Apprenticed to an engineer in Bristol, where his architectural training was largely self-taught, Godwin moved to London about 1862, and made the acquaintance of the reform
Gothic designer
William Burges. As an
antiquary, he had a particular interest in
medieval costume, furniture and architecture. Godwin was widowed in 1865; during his affair with the renowned actress
Ellen Terry between 1868 and 1874, she retired with him to Hertfordshire, and produced two children:
Edith Craig (1869–1947) and
Edward Gordon Craig (1872–1966), who became an important actor, designer, director, and theoretical writer of the early 20th century European stage. The affair inspired Godwin to spend much time designing theatrical costumes and scenery. After she returned to the theatre and their connection cooled, Godwin married a young designer in his office,
Beatrice/Beatrix Birnie Philip (1857–1896), who bore him a son, Edward. After Godwin's death, she married the painter
James Whistler in 1888. Godwin was a frequent contributor to the periodical
British Architect and published a number of books on architecture, costume and theatre. of 1867–70 (V&A Museum no. CIRC.38:1 to 5-1953) To judge from his sketchbooks at the
Victoria and Albert Museum, one might have expected an
eclectic historicist, but Godwin, by no means a tame reproducer of antiquarian Gothic designs, was among the first to extend the European design repertory to include the arts of Japan, which had been opened to the Western world in 1853. His
Anglo-Japanese style of furniture, mostly executed with an ebonized finish, was designed for Dromore Castle and his
own use from 1867. Similar designs produced later by the firms of William Watt and
Collinson & Lock also emphasised the stripped-down "Anglo-Japanese taste" pared of merely decorative touches. The spirit of Japan, rather than mere details, is strongly revealed in a black cabinet Godwin designed for Collinson & Lock, as was
Princess Louise, for whom he designed a studio at
Kensington Palace. From 1876, Godwin designed houses for the new
garden suburb of
Bedford Park,
Chiswick.
His designs were thought poor, as they had steep staircases, a toilet in the bathroom, relatively small rooms, and narrow corridors. Only a few of his houses were built; they are taller and narrower than those built by other architects. In 1877 the painter
James Whistler, himself a connoisseur of Japanese prints, commissioned Godwin to build him a house in
Tite Street,
Chelsea, which Godwin completed the following year, in spite of its being initially objected to by The Metropolitan Board of Works. However, Whistler's bankruptcy in 1879 forced the sale of the house along with the rest of the painter's effects. The buyer of the house, an art critic, made alterations that Whistler and Godwin deplored. When Whistler exhibited his radical
Impressionist paintings of
Venice, Godwin entirely redecorated the exhibition galleries to complement them. Godwin then designed another house in Tite Street for
Archibald Stuart-Wortley and
Carlo Pellegrini, later sold to
Slingsby Bethell. A third house in Tite Street was commissioned by
Frank Miles and completed the following year, 1878, originally number 1 but still standing and now numbered 44. Miles lived there, initially with his friend Oscar Wilde, until committed to an asylum in 1887, after which it was sold by his family to the artist, G.P. Jacomb-Hood. In 1881, Godwin designed a new entrance for the premises in
Bond Street of the
Fine Art Society, a progressive venue for exhibitions of new art, where one of the first exhibitions of Japanese woodblock prints was held. Godwin died on 6 October 1886 in London from complications following an operation to remove kidney stones. ==References==