Godwin, meaning “god-friend”, was one of the commonest names in England before the Norman Conquest.  A notable bearer of the name was Godwin, Earl of Wessex, chief adviser to Canute, and most powerful earl in England.  Under Edward the Confessor, he was exiled, but almost immediately invaded England and regained his former importance.  The Goodwin Sands off the coast of Kent, formerly the scene of many shipwrecks, were supposedly once a fertile island belonging to the earl.  Our Goodwin family is unlikely to be linked to the noble earl, but probably descends from one of his innumerable namesakes.

Ralph Goodwin, his wife and young son Thomas settled in the Shropshire village of Bridgnorth some time before 1620.  Their origin is unknown at present, but the name Goodwin does not occur in the Bridgnorth parish records before their arrival.  Seven further children were christened at St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth:

Ralph's wife is not named in the baptismal records, and his forename is often spelled "Raph", reflecting the old pronunciation "Rafe". 

Thomas Goodwin was born before his parents moved to Bridgnorth in about 1618, and he married Elizabeth Preene in St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth on 1 September 1640.  Elizabeth was born in Bridgnorth in either 1617 or 1618.  They had ten children, all christened in St Leonard's Church:

Luke Goodwin was christened in St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth on 26 October 1654, and married Diana Hagar there on 20 October 1677.  Diana was christened in the nearby market town of Madeley on 13 January 1655, and was the daughter of William Hagar of Bridgnorth and his wife Mary.  The Hagar family is recorded at Bridgnorth from the late 1500s.  "Diana" was a fairly unusual name at the time, and the records show various spellings, including "Deyanna", "Diyanna", "Hanna" and "Hannah".

Luke and Diana had four children, all christened in Bridgnorth:

Thomas Goodwin was christened in St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth on 17 August 1679, and married Mary Wheelwright there on 5 June 1703.  Mary was christened in Bridgnorth on 4 November 1682, and was the daughter of Rowland Wheelwright and his wife Hester Hopper.  Thomas and Mary had eleven children, all christened in Bridgnorth.

Richard Goodwin was christened in St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth on 2 March 1712, and married Margaret Sydall there on 14 February 1739.  (Margaret was born in Bridgnorth in either 1716 or 1718.)  Their eight children were all christened in Bridgnorth:

Thomas Goodwin was christened in St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth on 12 September 1756, and married Margaret Bagley in nearby Quatt Malvern on 14 February 1786.  Margaret was possibly christened in Barrow, near Broseley on 1 April 1760, daughter of John and Sarah Bagley.  Thomas was a stone mason, and the couple had five children, all christened in Bridgnorth:

Edward Goodwin was christened in St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth on 4 August 1793, and became a carpet weaver.  He married Mary Hancox on 26 April 1818 in Ribbesford, Worcestershire, and the couple had seven children, all born in Bridgnorth:

Anna Maria Goodwin was born in Bridgnorth, and christened in Quatt Malvern, Shropshire on 3 March 1819.  She married Matthew Wharington, a weaver, in St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth on 25 January 1837.  He was christened at St Peter's Church, Leeds on 20 August 1813, and was the son of Matthew Wharington and his wife, Elizabeth Taylor.  Like most of Anna Maria's siblings, the Wharingtons left Bridgnorth around 1850 when the carpet weaving trade fell into recession, and migrated to Wolverhampton, where Matthew became a warehouseman.  They had twelve children:

Matthew died in Wolverhampton in 1875, and Anna Maria in 1879.

Note: For reasons of clarity, the descendants of this line are followed on a separate page.

John Ambrose Goodwin was christened in St Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth on 7 August 1822, and married Maria Johnson there on 1 October 1844.  Maria was born in Knighton, Radnorshire in about 1820, but her parents James and Sarah were from Shopshire: James was a tanner, and his wife Sarah was born in Bridgnorth in about 1790.

John and Maria were the last generation of the Goodwin family to live in Bridgnorth: the advent of power weaving and steam-powered mass production sounded the death knell of the old cottage industry practised in their youth by John and his brothers.  In late 1850 or early 1851 the family moved to Wolverhampton, where John is variously described as a tarcloth maker, a tarpauler and a sheet and tent maker.

The first four of John and Maria's children were born in Bridgnorth and the others in Wolverhampton:

Maria's mother Sarah was living with the Goodwins in 1851, and her brother James also brought his family to Wolverhampton in the late 1850s.  Maria died in Wolverhampton in 1863, and John married Maria Peplow in St James' Church Wolverhampton on 4 July 1869.  Maria was a widow, born in Wellington, Shropshire in about 1811, and was the daughter of a gardener named John Peplow.  She died in Wolverhampton, and was buried in Merridale Cemetery on 28 May 1878.  John then married Mary Price in Wolverhampton in 1879.  Mary was born in Priorlee, Shropshire in about 1820, and died in Wolverhampton in 1884.  John was buried in Meridale Cemetery on 12 December 1882.

Edwin Goodwin (also known as Edward) was christened in Bridgnorth on 15 October 1826, and followed the family trade of weaving as a young man.  However, by 1851 he had left Bridgnorth for Leicester, where he was an apprentice grocer, and he married Betsy Thorpe there in 1857.  Betsy was born in Leicester in 1833, and was the daughter of Joseph Thorpe and his wife Catherine Shaw.  Edward and Betsy had two sons:

Edward died in Leicester in 1866, and Betsy subsequently married Thomas Elsworth there in 1875.

Thomas Goodwin was christened in Bridgnorth on 21 July 1834, and like his brothers, started his working life there as a carpet weaver.  However, like them, he moved away in the 1850s to seek work elsewhere, becoming a blacksmith in Sedgley, Staffordshire.  He married Emma Farlow in Wolverhampton in 1856, and the couple had four children, all born in Sedgley:

Thomas died in Sedgley in 1876, and Emma married Richard Hill at St James' Church, Dudley in 1878.

James Johnson Goodwin, oldest son of John Ambrose Goodwin and Maria Johnson, was born in Bridgnorth in 1842, and moved with his family to Wolverhampton as a child.  He worked as a labourer in the iron works, and married Emma Fenn at All Saints' Church, Sedgley in 1864.  Emma was born in Wolverhampton in 1847, and was the daughter of John Fenn and his wife, Caroline Holmes.  James and Emma had fourteen children, all born in Wolverhampton:

Seven of the children died in infancy, and are buried in Merridale Cemetery.

Harry Goodwin, who is bizarrely recorded under the name "Uriah" on the 1881 census, was a private in the South Staffordshire Regiment during WW1.  He was killed on the Somme on 21 December 1916, and is buried in La Neuville Communal Cemetery, Corbie.

Emma died in Wolverhampton, and was buried in Merridale Cemetery on 24 December 1906.  James was buried there on 16 January 1916 at the age of 70 under the name James Ambrose Goodwin.

John Ambrose Goodwin, son of John Ambrose Goodwin and Maria Johnson, was born in Bridgnorth in 1850, shortly before the family moved to Wolverhampton.  He was an iron moulder, and married Sarah Ann Smith in Wolverhampton on 6 June 1870.  The couple had six children, and migrated from Wolvehampton to Manchester in the mid-1870s.

John died in Manchester in 1901, and Sarah in 1921.

Jeremiah Ambrose Goodwin, son of John Ambrose Goodwin and Maria Johnson, was born in Wolverhampton in 1858, and married Elizabeth Rebecca Hadley there in 1880.  She was born in Wolverhampton in 1858, and was the daughter of William Hadley and his wife Rebecca Pugh.  Elizabeth had a son called William, born before her marriage, who is listed on census returns and his death record with the surname Goodwin: his true relationship to Jeremiah is unknown.  In addition to William, the couple had eight children:

Theodore Goodwin (b. 1887) served in the South Staffordshire and Worcestershire Regiments during WW1.

Jeremiah died in Wolverhampton aged 41, and was buried in Merridale Cemetery on 15 March 1903.

Ann Maria Goodwin, daughter of John Ambrose Goodwin and Maria Johnson, was born in Wolverhampton in 1861, and married Charles Carter, a key maker, at St Mark's Church, Wolverhampton on 6 August 1881.  Charles was born in Wolverhampton in 1862, and was the son of Charles Carter and his wife Elizabeth Creswell. 

Ann had a son before her marriage who was registered in her maiden name of Goodwin, although he appears on the 1891 census as Carter.  (He reverted to the surname Goodwin when he married.)  After their marriage, Ann and Charles had eleven more children, all born in Wolverhampton:

Ann died in Wolverhampton on 18 August 1923, and Charles on 15 October 1933: both are buried in Merridale Cemetery.

Emily Goodwin, youngest daughter of John Ambrose Goodwin and Maria Johnson, was born in Wolverhampton in 1863, but her mother died just after her birth, and she was brought up in Bridgnorth by her maternal grandmother Sarah Johnson.  Emily married William Rudd in Bridgnorth in 1882, and the couple had seven children, all born in Bridgnorth:

Albert Ernest Rudd served in the 4th Btn (Territorial Force) of the Shropshire Light Infantry.  At the outbreak of WW1, the battalion was sent to Hong Kong, Singapore and Rangoon on imperial garrison duty, and Albert died in Rangoon on 7 February 1915.

William Henry Goodwin, older son of Edward Goodwin and Betsy Thorpe, was born in Leicester in 1853, and joined the Royal Navy, where he is recorded as a "Boy 1st Class" on board the Rattlesnake in 1871 and as a signalman on the Minotaur in 1881.  He married Augusta Susannah Thompson in Portsmouth in 1878, and had two children, both born in Portsmouth:

By 1891, William had left the Navy and returned to Leicester, where he worked as a warehouseman until his death in 1902.  Augusta died in Leicester in 1932.

George Albert Goodwin, younger son of Edward Goodwin and Betsy Thorpe, was born in Leicester in 1864, and became a lithographic printer.  He married Florence Gertrude Lewitt (daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Lewitt) in Leicester in 1888, and the couple had two children:

George later became a commercial traveller, and in 1911 the family was living in Enfield.

John James Goodwin, oldest child of James Johnson Goodwin and Emma Fenn, was born in Wolverhampton in 1865, and married Ada John in Pembroke in 1890.  He may have served in the army at some point, as his older daughter was born in Armagh Camp, Ireland, and he is not with his family on the 1901 census, but by 1911 he was a greengrocer back in Wolverhampton.  John and Ada had two daughters:

Enoch Goodwin, second child of James Johnson Goodwin and Emma Fenn, was born in Wolverhampton on 12 November 1866, and married Sarah Evans there in 1891.  Sarah was born in Wolverhampton in 1871, and was the daughter of Samuel and Ann Evans.  They had eight children, all born in Wolverhampton:

Four of the children died in infancy, and are buried in Merridale Cemetery.

William Goodwin, son of James Johnson Goodwin and Emma Fenn, was born in Wolverhampton in 1871, and married Sarah Hannah Wootton there on 19 May 1900.  Sarah was born in Wolverhampton in 1874, and was the daughter of Moses Wootton and his wife, Sarah Warren.  William and Sarah had six children, all born in Wolverhampton:

Samuel Goodwin, the youngest child of James Johnson Goodwin and Emma Fenn to survive infancy, was born in Wolverhampton on 5 October 1888, and married Mary Elizabeth Baker there in St John's Church on Christmas Day 1911. 

Samuel and Mary had eight children, all born in Wolverhampton.

Maria Goodwin, oldest child of John Ambrose Goodwin and Sarah Ann Smith, was born in Wolverhampton in 1871, and moved to Manchester with her family as a child.  She married Josiah Hackett, a warehouseman, in St Catharine's Church, Manchester in 1892.  Josiah was born in Manchester in 1864, and was the son of Thomas Hackett and his wife, Maria Turner.  Maria and Josiah had three children, all born in Manchester:

John Ambrose Goodwin, oldest son of John Ambrose Goodwin and Sarah Ann Smith, was born in Wolverhampton on 3 December 1872, and moved to Manchester with his family as a young child.  He was an iron moulder, and married Margaret Ann Archer in St Catherine's Church, Manchester in 1897.  Margaret was born in Salford in 1876, and was the daughter of William Archer and his wife, Eliza Jane Down.  She was a widow when she married John, and was previously married to James Arthur Willett, who died in 1895, just a year after their marriage.

John and Margaret had ten children, all born in Manchester:

John died in Manchester in 1927.

Louisa Goodwin, daughter of John Ambrose Goodwin and Sarah Ann Smith, was the first of their children to be born in Manchester.  She was born in 1877, and married Robert John Denham in St Catharine's Church, Manchester in 1897.  Robert was born in Manchester in 1875, and was the son of Job Denham and his wife, Annette Crawford.  Louisa and Robert had four children, all born in Manchester:

Thomas Ambrose Goodwin, son of John Ambrose Goodwin and Sarah Ann Smith, was born in Manchester in 1880, and married Mary Ann White in St Matthew's Church, Ardwick in 1902.  Thomas was an iron moulder, and the couple had seven children, all born in Manchester:

Mary Elizabeth Goodwin, daughter of Jeremiah Ambrose Goodwin and Elizabeth Rebecca Hadley, was born in Wolverhampton in 1882, and married George Robert Watkiss there in 1905.  George was born in Wolverhampton in 1882, and was the son of Edward Watkiss, a coal merchant, and his wife Martha Lloyd.  Mary and George had seven children, all born in Wolverhampton:

George died in Wolverhampton in 1935, and Mary in 1950.

Theodore Goodwin, son of Jeremiah Ambrose Goodwin and Elizabeth Rebecca Hadley, was born in Wolverhampton in 1887, and married Mary Sophia Phillips there in 1915.  They had one known son who sadly died shortly after birth:

Mary died in Wolverhampton in 1928, aged just 33.

Matthew Houghton Goodwin, oldest child of Ann Maria Goodwin, was born in Wolverhampton in 1879, and apparently lived with his aunt Mary Ann Goodwin and her husband Samuel Gregory until his mother married Charles Carter and was able to provide a home for him.  He married Eliza Davies in Wolverhampton in 1901, and the couple lived with Eliza's parents, George and Ellen. 

They had four children:

Matthew died in Wolverhampton in 1945.

Amy Elizabeth Carter, oldest daughter of Charles Carter and Ann Maria Goodwin, was born in Wolverhampton in 1883, and married George Edward Finch there in 1905.  George was born in Wolverhampton in 1881, and was the son of Felix Finch, a coachman, and his wife Elizabeth Day. 

George and Elizabeth had four sons, all born in Wolverhampton:

Amy died in Wolverhampton in 1957, and George in 1964.

John Carter, son of Charles Carter and Ann Maria Goodwin, was born in Wolverhampton in 1886, and worked as a brass caster.  He married Ellen Duffield in Wolverhampton in 1906, and had nine children:

Phyllis Carter, daughter of Charles Carter and Ann Maria Goodwin, was born in Wolverhampton in 1890, and married Douglas Tolley there in 1915.  Douglas was born in Walsall in 1885, and was the son of Samuel Charles Tolley and his wife Mary Anne.  As a young man he worked as a tool maker, before enlisting in the Worcester Regiment in 1907, and serving in India and Burma, but his hearing worsened to the point of near-total deafness, and he was given a medical discharge in May 1915.

Douglas and Phyllis had three children, one of whom died in infancy:

Douglas died in Wolverhampton in 1949 and Phyllis in 1968.

Ernest Richard Goodwin, youngest child of Thomas Goodwin and Emma Farlow, was born in Sedgley in 1870, and married Sarah Ann Lester there in 1892.  Sarah was born in Sedgley in 1871, and was the daughter of George and Julia Lester.  The couple had one daughter:

Ernest died in Sedgley in 1951.