John Venimore Godwin was an early photographer and Mayor of Bradford in 1865-1866.

Life

Godwin was born on 23 December 1814 in Dartmouth. He was the son of the Reverend

Benjamin Godwin Reverend Benjamin Godwin (10 October 1785 – 20 February 1871) was a Baptist clergyman, abolitionist and activist. He was a pastor at Dartmouth, Great Missenden, Bradford, and Oxford as well as a teacher of classics. He became involved in de ...

and his wife, Elizabeth. His father was the Baptist minister in Dartmouth, but he shortly moved to

Great Missenden Great Missenden is an affluent village with approximately 2,000 residents in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover, with direct rail connections to London Mary ...

. Godwin married Rachel and they had ten children. They lived in the 1847 rebuilt Micklefield House in Rawdon before moving to Crowtrees House. Godwin also owned the nearby Crow Trees Inn. He died at his home in Crowtrees on 20 January 1898 aged 83.

Legacy

John asked his father in 1832 when they were living in Oxford to write about his life. Over the next 18 years his father wrote over fifty letters which he gave to his son on his son's birthday 23 December 1855. These letters provided him and historians with an insight into the Baptists and the abolitionists. Business people in Yorkshire were concerned by the competition created by the French woollen industry. In 1876 the Chambers of Commerce nominated Godwin and Henry Illingworth to investigate the French. Illingworth took the lead and he went on to chair Bradford Chamber of Commerce.Papers of Henry Illingworth on the French woollen textile industry, 1876-1877
retrieved July 2014 Godwin was elected Mayor of Bradford in 1865 taking over from

Charles Semon Charles Joseph Semon (1812–1877), was born in Danzig, Free City in 1812 of German Jewish descent. He came to Bradford, England in the middle of the 19th century and soon built up one of the most important textile export houses in the town. His ...

.List of Mayors
, Bradford.gov.uk, retrieved July 2014

Legacy

The A6181 (Godwin Street) in Bradford is named after John Venimore Godwin.John Venimore Godwin
, Aireborough Historical Society, retrieved 29 July 2014 Godwin's son John A. Godwin was the first Lord Mayor of Bradford in 1907.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godwin, John Venimore Photographers from Yorkshire Mayors of Bradford 1814 births 1898 deaths