The Goldsmiths had resided in Bridgnorth since the beginning of the 14th century and numbered among them the bailiffs of 1327-8 and 1331-3. Henry Goldsmith, a wealthy merchant, had been bailiff four times between 1354 and 1364 and MP twice (1354 and 1362).
In September 1370 and February 1371, during his first term as a bailiff, Goldsmith acted as a juror at inquiries held in Bridgnorth concerning, respectively, the foundation of a chapel in St. Leonard’s church and a grant to the hospital of the Holy Trinity. At a later inquiry, in June 1387, a local jury alleged that he and his then fellow bailiff, Thomas Horde, had carried away from Dudmaston and used to their own profit 80 ewes, 20 lambs, a newly made waggon and household utensils that should have escheated to the Crown. The escheator of Shropshire claimed that, although he had demanded the goods in the King’s name, the bailiffs had refused, so being guilty of contempt.