He was educated at Ruthin School and Cambridge, gaining his B.A. from St. John's College, M.A. from Christ's College and his D.D. from St. 3ohn's in 1564. He was thus qualified at the very heart of a new, fresh movement to inculcate the Reformation Tudor Monarchy through education through the medium of Greek and Latin. Ascham, Chelce, Lily, Grindal, Parker, Whitgift and Newell were all friends and contemporaries.
William Cecil, chief minister to the new Queen was of the family of Seisyll, originally a North Wales family. Gabriel gained preferment through him, was tutor at Hatfield when Elizabeth was proclaimed Queen and became Dean of Westminster in 1561 remaining in that post for forty years dying on June 17th, 1601.
As Dean of Westminster, he was at the centre of the religious ferment of the day. He was part of the drive for "new" education. He was a monarchist in an age where Reformation zeal led to Puritanism, Puritanism to denial of ceremony and bishops and that denial to Republicanism. We should remember that a king's head was removed surgically only 48 years after Goodman's death.
This explains his austere opposition to Puritanism. He sanctioned the burning of extremist Puritans and pursued them ruthlessly.
On the other hand he re-instituted St. Peter's Church, created Christ's Hospital for old people, put Ruthin School on a firm foundation, wrote statutes for Westminster, Friars' and Ruthin Schools, showed interest in St. Paul's and Merchant Taylors' Schools, assisted William Morgan in the production of the first Welsh Bible Camden with "Britannia" and helped with the Bishops Bible 1568.
He thought of his home town in many ways in addition with gifts, help over taxes and aid for Ruthin men who went to London. He was very learned; his library is large, wide- ranging and exhaustively annotated. We are privileged to have much of it, some volumes as early as 1488.
The "zealous and excellent tutor" who became "the worthy dean" well deserves the contemporary epitaph: "Goodman was his name and goodness was his nature".
