He was born in
Kings Lynn,
Norfolk, the eldest son of William Goodwin, who was a carpenter. He was trained as an architect by J. Coxedge in
Kensington, London. In 1806, he exhibited a view of a chapel in Kings Lynn at the
Royal Academy. He married twice, in 1808 to Mary Stort, and in 1818 to Elizabeth Reynolds. From the marriages he had at least five sons. Goodwin started his architectural career with work on two churches in Kings Lynn, His big opportunity came with the passing of the
Church Building Act 1818 which granted £1 million (equivalent to £ million in ) for the building of what became known as
Commissioners' churches. Nine of the churches he designed for the commissioners were accepted and completed. He designed new churches for other clients, and also rebuilt or remodelled churches. Goodwin received commissions for civic buildings, in particular town halls for Manchester and Macclesfield, markets for Leeds and Salford, and for Derby Gaol. Most of the designs for churches were in
Gothic Revival style, while those for the civic buildings were mainly
Neoclassical. Later in his career he became involved with domestic architecture, in particular in designing
Lissadell House in
County Sligo, Ireland, for
Sir Robert Gore-Booth. In 1830, Goodwin prepared and published a Classical design for a ‘Grand National
Cemetery’ to be laid out probably at
Primrose Hill ‘intended for the prevention of the Danger and Inconvenience of Burying the Dead within the Metropolis: Proposed to be erected by a Capital of 400,000 [£] in 16,000 shares at 25 [£]. each’. A copy of the prospectus is in the
Guildhall Library. The Grand National Cemetery was not completed. Goodwin worked from an office near
Bedford Square, London. According to the
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, he used highly competitive measures to acquire commissions, and used employees to "chase commissions" in the Midlands and northern England using "the
stagecoach system". He "inundated committees" with designs, and undercut his rivals' estimates. He also created unaccepted designs for a number of major buildings, including for
King's College, Cambridge, Birmingham grammar school, and the new
Houses of Parliament. Goodman died suddenly from "
apoplexy" in 1835 at his home near
Portman Square, London, and was buried in
Kensal Green Cemetery. ==See also==