A little-known clan of the Shire-hobbits, of which the only known member was Hanna Goldworthy. Hanna married Madoc Brandybuck, and from her son Marmadoc came all the subsequent generations of the Masters of Buckland to Meriadoc and beyond. Of the rest of the Goldworthy family, nothing is known, which itself implies that they had little impact on the life of the Shire. Indeed, it's entirely possible that the family had died out before the end of the Third Age.
'Goldworthy' is a real family name, meaning 'enclosure of Gold' (with 'Gold' here being a personal name, rather than a reference the precious metal). A common variation of the name 'Gold' is 'Goold', and we know that there was a family of Hobbits with that name. The connection is not certain, but it's possible that in the past of the Shire, the ancestors of Hanna Goldworthy worked the land of the Goolds, and so gained their family name.
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- Updated 29 January 2014
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