Sir William Godolphin MP (1515–1570) was a 16th-century English soldier, knight, politician, and Member of Parliament (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 (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

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 known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

; the son worked closely with

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

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 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 ca ...

(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 a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

. He was a member of the

Council of Regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the Interregnum, throne is vacant and a new monarch has not y ...

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 of the United Kingdom, Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriff ...

in 1549–50 and 1568–9, and its MP once more in 1553. He was also a Vice-Warden of Stannaries, and Custos Rotulorum of Cornwall 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 masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

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