Francis Goodwin

Francis Goodwin (23 May 1784 – 30 August 1835) was an English architect, best known for his many provincial churches in the Gothic revival style, civic buildings such as the first Manchester Town Hall (1819–1834) and Macclesfield town hall (1823), plus country houses such as Lissadell House, County Sligo (1833).

Goodwin was born at King's Lynn, Norfolk, and became a pupil of J. Coxedge of Kensington. He exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1806 an "Internal View of St. Nicholas' Chapel, Lynn".

He was also remembered for his allegedly aggressive business methods, particularly in respect of commissions for the so-called "Waterloo churches", constructed after British victory in the Battle of Waterloo, which effectively ended the Napoleonic Wars in 1815; Parliament voted one million pounds to the Church of England to show their gratitude for victory.

His projects included:
*Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, Birmingham (1820-1822) [cite book|author=Douglas Hickman|title=Birmingham|year=1970|publisher=Studio Vista Ltd.]
*St Peter's, Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester (1821–1824)
*St Leonard's, Church Street, Bilston, Wolverhampton (1825–1826)
*St Mary's, Oxford Street, Bilston
*Church of St George, Castlefield, Manchester (1826–1828)
*County Gaol, Vernon Street, Derby (1827)
*St George's, Kidderminster, Worcestershire (1821–1824) ["The Buildings of England: Worcestershire", Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968 Penguin. p206.]

From 1819 to 1826, Thomas Allom was a pupil of Goodwin's.

In 1833, Goodwin published his own book: "Domestic Architecture, Being a Series of Designs for Mansions, Villas, Rectory Houses, Parsonage Houses, Bailiffs' Lodge, Gardener's Lodge, Game-Keeper's Lodge, Park Gate Lodges, Etc."

References