Sir William Godolphin (1567–1613), of Godolphin in

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 ...

, was an English knight, soldier, and 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. T ...

from 1604 to 1611.

Biography

Godolphin was the older son of Sir Francis Godolphin (1540–1608), also an MP and

Governor of the Scilly Isles The following persons served as Governor of the Isles of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall. The governor was a military Commission (document), commission made by the monarch in consultation with the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty in recogni ...

and his first wife, Margaret Killigrew of

Arwenack Arwenack, historically in the parish of St Budock, Cornwall, is a historic manor on the site of what is today the town of Falmouth. It was partly destroyed in 1646, and only a remnant survives today. It was long held by the Killigrew family, w ...

. He matriculated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1585 and was admitted at Lincoln's Inn on 29 January 1587. He accompanied the

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

in his military expedition of 1599–1600 to Ireland, and was knighted on 13 July 1599 for his gallantry in an action at

Arklow Arklow (; ; , ) is a town in County Wicklow on the southeast coast of Ireland. The town is overlooked by Ballymoyle Hill. It was founded by the Vikings in the ninth century. Arklow was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the 1798 re ...

. He was subsequently put in command of a brigade of cavalry, and he was credited with playing an important part in the victory at the

Siege of Kinsale The siege of Kinsale, or Battle of Kinsale ( ga, Léigear/Cath Chionn tSáile), was the ultimate battle in England's conquest of Gaelic Ireland, commencing in October 1601, near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and at the climax of t ...

on 24 December 1601, when his troops broke through the enemy line and captured the Spanish commander.Brown, Alexander. ''The Genesis of the United States: A Narrative of the Movement in England, 1605-1616, which Resulted in the Plantation of North America by Englishmen,...'', Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1890, p. 898
/ref> For his services, he was highly commended by the Crown, and made a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. Godolphin was

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 o ...

(MP) for

in the first parliament of

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

from 1604 to 1611, and was regarded as a reliable supporter of Crown policy. He was Lieutenant-governor of the Scilly Isles from 1597, becoming full Governor on the death of his father in 1608 until his own death in 1613. In August 1608, King James sent him to Scotland to report on a promising new silver mine at Hilderston near

Bathgate Bathgate ( sco, Bathket or , gd, Both Chèit) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Armadale, West Lothian, Armadale, Blackburn, ...

.Maurice Lee, ''Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, 1603-1624'' (Rutgers UP, 1972), p. 106.

Marriage

He married Thomasine, the only surviving daughter and heiress of Thomas Sidney of

Wighton Wighton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated some south of the town of Wells-next-the-Sea, north of the town of Fakenham, and north-west of the city of Norwich. The medieval pilgrimage centre ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and his wife Mary Southwell of Sydmondham Hall (whose third husband was the distinguished soldier

Sir Conyers Clifford Sir Conyers Clifford (c. 1566 – 1599) was an English politician and military commander. Life and career He was the son of George Clifford, esq., of Bobbing Court in Kent, by his wife Ursula, daughter of Roger Finch. His elder brother, Henry ...

) and had 3 sons and a daughter.

Death

In the summer of 1613, when he was at the height of his political influence, Godolphin became seriously ill and died in early September. He was buried at

Breage, Cornwall Breage ( , ; kw, Eglosbrek (village), Pluw Vrek (parish)) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is three miles (5 km) west of Helston. Other settlements in the parish include the villages of Ashton, C ...

September 5, 1613.

Family

Godolphin's children included: * Sir Francis Godolphin, KB (1605–1667), his heir *

Sidney Godolphin Sidney Godolphin is the name of: * Sidney Godolphin (colonel) (1652–1732), Member of Parliament for fifty years * Sidney Godolphin (poet) (1610–1643), English poet * Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin (c. 1640–1712), leading British poli ...

(1610–1643), the poet * William Godolphin (1611–1636), who first succeeded his father as Governor of Scilly * Penelope Godolphin, who married Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge

Notes

Ancestry

References

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