Francis Godolphin (1605-1667)

Sir Francis Godolphin KB (25 December 1605 – 22 March 1667), of Godolphin in Cornwall, was an English nobleman, politician, and Member of Parliament. His chief claim to fame is that he was the dedicatee of Hobbes' Leviathan.

Godolphin was the eldest son of Sir William Godolphin (1567-1613) and brother of the poet Sidney Godolphin, both of whom were also members of Parliament. He succeeded his father in 1613, inheriting estates which included the lease of the Scilly Isles.

He represented Helston in the Parliament of 1625-6, again in the Long Parliament and was appointed High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1638.

Being a Royalist, when the Civil War broke out he returned to Cornwall, where he secured the Scilly Isles for the King and raised a regiment of which his brother, William, took command. In consequence, he was disbarred from sitting in Parliament in January 1644, and his estates were sequestered. However, after the capture of the King he negotiated an honourable capitulation of the Scilly Isles to Parliament, the House of Commons voting "that Mr Godolphin, governor of Scilly, upon his surrender of that island, with all forts &c, should enjoy his estate and be free from arrest for any acts of war".

He was elected once more for Helston in the Convention Parliament of 1660, and following the Restoration he was knighted at Charles II's coronation. He died in 1667.

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