William Gouge
1575–1653
Most senior at the Assembly; *Of Domesticall Duties*; respected patriarch.
Biography
Gouge of Blackfriars was the patriarch of the Assembly — already in his late 60s when it convened, with forty-five years of London ministry behind him. His *Of Domesticall Duties* (1622) was the most widely used Puritan handbook of household ethics. He chaired multiple Assembly committees, including (with Tuckney) the committee on the Confession's chapter on Christ the Mediator. He died in December 1653.
Principal works
- Of Domesticall Duties (1622)
- A Learned and Very Useful Commentary on the Whole Epistle to the Hebrews (1655)
English Presbyterian divine
The great majority of the sitting members were English parish ministers of Presbyterian conviction. They formed the drafting core of the Assembly, manning its three standing committees and supplying most of the text of the Confession, the two Catechisms, and the Directory for Public Worship.