Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 22.djvu/262

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queror, and he, Mærleswegen, and other great men of the north sought shelter in Scotland, taking with them Eadgar the Ætheling [q. v.], his mother, and his sisters, and passed the winter with Malcolm. William gave his earldom to Robert of Comines, who was slain at Durham in January 1069, when he went to take possession. Gospatric, though not present, was afterwards accused of having instigated his murder. In September he and the other exiles, with a large force from Northumberland, joined the Danish fleet which was lying at the mouth of the Humber (ib.), marched to York, massacred the Norman garrison, broke down the castle, and soon after their victory dispersed ({sc|Symeon}}, Hist. Regum, ii. 187). When the Conqueror laid the north waste in the winter, Gospatric advised Æthelwine, bishop of Durham, and his priests to leave their city and take refuge in Lindisfarne, and carried away most of the ornaments of the church. St. Cuthberht appeared to one of the priests in a vision, and pronounced woe against the earl for having thus caused his church to be stripped and deserted. When Gospatric heard of the vision, he went barefoot to Holy Isle, and besought the saint's pardon, and offered him gifts (Hist. Dunelm. Eccl. iii. 16). At Christmas he sent messengers to the king at York, and offered him fealty, perhaps considering it safer to remain in his stronghold at Bamburgh than to meet the king (Hinde, Hist. of Northumberland, i. 179). William accepted his submission, and restored him his earldom (Orderic, p. 515). In 1070 Malcolm marched from Cumberland, which was then subject to him, and invaded Teesdale, Cleveland, and Durham. In return Gospatric laid waste Cumberland with fire and sword, returned with great booty, and shut himself up in Bamburgh. Malcolm heard of this raid at Wearmouth, and in his wrath bade his men give no quarter to any English (Symeon, Hist. Regum, ii. 191; Mr. Hinde, u.s. p. 86, throws doubt on this story, on the ground that it is inconsistent with the relations between Gospatric and Malcolm both before and after 1070, and believes it to be an untrustworthy interpolation; see also Symeon, first edit. Surtees Soc., Pref. p. xxix; on the other hand, Mr. Freeman denies the inconsistency, and accepts the passage, Norman Conquest, iv. 524 n.) In Lent 1071 he received Walcher, the new bishop of Durham, in accordance with the king's order, and conducted him to his city. The next year William deprived him of his earldom, on the ground of his former offences, accusing him of having instigated the murder of Robert of Comines, and of having taken part in the attack on York (Symeon, ii. 196). His earldom was given to Waltheof. He took refuge with Malcolm, passed over to Flanders, returned again to Scotland, and received from Malcolm Dunbar, with some neighbouring lands in Lothian, as a provision ‘until better times should come’ (ib. p. 199). In 1086 he appears as holding lands in Yorkshire (Domesday, pp. 309, 310, 311, 330; Norman Conq. iv. 524). He had three sons: Dolfin, who held Carlisle, probably as a grant from the Scottish king, and was driven out by William Rufus in 1092; Waltheof, a benefactor of the church of York; and Gospatric (Symeon, i. 216; Anglo-Saxon Chron. ‘Peterborough,’ an. 1092; Monasticon, iii. 550). His children also included a daughter Juliana, who married Ralph de Merley, founder of Newminster, near Morpeth (ib. v. 398), and a son, said to be illegitimate, named Edgar, a leader of a Scottish band of freebooters in 1138 (John of Hexham ap. Symeon, ii. 298).

[Symeon of Durham, ed. Rolls Ser. and Surtees Soc. passim; Anglo-Saxon Chron. ann. 1068, 1092; Florence of Worcester, ii. 2 (Engl. Hist. Soc.); Orderic, pp. 512, 515, Duchesne; Vita Eadwardi Conf. p. 411 (Rolls Ser.); Skene's Celtic Scotland, i. 390, 394, 408; Dugdale's Monasticon, iii. 550, v. 398; Dugdale's Baronage, p. 54; Freeman's Norman Conquest, ii. 457, iv. passim; Freeman's William Rufus, i. 315; Hinde's Hist. of Northumberland, i. 171–87, ed. Soc. of Antiq. of Newcastle.]

W. H.

GOSS, ALEXANDER, D.D. (1814–1872), Roman catholic bishop of Liverpool, born at Ormskirk, Lancashire, on 5 July 1814, was educated at St. Cuthbert's College, Ushaw, and at the English College, Rome, where he was ordained priest by Cardinal Fransoni in 1841. In October 1842 he was appointed by Dr. George Brown [q. v.], Roman catholic bishop of Liverpool, to join Dr. Fisher as one of the superiors in St. Edward's College, Everton, which, under their management, was first opened as a catholic college 16 Jan. 1843. Goss continued there as vice-president until 20 Jan. 1853, when he was elected by propaganda as coadjutor to Bishop Brown. He was consecrated to the see of Gerra, in partibus, on 25 Sept. in that year by Cardinal Wiseman. He succeeded to the see of Liverpool per coadjutoriam on the death of Dr. Brown 15 Jan. 1856. During his episcopate a great impetus was given to Roman catholicism in Liverpool. He was a vigorous controversialist, and in politics supported the conservative party. His bearing was dignified, and his stature reached six feet three inches. He died suddenly at his residence in St. Edward's College, Everton, on 3 Oct. 1872. After a requiem mass in the pro-cathedral at Liverpool, where