria/Mary Turner married George Goodwin, a lieutenant in the Derby Militia and paymaster of the Royal Denbigh Militia. Lucy Turner did not marry but was independently wealthy. Youngest daughter Charlotte married John Boylton Hallen.
Francis Goodall
Francis settled down with Joanna Burrowes and had at least six children, four of whom, Thomas, Michael, Joanna and Frances, lived to adulthood. We know this because of another court case involving their son Thomas and his bankruptcy in 1805, see the account of that case: Thorpe v Goodall.
The children from the marriage of Francis Goodall and Rebecca Banner, Rebecca Goodall and John Banner both married in Birmingham. Rebecca married Thomas Elrington in 1763 and John married Ann Glover in 1744.
1. ↑ TNA PROB 11/731/315 Will of Richard Banner, Cutler of Birmingham, Warwickshire. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D515043
2. ↑ The bank continued after Francis Goodall’s death in 1792 and went bankrupt in 1805 when his son Thomas Goodall went bankrupt.
Francis Goodall and Rebecca Banner were my direct ancestors. I thank them for leaving a nice descriptive account of their separation, something not often found for eighteenth century relatives.
Vivienne Caldwell 2021
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