GOFAIRE, John, of Southwark, Surr.

Gofaire may have been a kinsman of the John Gofaire of Cornhill ward, London, who in May 1382 was made master of the Glovers’ Company, although there is no known connexion between the two men, save their common name. A John Gofaire donated 6s.8d. towards the cost of building a new chapel on London Bridge in June 1388, and had vacated the premises which he rented there by May 1390 at the very latest; this man may subsequently have settled in Southwark, but the question of identity remains obscure. Gofaire’s four appointments as a local tax collector between 1401 and 1415, and his appearance one year later among the witnesses to a deed concerning land in Peckham and Camberwell, Surrey, certainly suggest that he was living in or near Southwark throughout this period.1Cal. Letter Bk. London, H, 130, 170; Corporation of London RO, Bridge Masters’ accts. rolls vii m. 4, IX m. 4; CCR, 1413-19, pp. 365-6.