Sir Robert Goodwin ('' c.'' 1601 – buried 29 March 1681) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at various times between 1626 and 1659.His name is spelt Robert Godwin in some sources. He supported the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

cause in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

Biography

Goodwin was the son of Edward Goodwin of

Horne, Surrey __NOTOC__ Horne is a rural village and civil parish in the District of Tandridge in Surrey, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Newchapel, where the British Wildlife Centre is situated. Eastern fields forming a narrow part of the pari ...

and his wife Susan Wallop, daughter of Richard Wallop of

Bugbrooke Bugbrooke is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, on a ridge overlooking the valley of the River Nene. Location Bugbrooke is situated about south west of Northampton and 5 miles (8 km) north of Towcester. The M1, one o ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. He was the brother of

John Goodwin John Goodwin may refer to: Politicians *John Goodwin (Parliamentarian) (1603–1674), Member of Parliament for Reigate * John B. Goodwin (1850–1921), Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia in the late 1880s *John Noble Goodwin (1824–1887), 1st Governor of ...

. In 1626, Goodwin was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

. He was re-elected MP for East Grinstead in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In April 1640, Goodwin was re-elected MP for East Grinstead in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. He was re-elected MP for East Grinstead for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

in November 1640. In October 1642 he was sent by the House of Commons with Robert Reynolds to

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 ...

as commissioner representing the parliament. They were allowed to be present at meetings of the Irish privy council with the connivance of the lords justices, and they tried to make a party for parliament among officers and officials. However they returned to England in 1643. He remained in the

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride commanded soldiers to purge the Long Parliament, on 6 December 1648, of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason. "Rump" n ...

after

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

. He was knighted in Dublin on 3 May 1658. In 1659 he was re-elected MP for East Grinstead in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a powe ...

. In 1659, he was one of five commissioners appointed to govern Ireland. He died in 1681 and was buried at East Grinstead.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Robert Roundheads People from East Grinstead English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1659 1681 deaths Year of birth uncertain