William GOMELDON

In 1602, he was married to Mary Thistlethwaite, a daughter of Alexander Thistlethwaite of Winterslow, Wiltshire, and Maria, his wife. They had at least nine children.

At some time—perhaps around the time of James I's accession to the English throne, in 1603—he was appointed as a Groom of the Privy Chamber to Queen Ann (the wife of James I—known as "Ann of Denmark"). Certainly he was in that position by May 1604, when the Queen was "pleased to give unto Willm. Gomeldon and Danyell Bacheler, grooms of our privie chamber, a chest of arrows which is fallen due unto us as a wreck cast up by the sea within our Manor of Portland and Weeke in the County of Dorset." The other Groom, mentioned here, was Daniel Bachelor (or Bacheler) the famous lutenist and composer. It is tempting to think that William Gomeldon may also have had some skill or accomplishment which suited him to the role as a Groom, but there is nothing in the sources to support this. The Privy Chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence, and it's staff (the Lord Chamberlain, himself, and the gentlemen , grooms and yeomen of the Privy Chamber) were servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King and Queen at court during their various activities, functions and entertainments.

In 1606, ther was correspondence between William Gomeldon and to the Earl of Salisbury, regarding some lands in Montgomeryshire, Wales. Gomeldon seems to be trying to establish that the lands belong to the King and, if so, it seems that he (Gomeldon) wishes to be granted the income arising from them (presumably with Royal approval). It is not certain what was the outcome of this request but, in 1608, a letter from Earl of Salisbury to Sir F. Woolley refers to a grant of land some otherland in Gloucestershire "to Wm. Gomeldon Groom of the chamber, for the rent of £230".

Gomeldon seems to have retained a position in Royal service for many years. In 1614, a surviving letter describes the King of Denmark's arriving at court where "Mr Gomelton, a groom there,....desired them to stay". In 1615, state papers record the payment of wages £13 - 6s - 8d, together with £6 -13s - 4d for his livery to "Willm Gombleden groom of the Privy Chamber to Her Majesty". In 1616 ther was a record of a further payment of wages: "to Daniell Batchellor £160; to Willm Gombledon £60", perhaps reflecting the relative values placed on the lutenist and Gomeldon, respectively. In 1621, state papers record the King's wish to Send Will Gomeldon as a page to visit the King of Bohemia.

William Gomeldon seems to have tried to involve himself in the ownership of mining and smelting. In 1623 a patent was granted to "Wm. Gomeldon, the King's servant", for the sole making and using of a furnace invented by him for smelting and melting lead ore. In 1625, William Gomeldon presented a proposal to work some mines in Cardiganshire. It seems that the outcome was not favourable to Gomeldon, and the lease of the mining are was instead granted Sir Hugh Middleton, who already had substantial mining interests in the area.

In the 1620s, Charles I, launched an expensive and ultimately unsuccessful war with Spain, in an attempt to force the Catholic Spanish King Philip IV to intercede with the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II on behalf of Charles's brother-in-law, Frederick V. Frederick was the deposed King of Bohemia and "Elector Palatine", the husband of Charles's sister Elizabeth. The intention was to restore Frederick as Electorate of the Palatinate and return his hereditary lands, which the Emperor had taken from him. It seems as though local regions in England were obliged to raise money for the "defence of the Palatinate" but were reluctant to hand it over to the Crown. William Gomeldon seems to have taken on a role of tracking down this unpaid money and collecting it on behalf of the King. The State Papers for 1624 refer to a sum of £120 collected by the Great Yarmouth Council and deposited in the town's treasury being "demanded by Wm. Gomeldon, the King's servant, on writ of Privy seal". Similar references exist for Norwich in 1629, "Bristol and other towns" in 1631, Cambridge in 1631, and Northhampton in 1633. It seems that Gomeldon received a commission as a percentage of the amounts collected.

The last reference which definitely seems to refer to this William Gomeldon is a bill of 1638. What happened to him after that is uncertain.