Frances Goode was the Mayoress of Adelaide from 1863 to 1864.
Frances Goode née Russell was born in 1838 in Docklow, Herefordshire, England. In 1858 she married Samuel Goode, 18 years her senior. Samuel had immigrated to South Australia in 1850, but went back to England in 1857 before returning to South Australia with his new bride. While living in Adelaide, Frances and Samuel had two children: Charles was born in 1861, and Kate two years later.
Samuel was Mayor of Adelaide from 1863 to 1864. We can imagine Frances standing proudly by when, on 13 January 1864, Samuel laid the foundation stone for the new Adelaide Town Hall’s Albert Tower: so named in memory of the Prince Consort, the recently deceased husband of Queen Victoria.
In 1865 Samuel took Frances and the children back to England aboard the clipper, City of Adelaide. They remained in England until 1889. Four more children were born here: Helena in 1865, Edith in 1868, Fanny in 1870, and Frank in 1875. Sadly, Frank died at the age of six. Samuel died at their family home, Montpellier, in Hill Street, North Adelaide, in 1901. He is buried at North Road Cemetery at Nailsworth. Frances died in 1925. According to cemetery records, her body was interred at Brighton Cemetery, Victoria. Prior to her death, it was possible Frances was living with her eldest daughter Kate who resided nearby in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern.
