Francis Godolphin

Sir Francis Godolphin MP (25 December 1605 – 22 March 1667) was an English nobleman, landowner, and politician associated with Godolphin in Cornwall. He served as a Member of Parliament and is known as the dedicatee of Thomas Hobbes' work *Leviathan*.

### Origins

He was the eldest son of Sir William Godolphin (1567–1613) and Thomasine Sidney (1581–24 April 1612). Both his father and his brother, Sidney Godolphin, were Members of Parliament. Upon his father’s death in 1613, Sir Francis succeeded to estates that included the lease of the Scilly Isles.

### Career

Godolphin represented Helston in the Parliament of 1625–1626 and served again in the Long Parliament. In 1638, he was appointed High Sheriff of Cornwall. During the English Civil War, he was a Royalist and returned to Cornwall, where he secured the Scilly Isles for the Royal cause. He also raised a regiment of which his brother William took command.

Following these events, he was disbarred from sitting in Parliament in January 1644, and his estates were sequestered. After the capture of King Charles I, Godolphin negotiated the surrender of the Scilly Isles to Parliament. The House of Commons subsequently issued a resolution stating that he, as governor of Scilly, upon surrender, and with all forts, would enjoy his estate and be free from arrest for acts of war.

He was elected once more as Member of Parliament for Helston in the Convention Parliament of 1660. After the Restoration of the monarchy, he was knighted during King Charles II’s coronation. Sir Francis died in 1667.

### Marriage and Issue

He married Dorothy Berkeley, daughter of Sir Henry Berkeley of Yarlington, Somerset, who was MP for Ilchester. They had multiple children, including:

- **Sir William Godolphin, 1st Baronet** (c. 1640 – 1710): Eldest son and heir, MP for Helston from 1665 to 1679, created a baronet in 1661.

- **Francis Godolphin** (died 1675): Auditor of the imprests.

- **Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin** (1645–1712): First Lord of the Treasury and Secretary of State, MP for Helston and St Mawes, elevated to peerage in 1684, and Earl in 1706.

- **Dr Henry Godolphin**: Dean of St Paul’s and Provost of Eton College.

- **Elizabeth Godolphin** (died 1707): Married Sir Arthur Northcote, 2nd Baronet, of Hayne, Newton St Cyres, and King’s Nympton Park. She was the mother of the third and fourth Baronet Northcoters and a founding mother of the Earls of Iddesleigh.

Other children include:

- **Ursula Godolphin** (born 1643): Married John Crudge; they had a son, William Crudge (~1660–~1720).

- **Jael Godolphin**: Married Edward Boscawen (1628–1685), MP for Cornwall.

### Death

Sir Francis Godolphin died in 1667.

### References

- D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, *Members of the Long Parliament*, 1954.

- Cobbett's *Parliamentary History of England*, 1808.

- Browne Willis, *Notitia Parliamentaria*, 1750.

- Burke's *Extinct Peerage*, 1831.

- Leigh Rayment’s Peerage Pages.