The Godwins

George and Henry Godwin were the architects of the Gunter estate when most of the houses were built.

George Godwin the Younger (1815-88) was born in Brompton and studied architecture under his father, George Godwin the Elder, who was a local architect. At the age of 20 he was awarded a prize by the Royal Institute of British Architects for an essay on concrete. He wrote a substantial work called The Churches of London. In 1844 he was appointed editor of the influential journal The Builder.

His connection with the Gunter estates appears to have been a matter of personal business. He had building leases from Robert Gunter I in Sydney Street, Chelsea in 1845-6. It seems he soon became an important figure in Robert Gunter I’s affairs.  He was named as an executor in Robert Gunter’s Will and even, for a time, the named guardian of one of his daughters. He also became the guiding light in the development Robert Gunter began to carrying out on his Kensington estate before his death in 1851. It is probable that all the houses in The Boltons and the surrounding streets were personally designed by George Godwin, as Robert Gunter’s official architect.

When Robert Gunter I died and his sons Robert Gunter II and James Gunter II inherited the estate, George Godwin stayed in place as their architect and surveyor. Godwin was later joined by his younger brother, Henry, who became principal architect for the estate after his brother George’s death in 1888.

George Godwin had an interesting hobby. He collected chairs famous people had sat in. Apparently his collection included seats reputedly occupied by Anne Boleyn, Shakespeare, Napoleon, Sir Walter Raleigh, Alexander Pope, Trollope and Thackeray.

When he died in 1888 he was buried in Brompton Cemetery. He has a large memorial where satisfied occupiers of houses in The Boltons should leave flowers.