There seems to be nothing to show how long the name "Goshen" has been applied to the old farm situated by the side of the River Roach between Gigg and Hampson Mills, and referred to by the Rev. F. E. L. Hurst (the vicar) in St Peter's Parish Magazine as the new home of the curate, the Rev. W. B. Potter. The farm may have been shrewdly so christened by the lord of the manor or his agent. Or it may have been so named by one of the Unsworths, whose tenancy extended from the early seventeenth till the latter part of the nineteenth century, and who probably did their best to make the holding comparable in some way with that fertile section of pasture land in Egypt, " in the land of Goshen," which Joseph allotted to his father and his brethren.

In the last decade of the seventeenth century a porch was added to Goshen farm-house, and a division of the premises took place a good while ago, the porch giving entrance to the part now occupied by St. Peter's curate. In the upper part of the porch there is a stone inscribed --

G V

1691

The initials are those of Giles Unsworth. the son of Giles Unsworth of Redvales, Bury parish. The latter Giles was married at Bury Parish Church on November 1st 1626, to Ann Harper of ye parish of Middleton, daughter of John Harper of Ainsworth (at that time included in the parish of Middleton), who was christened at Bolton Parish Church on November 23rd, 1601. Their first child, the son Giles, was christened at Bury Church in November 1627. Giles the elder, described in the register as "of Redivalls," died April 17th, 1651, being survived by his wife. "Anne widow of Giles Unsworth" died November 11th, 1658. They were both buried in the chancel of the Parish Church.

AN EARLY NONCONFORMIST MEETING PLACE.

The fourth volume (old series) of the Chetham Society consists of "The life of Adam Martindale, Written by Himself." edited by the Rev. Richard Parkinson, B. D., Canon of Manchester, and printed (for the first time) "from the original manuscript in the British Museum"; in which there is a very interesting reference to Goshen Farm, though it may not have been known by that name at the time it was written.

There now follows a detailed report of the life of Adam Martindale who was a Presbyterian divine. In 1623, he was appointed a preacher. In August 1662, he was deprived of the living of Rostherne, Cheshire, under the act of Uniformity and later prosecuted and imprisoned. In 1671, he was appointed private chaplain to Lord Delamere at Dunham, Cheshire. He was traveling through Bury and was persuaded to keep a day of preaching and prayer at a "house in a dark corner of Bury". This house was indeed Goshen Farm. He was then charged with "conventicling" (a clandestine gathering of dissenters in the 16th and 17th centuries), but found not guilty. In 1672 a license was granted for the use of Giles Unsworth's house as a Presbyterian meeting place.

In the Bury Times" of September the 14th 1929 was a follow up story from a Canon Parkinson, extracts of which are :-

My own knowledge of the Unsworths of Goshen dates from 60 years ago, just after my first coming to Bury. The head of the family at that time, James Unsworth, was for several years a member of the local governing body known as the Bury Improvement Commissioners. One of the most interesting articles which I saw in the house at Goshen was a Jacobean oak side-table, which has been described as "the finest known of its kind." Nine feet long, it was elaborately carved on the frieze with St. George and the dragon, a lion, unicorn, and the Derby (Lord Derby, family name - Stanley) crest, with the initials G V E V (initials of two members of the Unsworth family) and the date 1618. Some years after the farm had passed into other hands, the side table was sold for about ã³°0 to the late Mr. Walter Behrens, of Fallowfield, Manchester. That would be about the year 1908. A sale of furniture, &c, which had belonged to Mr. Behrens was held at Messrs. Christie's rooms in London, on December 2nd, 1913, when the Unsworth side table was sold for one thousand guineas to Mr. Letts, of Great Russell-street, who after the sale made it known that he had not bought the table on anybody's commission.

Later, in the time of the Great War, the grand old piece of Unsworth furniture was being taken to America, when a German submarine sank the vessel, and the side-table with it.

This was on the occasion of the opening of the new public house, "The Dragon" in the village of Unsworth. In the porch way is the fully armored statue of Thomas Unsworth, clutching the gun and dagger which slew the dragon. In the public bar is a mural showing the dragon.

Because of the article, I was contacted by a Mrs E. Nuthall of Middleton (near Bury), who informed me that she was a descendant of the Thomas Unsworth, the hero of the legend, and after whom the area was named. Mrs Nuthall also informed me that other descendants are existing in this country and in New Zealand. I visited Mrs Nuthall, receiving more information.

To continue the story: the lair of the supposed dragon was situated in what is now known as the Gigg Lane area of Bury known as "Frog Holes". This area is not very far from a farm called "Goshen Farm", which was at one time the home of the Unsworths. this farm was situated in the St. Paul's Road area, opposite the Hotel we know today as the "Swan and Cemetery". The Unsworth living at this farm in the late Victorian period and the early 1900's was James Unsworth, who at that time possessed the historical table. This James Unsworth decided to emigrate to New Zealand and he sold the table to his sister - Mary Anne Unsworth - for the sum of one hundred pounds (£100) on condition that should he decide to return from New Zealand to this country within the space of five years the table was to be returned to him and I assume he would have repaid the hundred pounds with interest.

Anyway, the five years elapsed and he did not return, so the table became the property of Mary Anne Unsworth, this Mary Anne Unsworth being the Grandmother of the Mrs E. Nuthall with whom I had the conversation.

Mary Anne Unsworth Married a Simon Chadwick, and went to live at "Hollingrove Farm", Holcombe Hill. From there they eventually moved to Bowker Vale farm near Crumpsall, which farm is now demolished and a Synagogue now stands on the site. The table being a large refectory table, would not go through the door of the Bowker Vale farm, which meant part of the doorway had to be demolished to to get it through. When the table was eventually established in the farm house it was situated in the kitchen - cum - living room, which was a very large place, as indeed it had to be to contain this large table and seats, which were a type of small form.

The date 1618 carved in the front center of the table is probably the date it was carved by a long since gone local craftsman, as it was carved in the Gigg Lane area.

From Bowker Vale it was sold to a Manchester man for the sum of three hundred pounds (ã³°0). Later it was sold at the London firm of auctioneers, Christies, where on the 2nd of December, 1913, it fetched one thousand guineas (), the buyer being an American, who had it dispatched on board R. M. S. 'Lusitania'. This ship suffered the tragedy of being torpedoed while on its way to America and sank to the depth of the Ocean, taking with it the very old and very beautiful carved table. ( Sunk off the Irish coast on the 7th of May 1915 during WW I. Of the 1195 lives lost, some 128 were Americans and the incident contributed to the anti - German feeling in the USA and ultimately brought that country into the war).

Mrs. E Nuthall possesses an old photograph of the table, which she very kindly lent to me, from which I obtained a copy which will be placed away with this, my record of the legend.

The plaque of the Coat of Arms of the Unsworth family is at present existing in New Zealand. Yet, with the development of modern salvaging techniques the table, made from good strong English oak, may see the light of day once more.( A copy of the photo was included in the Bury Times article. A recent notice in the "Times" newspaper - 1997- stated that attempts were now being prepared to find the "Lusitania" !)

On the May 1, 1915 Lusitania left New York for the final time. A number of Americans were aboard, including the wealthy Alfred Vanderbilt and noted theatre producer Charles Frohman. On May 7 with the coast of Ireland in site, German U-boat U-20 torpedoed Lusitania. She sank in 18 short minutes taking 1,195 lives - 123 of them American. Although America did not immediately declare war on Germany, that would occur in April 1917, her sinking contributed to the mood that turned the tide of American public opinion against Germany and led the United States to join the Allied cause in World War I.

Some of the stories about the loss of the table seem to be technically incorrect as the Lusitania was sunk sailing to Ireland.

If the table was shipped to America one assumes it arrived in one piece!