John Godsalve
Sir John Godsalve of London and Norwich, Norfolk, was an English landowner and politician. He was a Member of the Parliament of England for the seat of Norwich in 1539, again in 1542 and was knighted in 1547.
Early life and family
He was born about 1505, the eldest son of Thomas Godsalve of Norwich and his 1st wife, Joan. He was admitted to Gray's Inn in 1525.Godsalve married, firstly, by 1530, Agnes Widmerpole, with whom he had two sons:
He married, secondly, by 1553, Elizabeth White, daughter of Henry White, an eminent lawyer and former under-sheriff of London.
Career
Godsalve was a Clerk of the Signet by January 1531. He was elected MP for Norwich in 1539 and 1542. On 22 February 1547 he was made a Knight of the Carpet. Godsalve was employed to carry bills from the Lords to the Commons in the Parliaments of 1542, 1545, 1547 and 1555. He was comptroller of the Mint at the Tower of London from 24 June 1548 until 25 March 1552. He appears to have maintained an interest in mint affairs after he relinquished the post, since he and Thomas Egerton are credited with designing the coins depicting the "double face" of Philip and Mary that were issued in 1554.Portraits
A miniature, attributed to John Bettes, a drawing from the early 1530s and a painting executed in 1528 of Godsalve by Hans Holbein the Younger, which shows him with his father, survive.In the Philadelphia Museum of Art is another half-length painting of Godsalve, at about the same age, wearing similar clothes and the same cap as in the drawing and also holding a folded letter.