Sidney Godolphin (poet)

Sidney Godolphin (1610 (baptised) – 9 February 1643) was an English poet, courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1628 and 1643. He died fighting in the Royalist army in the English Civil War.

Godolphin was the second son of Sir William Godolphin (died 1613) of Godolphin, Cornwall, by his wife, Thomasin, and was baptised on 15 January 1610. He was admitted a commoner of Exeter College, Oxford, 25 June 1624, aged 18, remained there for three years, and afterwards entered one of the inns of court, and travelled abroad. He was elected Member of Parliament MP for Helston in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.

Godolphin was elected again as MP for Helston to the Short Parliament in March 1640, and to the Long Parliament in October 1640. He was known as an adherent of Strafford, and was one of the last royalist members to leave the house. When the civil war broke out, he made a final speech of warning, and left to raise a force in Cornwall. Despite his diminutive stature he, refusing an officer's commission and choosing to serve as a trooper, joined the cavalry of the army commanded by Sir Ralph Hopton, which crossed the Tamar and advanced into Devon. Their declaration signed by Godolphin is in ‘Lismore Papers’. Godolphin, whose advice, according to Clarendon, was highly valued by the commanders in spite of his lack of military experience, was shot in a skirmish at Chagford.

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