Contents [hide]

Godden History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Godden History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Netherlands
England

Early Origins of the Godden family

The surname Godden was first found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, where the following are listed as both a forename and a surname: Godin de Bech, Cambridgeshire; Godun le Bere, Cambridgeshire; Roger Godin, Cambridgeshire; William Godin, Oxfordshire; John filius Goding, Huntingdonshire; Alice Goding, Cambridgeshire; and Alice Godon, Oxfordshire. 1

The same rolls include Godun le Bere in Cheshire. Later Philip Guodun, Guodin was listed in the Assize Rolls of Somerset in 1280. 2

The name is derived from "God or good. Saxon, and win, conqueror, that is, a conqueror in God, converted or victorious in God." 3

Early records also listed the name in its Latin form. The Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I listed Gaudinus de Albo Monast, 10 Henry III (during the tenth year of King Henry III's reign) and the Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III listed Gaudinus de Aseby, Lincolnshire, 20 Edward I (during the twentieth year of King Edward I's reign.) 4

"Godden is an ancient Kent surname. The vicar of Reculver in 1663 was thus named, and in Folkestone church there is, or was, a memorial to a Godden of the date of 1636. The Goddens held the manor of Leyborne and much other property in the county during the 16th. century; and back in the 14th century we find a family of De Godden holding the manor of Godden in Tenterden parish, where the surname yet remains. This is in fact an early English surname, being represented in the forms of Godin and Goding in the adjacent county of Sussex during the 13th century." 5

Early History of the Godden family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Godden research. Another 132 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1455, 1487, 1510, 1548, 1600, 1624, 1661, 1678 and 1688 are included under the topic Early Godden History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Godden Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Godden, Goden, Kodden, Goddings, Godding, Goddin and many more.

Early Notables of the Godden family

Distinguished members of the family include

Thomas Godden, (1624-1688) born Thomas Tylden, an English courtier implicated in the Titus Oates plot...
In 1678 Godden was accused of complicity in the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey...
His lodgings in Somerset House were searched, and his servant, Lawrence Hill, was executed as an accomplice in the crime on the false testimony of Miles Prance, who swore that the corpse was concealed...
Godden escaped to the continent, and retired to Paris...

Godden migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Godden Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Christopher Fred. Godden, aged 22, who landed in America from Sittingbourne, England, in 1905
George A. Godden, aged 8, who immigrated to the United States from Guernsey, England, in 1907
John William Godden, aged 30, who landed in America from London, England, in 1907
William A. Godden, aged 7, who landed in America from Guernsey, England, in 1907
Leonard Edward Godden, aged 2, who landed in America from Ashford, England, in 1908
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Godden migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Godden Settlers in Canada in the 20th Century

Herbert D. Godden, aged 39, who settled in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1910
Olive G. Godden, aged 25, who immigrated to Hamilton, Ontario, in 1910
Ronald Godden, aged 1, who settled in Toronto, Canada, in 1912
Dyason Herbert Godden, aged 41, who settled in Toronto, Canada, in 1912
Olive Godden, aged 28, who settled in Toronto, Canada, in 1912
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Godden migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Godden Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Godden, English convict who was convicted in London, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Baring" in April 1815, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 6
Mr. James Godden, (Rangeley), English convict who was convicted in Kent, England for 15 years, transported aboard the "Duncan" on 10th December 1840, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 7
Mr. James Godden, English convict who was convicted in Maidstone, Kent, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Bangalore" on 28th March 1848, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) from Bermuda 8
George Godden, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Thomas Lowry" in 1848 9
Edward Godden, aged 35, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Prince Regent" in 1849 10
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Godden (post 1700) +

Kimberly Pate Godden, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Illinois, 2008 11
Edwin John Godden (1888-1979), English-born businessman and politician in Newfoundland who represented Trinity Bay and then Trinity South (1924-1932)
The Ven Max Leon Godden MA (1923-2000), English Archdeacon of Lewes (1972-1975)
Gertrude M. Godden OBE, English author of works on anthropology and folklore
Malcolm Reginald Godden (b. 1945), English chair holder of the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Oxford
Anthony Leonard "Tony" Godden (b. 1955), English former football goalkeeper from Gillingham, England
Winsome Ruth Key Godden (1906-1984), English novelist, born in Assam, India, sister of Margaret Rumer Godden
Margaret Rumer Godden OBE (1907-1998), English author of over 60 fiction and nonfiction books
Matthew James "Matty" Godden (b. 1991), English professional footballer from Canterbury, England
Tony Godden (b. 1972), former Australian rules footballer
... (Another 4 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Testa de Nevill or "Liber Feodorum" or "Book of Fees," thought to have been written by Ralph de Nevill, for King John (1199–1216)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/baring
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 11th August 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/duncan
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 15th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/bangalore
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) THOMAS LOWRY 1848. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1848ThomasLowry.htm
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) "PRINCE REGENT" 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849PrinceRegent.htm
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 23) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html