Goodrich, Thomas, Bishop of Ely (1494 -1554)
Thomas Goodrich was a younger son of Thomas Goodrich, of East Kirkby in Lincolnshire, and his third wife, Jane, only daughter and heir of Mr Williamson, of Boston. Educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he took his B.A. in 1510, he became a Fellow of Jesus the same year, and proceeded to his M.A. in 1515. Presented to the Rectory of St Peter Cheap by Cardinal Wolsey, 16 November 1529, he was one of the divines consulted in the matter of the legality of the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon in 1530. By this time he was a Doctor of Divinity, soon afterwards he was made a Royal Chaplain, and consecrated Bishop of Ely in 1534. A zealous reformer, he had the Gospel of St John assigned him in the revision of the New Testament. Under Edward VI, he assisted in compiling the first Book of Common Prayer, and was appointed Lord Chancellor in 1551 on the retirement of Lord Rich.