GOOD, THOMAS (1823-1907) was born at Aston Court, Worcestershire. His family was dispossessed for adhering to the King's side in the Civil War. Good received his education partly in England and partly in France, and settled down to country life. He was a skilful athlete (running, boxing and jumping), and a fine gentleman rider, having many successes on the turf both in England and in Taranaki. In 1850 he walked from Mokau to New Plymouth and back in an effort to lower the record of another walker ('Skinny Jim').

Good came to New Zealand with his uncle in the Louisa Campbell in 1845 and took up land in the Omata district, where he remained until the Maori war. In 1853 he bought a flock of sheep from Wanganui. In 1853, and again in 1863, he was for a few weeks a member of the Provincial Council for Omata, retiring in each case owing to native troubles. He planned the Omata stockade and began its construction. In the early part of the war he had command of friendly natives, but he resigned to accept a commission as captain in the Bush Rangers, with which he served throughout. He was present at Mahoetahi (1860), and received the medal and a grant of 400 acres at Urenui, where he farmed for the next fifteen years. He was in command of the northern outpost at the time of the murders at White Cliffs (1869). About 1875 he moved to Oeo, where he took up a large area of country and resided until about 1901, when he moved to Ramanui, Hawera. Good was a member of the Taranaki county council in the seventies. In 1880, during the Parihaka troubles, he was camped with his company at Oeo. He died on 19 May 1907.

Taranaki P.C. minutes; Victoria Hist. of Warwickshire, iii, 557; Cycl. N.Z., vi (p); Cowan's N.Z. Wars; Taranaki Herald, 21 May 1907. Portrait: Taranaki Hist. Coll.

Visitor Comments

Firstly, Thomas was not born at Aston Court, although he did grow up there. He was born The Rock and christened at Bromyard - his baptism certificate is held in the Herefordshire archives. He moved to Aston Court aged about 7 years when his father, Edward, moved there to run the Aston Court Estate for his nephew, my Great Great Grandfather Samuel Clarke Good senior (1824-1905), whose father died in 1830 when he was 6yrs old. Edward ran the estate until Samuel Clarke Good came of age.

Thomas was living at Aston Court when he emigrated so in that sense he was "of Aston Court".

Secondly, the second sentence makes it sound as though the Goods were dispossessed of Aston Court following the Civil War. In fact, during the Civil War Aston Court belonged to the Clarke family. The Good family acquired it following the mariage of Samuel Good (of Boraston) to Mary Clarke in 1682, 31 years after the Civil War had ended. Mary Clarke was a considerable heiress as her three siblings all died at a young age.

Julia J— 6 September 2025

Reference: Volume 1, page 170

🌳 Further sources