Sir William Godolphin MP (1515–1570) was a 16th-century English soldier, knight, politician, and

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 ...

(MP), whose career has been so confused with that of his father and namesake Sir William Godolphin that it is sometimes difficult to be sure which of the two held which offices. The father was Member for

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and High Sheriff during the reign of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

; the son worked closely with

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...

as a young man, and with the help of Cromwell's support was elected MP for Cornwall in 1539. After Cromwell's fall, the younger Godolphin acquired a considerable military reputation. He seems to have been drafted into the army command as an engineer, drawing on his knowledge of tin mining (which was the main source of his family's income in Cornwall). His most important contribution was at the Siege of Boulogne. Richard Carew in his ''Survey of Cornwall'' saying of him ''"He demeaned himself very valiantly beyond seas, as appeared by the scars he brought home, no less to the beautifying of his fame, than the disfiguring of his face"''. After the capture of Boulogne, he was made its bailiff in recognition of the part he played in the victory, and also

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

. He was a member of the

Council of Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...

from 1547 to 1551,

High Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, ot ...

in 1549–50 and 1568–9, and its MP once more in 1553. He was also a Vice-Warden of

Stannaries A stannary was an administrative division established under stannary law in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin coinage, which was the duty payable on the metal tin smelted from the ore cassiterite Mining i ...

, and

Custos Rotulorum of Cornwall This is a list of people who have served as Custos Rotulorum of Cornwall. * Sir John Chamond ?–1544 * Sir Richard Grenville 1544–1550 * Sir John Arundell bef. 1558 – aft. 1558 * Sir William Godolphin bef. 1562–1570 * Pe ...

from 1562 until his death in 1570. Sir William married Blanch Langdon and had three daughters, but leaving no male issue his estates passed to his nephew, Sir Francis Godolphin (1540–1608).

References

External links

''Burke's Extinct Peerage'' (London: Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1831)

'The Scilly Islands', Magna Britannia: volume 3: Cornwall (1814), pp 330–337

Godolphin family tree
1515 births 1570 deaths 16th-century English soldiers

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

High Sheriffs of Cornwall Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Knights Bachelor English MPs 1539–1540 {{16thC-England-MP-stub

References

Further reading

External links