<< Back to full list of biographies
Edward Smith Godfrey was the son of John Godfrey (c.1738-1788), a Newark mercer and Alderman. Godfrey became a solicitor, and went into partnership with Job Brough of Newark. By 1805 he was in partnership with William Edward Tallents. He appears to have given up his solicitors' practice by 1832, when W.E. Tallents went into partnership with Thomas F.A. Burnaby.
On Brough's death in 1795, Godfrey succeeded him as Town Clerk. He resigned as Town Clerk in 1806. In the same year, he was elected as an Alderman of Newark, and held this position until 1822, when he was appointed as Deputy Receiver General of Taxes for the County and Town of Nottingham. He was also a magistrate for the County of Nottingham, and was Clerk of the Peace in Newark from at least 1813 until 1843. In addition he acted for many years, until his resignation in 1841, as Clerk of the Trent Navigation Company.
Godfrey was also the steward and receiver for the Nottinghamshire estates of the Dukes of Portland and the Duke of Newcastle from at least 1802 until his death; and acted as a general agent in matters of business and politics concerning the Dukes.
Moreover, Godfrey was also the owner of a bank. The bank opened in around 1800, and he, along with his brother John, joined the two original partners in 1803. The partnership went through a number of names and other changes, and eventually became part of the National Westminster Bank.