John Robert Godley (29 May 1814 – 17 November 1861) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

statesman and

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", ...

. Godley is considered to be the founder of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, New Zealand, although he lived there for only two years.

Early life

Godley was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, the eldest son of John Godley and Katherine Daly. His father was an

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...

with country estates in

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

and

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

in Ireland. He was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, graduating in classics in 1836. He was always very sickly, which prevented him from pursuing a chosen career in law.

Adult life

After graduating from university, Godley travelled over much of Ireland and North America. His travelling influenced and helped to form his ideas about the establishment and governing of colonies. In 1843 he was appointed

High Sheriff of Leitrim The High Sheriff of Leitrim was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Leitrim, Ireland from c.1582 until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Leitrim County Sheriff. The sheriff h ...

and, in the following year, Deputy Lieutenant and a Justice of the Peace. He married Charlotte Griffith Wynne, daughter of

Charles Griffith-Wynne Charles Wynn Griffith-Wynne (4 March 1780 – 22 March 1865), sometimes known more simply as Charles Griffith-Wynne, was a British Tory-leaning politician and, between 1830 and 1832, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Caernarvonshire in North Wal ...

of Denbighshire, in September 1846. In 1847 he failed in a bid to represent Leitrim in the

UK parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

. He was one of three candidates in the two-member

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, ...

, and he faced strong opposition by the Roman Catholic priests, who opposed his emigration scheme to Canada as a measure to address the

Irish famine The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...

Edward King Tenison Edward King Tenison (21 January 1805 – 19 June 1878) was an Irish Whig and Liberal politician and photographer. Early life and family Born in 1805 at Kilronan Castle, King Tenison was the son of Thomas Tenison and Lady Frances King. He was ...

and Charles Skeffington Clements beat Godley with 385 and 354 votes to 319. At this time, because of his extensive travel and ideas on the subject of colonisation Godley was asked by

Edward Gibbon Wakefield Edward Gibbon Wakefield (20 March 179616 May 1862) is considered a key figure in the establishment of the colonies of South Australia and New Zealand (where he later served as a member of parliament). He also had significant interests in Brit ...

, the owner of the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...

, to found a colony in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

that would follow the beliefs of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. Godley was persuaded to lead this new colony because of his political connections, which helped to secure funds for the colony. Four years later he and his family arrived in Port Cooper ( Lyttelton) in April 1850. Upon arrival he was met by Captain Joseph Thomas and shown the construction plans for three separate towns and housing plans for the current settlement at Lyttelton. A fleet of four ships reached Lyttelton in December 1850. '' Randolph'', '' Cressy'', , and ''

Charlotte Jane ''Charlotte Jane'' was one of the First Four Ships in 1850 to carry emigrants from England to the new colony of Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury in New Zealand. Maiden voyage The ''Charlotte Jane'' departed from England in 1848, bound for Sy ...

'' all carried pilgrims and supplies for the planned colony. For the next two years he served as leader of the settlement, which was called

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. He negotiated with the

Canterbury Association The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by members of parliament, peers, and Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The settlement was to be called Canterbury, with its capital to be known as Christchurch. ...

in order to get them to change their conditions for pastoral leases to ensure that the colony was able to make a good start with a strong farming base. Godley believed that the Canterbury Association's purpose was to found Canterbury, not to rule it. He thought that the colony should be self-governing. In November 1852, a deputation put a requisition to John Robert Godley, asking him to allow himself to be nominated for the first election for Superintendent of the Canterbury Province; James FitzGerald was part of that deputation, which he declined. He left Canterbury for England in December 1852. At a banquet held in his honour at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

's Trafalgar Hotel, Godley gave an insightful overview of the progress made in Canterbury during the short time since its founding. In England, Godley worked as a columnist and essayist for several newspapers. He mainly wrote about colonial reform, a subject clearly dear to his heart. He also was employed at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

. There he continued his argument for the self-governing of the British colonies. Godley died on 17 November 1861 in London. A bronze

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

bearing his likeness was erected in Cathedral Square by the people of Christchurch in 1867. It was designed by artist

Thomas Woolner Thomas Woolner (17 December 1825 – 7 October 1892) was an English sculptor and poet who was one of the founder-members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was the only sculptor among the original members. After participating in the found ...

. The statue fell off its pedestal during the February

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

. Godley's only son was Sir Arthur Godley, later created Baron Kilbracken. His nephew was

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Alexander Godley, the controversial commander of the

New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...

(NZEF) in

WWI World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The house that had been built for Godley in Lyttelton was later demolished to make way for a building of the

Plunket Society The Royal New Zealand Plunket Trust provides a range of free services aimed at improving the development, health and wellbeing of children under the age of five within New Zealand, where it is commonly known simply as Plunket. Its mission is "t ...

. The Plunket building was from 1943 and was damaged in the February 2011 earthquake. Upon its eventual demolition in June 2012, the post holes of Godley's house were discovered. Archaeologists believe that Godley's two-storey house had at least six rooms, which is substantial for a very early colonial building.

References

External links

Christchurch City Libraries' article on GodleyBiography from 1966 Encyclopaedia of New ZealandBiography of Charlotte Godley from 1966 Encyclopaedia of NZ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godley, John Robert Godley, Robert Godley, Robert Civil servants from Dublin (city) Godley, Robert Godley, Robert Godley, Robert Godley, Robert High Sheriffs of Leitrim Members of the Canterbury Association People from County Leitrim 19th-century New Zealand politicians