Florence Everilda Goodeve

Florence Everilda Goodeve (1861 – 15 January 1915) was an English composer and lyricist. She was born Florence Everilda Knowlys in Heysham, Lancashire. Her uncle was Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood. Her father Thomas John Knowlys (b. 1803) and mother Anna Maria Martha née Hesketh, who were married in September 1828, built a large edifice they named Heysham Tower in the area, which is now the site of the Midland Hotel, Morecambe. They had four sons and six daughters of whom Florence was one. She married Louis-Arthur Goodeve on 23 November 1869. Louis Goodeve was a High Court advocate in Calcutta, where his wife accompanied him. She was widowed in 1888 and died in London.

Florence evinced a musical talent at an early age and at the age of fourteen she wrote her "Glockenspiel Galop" and several songs. It was heard by Virginia Gabriel who persuaded her to have it published. Some of her most popular songs were, "Ah, Well-a-Day," "The Jovial Beggar," and "Fiddle and I."

Her later compositions included "Song of the Rivers," "In the Silver Years," "I Would Not Love You Less," "Row, Row," a boating song, "If Thou Must Love Me," and "The King's Wooing," a baritone song, written for Robert Watkin-Mills. Besides being a musician, Goodeve was an amateur painter, and she also contributed to several magazines.