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| J.W. Godward: the Eclipse of Classicism, by Vern Grosvenor Swanson, Phd |
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It seems as though each alternate generation tended to named its eldest son John, and then during the next generation, "William." Our artist's family in fact followed this course. John William Godward's great-great grandfather was named William, and was born the 11th of August 1737 and died in 1823. Living eighty-six years, he certainly set a family trait for longevity. He was married to an Ann Robinson, who died the same year as him. She bore him five children, all carrying the common given names of Mary, Ann, William, Elizabeth and John. The youngest of the elder William's children, John Godward Sr., was born on the 27th of August 1777 in England. He was married to Hannah Frost, who gave him four children. When John died on the 24th of March 1836, he was living at No.22 Cornford Grove off Bedford Hill in Balham, Surrey. Balham was then a rural town, situated between Battersea and Wimbledon. John Godward Sr.'s firstborn, William Godward Sr., was born on the 12th of April 1801 and lived at No. 30 Marguerite Terrace, Chelsea, in a big and very beautiful house, behind the chelsea Town Hall. William Godward Sr. married Mary Perkinton on March 27, 1827 and was blessed with seven children. They had four sons and two daughters that lived to maturity. During the 1851 census they lived at No.27 Markham Street in Balham.
The forth child, John Godward, was the father of the object of our study, John William, the artist. John Godward was born on the 27th of November 1836 in Balham England.6 He was christened at the Padddington Church in London. He married the twenty-four year old, Sarah Eborall on the 29th of June 1859 at Chelsea Church in Chelsea. Between June and October of that year they moved to No. 2 Woodbine Cottages, Bridge Road West (now called West Bridge Road). It was located in a smarter district of Battersea, then a part of Surrey, but now incorporated into London. At that time Battersea and Wandsborough were quiet rural riverside villages on the south banks of the River Thames. A mixed area, Battersea had some slum dwellings close to the river and many factories along the banks of the Thames. The Godwards lived in a nicer precinct. The row houses of the Woodbine Cottages, built about 1851, were just the kind of place one would expect a newly wed couple to rent.7 But during the 1860's through 70's the area began to grow dramatically. By the 1880's and 90's most of the large open tracts, once used for market gardening, had disappeared under bricks and mortar as London expanded southward. John Godward, like his father and brothers William, worked as an investment clerk in a life assurance office. Specifically he worked for The Law Life Assurance Society at Fleet Street in London's financial district. His younger brother, Arthur, was a banker's clerk, while his brother George, was a builder's clerk. He seems to have been quite successful though not rich. Notwithstanding he was the forth son he inherited more than his share of his father's estate.8 The John Godward family might be considered respectable, bourgeois and puritanical. They had five children. While John Godward lived to the age of 68, dying in August 16, 1904, his wife Sarah Eborall lived to be over a century. She received a letter of congratulations from the Queen Mother on her hundredth birthday. Sarah died at her home in No. 18 Denmark Hill in Wimbledon on December 29, 1935 at age 100 years, 7 months and 12 days. The other Godward lines seem to be equally energetic, long lived, financially successful and proper. It was into this ostensibly respectable bourgeois family, ideal Victorian home that John William Godward, the object of our interest, was born. | |
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Four more children were born to the family.10 The second child, Alfred Godward (7 Dec 1863 - 19 Jun 1943) was also born at No.2 Woodbine Cottages in Battersea. Alfred became an insurance officer, like his father, and lived to be nearly eighty years old. He married the once wed, Margaret Louisa Smith Turner on the 1st of August 1893 in Horbling Lincolnshire.11 Alfred and Margaret Godward lived at No. 39 Culverdon Road in Balham from 1894 to 1904. Culverdon Road leads off from Cornford Grove, where other family members lived. They had three sons and a daughter. The oldest was Cuthbert (1894-1964) who married Ivy Godward of Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Cuthbert and Ivy lived for a short time in 1922 at No. 410 Fulham Road the home of the artist and later at Walton-on-Thames. They had no children and Ivy died a spinster in 1981. Their next son, John Sidney (1896-1945) seems to have worked for a foreign firm in the Orient and was captured by the Japanese during World War II. He died of ????? at Changi Prison Camp in Singapore on the 27th of August, just after the war ended. Their one daughter, Margaret Mary, called "Marjorie" Godward (1899-1967) died a spinster. Alfred and Margaret's last child, Arthur Henry, was called "Harry" Godward (1900-1963). He was typically in the financial world as a bank clerk. Though he married twice he had no children. The father, Alfred died in senility in 1943 at Birthrope Woodcote Parke Road, Epson, Surrey. Sometime between February and October of 1864, the John and Sarah Godward family left Battersea for the more metropolitan area of No. 1 Peterborough Terrace in Fulham.12 Peterborough Terrace was renamed Harwood Terrace in 1881-82 and formed a part of Sarah Godward's estate at her death.13 Fulham is, in fact, quite close to Westbridge Road, on the opposite bank of the River Thames. How interesting that Fulham came into the story at such an early stage in J. W. Godward's life.14 Fulham was west of Chelsea, it was the heart of the Manor of Fulham from the eighth century. It developed not as a single village but a number of settlements which had to wait until the second half of the 19th century to be linked together. The communities were: Fulham Town, Parsons Green, Walham Green, North End and Sands End. Fulham was the fruit and kitchen garden north of the Thames.15 The area that the Godwards settled retained many of its farms and gardens well into the 20th century. It was there that Mary Frederica, called "Nin" Godward (1 Feb 1866 - 14 Jan 1957) was born.16 She lived to be over ninety-one years old. She was the first of the John and Sarah Godward children to marry, being only twenty-three at the time. She married William George Scott on the 19th of October 1889. They lived in Surrey and had two children. Of all the siblings, she was the closest to her brother John William and might be considered the other "black sheep." Later she became indispensable to the family as the proverbial "Dutiful Daughter" taking care if her infirm mother. Probably because of an opportunity to "move-up" the growing John Godward family again relocated between March and October of 1866, they leased the larger accommodations at No. 3 Peterborough Villas in Fulham, not far from No.1 Peterborough Terrace. Most of the moves seemed to come after the birth of a new child. Probably they just moved to new accommodations to fit the size of their family. The 1871 census directory classifies Peterborough Villas as Sandsend (an area close to the River Thames) while in the 1881 census it was listed under Kings Road.17 A map of Fulham and Chelsea shows Peterborough Villas almost surrounded by fields. There Edmund Theodore, called "Ted" Godward (23 Nov 1869 - 29 Nov 1946) was born.18 He lived to be seventy-seven years old. Edmund married Elizabeth Beatrice Formby, but had no children from this union. Edmund suceeded the financial tradition of his father, by becaming London manager for the Australasian Bank. His wife died in 1926 at "The Dower House" in Cheam Surrey, while he died at "The Grange" Crawley Down Sussex in 1946. The youngest child, Charles Arthur Godward (29 Jun 1872 - 9 Oct 1949) was also born at No. 3 Peterborough Villas. He was a sportsman and lived to be seventy-seven years old.19 Charles Arthur married Gertrude Horton Plumtree in 1920 and lived at "Barton" on Bouverie Road in Chipstead, Surrey. After his death in 1949 Gertrude moved to Church Lane Avenue Hooley, Coulsdon in Surrey. Charles Arthur followed his father into the fire and burglary insurance business.20 Their only child was Peter John Godward of Rustington, who in turn had a son and daughter. The family lived at No. 3 Peterborough Villas in Fulham until at least 1872. This placed John Godward much closer to his work on the Strand. However, according to Kelly's Street Directory, the family were living at No. 3 Dorset Road in Wimbledon by 1876.21 If the pattern established with the birth of their other children holds true, perhaps that date could be moved back until July of 1872 with the birth of Charles Arthur. Thus the Godward's may have lived at the Dorset address from 1872 to 1882.22 Interestingly one of the few photographs of his family depict his brothers with tennis rackets--- a legacy of living in Wimbledon? John William possibly went to school in the Fulham-Wimbledon area. The Education Act of 1871 changed the schooling system, nationalizing most of it. However by the time Godward was ten, the national schools were not fully installed. We know nothing of his youth. But given the "loner" image which he later projected, one can imagine that he was shy and non assertive. With the possible exception of his grades and drawing ability he probably had an undistinguished school-boy career. Like so many artists he was probably the "school artist" wherever he was. As Godward came from a middle class family he may easily have attended one of the numerous private schools common in that day. Many of these were very small establishments, usually in someone's house. The wealthier sectors of society would generally be taught by governesses in their own homes, while boys from these families might then go on to boarding schools, such as Eton, Rugby, or Harrow, etc. It is unlikely, however, that John William followed this latter path.23 His home life was probably dominated by his father, who saw to it that all the sons followed his lead into the family profession of insurance, investing and banking. All of the children seem to have been successful in acceptable professions. But none had more pressure to succeed in business and none proved a greater disappointment than the eldest son. Destined by his authoritarian parents to be an insurance clerk, John William, went his own direction. The mother hen, Sarah Eborall, rules as an intrusive, over-protective matriarch. Everything that happened in the family was subordinated to the wishes of either parent.24 The family stayed under one roof for an inordinately long period of time. In fact the so called "alienated" John William lived at home until he was twenty-six years old! Hardly a rush to escape. The youngest brother, Charles Arthur lived at home until he was forty-seven years! Other factors seem to be a play here. According to Dr. Kent Rich a psychologist, given John William's personality and family history, the home was presumably a highly controlled environment.25 It may be that Godward's penchant for limiting his circle of relationships began during his youth and mirrors his families closed ring. Later he became a recluse and further limited his own set of variables. | |
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