Sir Francis Godolphin (1540–1608) was an English politician, knight, and Member of Parliament.

Life

The nephew of Sir William Godolphin (1515–1570), who left no male issue, he succeeded to his uncle's estates early in Queen Elizabeth's reign. He was one of the leading citizens of Cornwall, described by that county's 17th-century historian, Richard Carew, as one "whose zeal in religion, uprightness in justice, providence in government, and plentiful housekeeping, have won him a very great and reverent reputation in his country". (''The Survey of Cornwall'', 1602, quoted in ''Burke's Extinct Peerage''). His father,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, had been

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 they were leased to Francis who became governor in his turn (see Governors of Scilly). On royal instructions, he improved the defences of the islands which were, in Carew's words "reduced to a more defensible plight by him, who with his invention and purse, bettered his plot and allowance, and therein so tempered strength and delight, and both with use, as it serveth for a sure hold, and a commodious dwelling". Chief among this work of fortification was the building of Star Castle. He was also an innovative manager of Cornwall's

tin mines Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. History Tin extraction and use can ...

, his inventions greatly increasing their productivity by extracting metal from material; that would previously have been discarded as refuse, so materially improving both the prosperity of Cornwall and the revenue that the Crown derived from it. Sir Francis represented

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 ...

in the Parliament of 1588–9 and

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increas ...

in that of 1593; he was also twice High Sheriff of Cornwall (1580 and 1604),

Custos Rotulorum ''Custos rotulorum'' (; plural: ''custodes rotulorum''; Latin for "keeper of the rolls", ) is a civic post that is recognised in the United Kingdom (except Scotland) and in Jamaica. England, Wales and Northern Ireland The ''custos rotulorum'' is t ...

for a number of years, and Vice-Warden of the

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 mined ...

from 1584 to 1603.

Family

Godolphin married Margaret Killigrew, daughter of Sir John Killigrew of Arwennack and the notorious pirate Mary Wolverston; and two of his sons, Sir William Godolphin (1567–1613) (his heir) and Sir Francis Godolphin (died 1640), followed him in becoming members of parliament. His daughter Thomasine married George Carew. As a widower he married Alice Skerret (1545–1632) of

Tavistock, Devon Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13 ...

widow of Sir

John Glanville Sir John Glanville the younger (1586 – 2 October 1661), was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1644. He was Speaker of the English House of Commons during the Short Parliament. He support ...

(1542–1600)

In fiction

In the historical novel ''The Grove of Eagles'', by

Winston Graham Winston Mawdsley Graham OBE, born Winston Grime (30 June 1908 – 10 July 2003), was an English novelist best known for the Poldark series of historical novels set in Cornwall, though he also wrote numerous other works, including contemporary ...

, Godolphin is shown as a sympathetic figure. The main characters are the family of his first wife, the Killigrews: both out of family feeling and his concern for law and order, Godolphin warns them that their reputation for

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

and their general lawlessness will lead them into ruin.

Notes

Ancestry

References

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

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

*D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, ''Members of the Long Parliament'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Godolphin, Francis 1540 births 1608 deaths Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall 17th-century English people Politicians from Cornwall Francis High Sheriffs of Cornwall English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 Knights Bachelor Governors of the Isles of Scilly