Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, (15 June 1645 – 15 September 1712) was an English Tory politician and peer. He was a Privy Councillor and Secretary of State for the Northern Department before he attained real power as First Lord of the Treasury. He was instrumental in negotiating and passing the Acts of Union 1707 with Scotland, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. He had many other roles, including that of Governor of Scilly.
Family and early career
He came from an ancient Cornish family as the son of Sir Francis Godolphin (1605–1667) and nephew of the poet Sidney Godolphin. At the Restoration, he was introduced into the royal household by King Charles II of England, whose favourite he had become, and he also entered the House of Commons as member for Helston, in Cornwall. Although he spoke few words before the House, they were so to the point that he "gradually acquired a reputation as its chief if not its only financial authority". In 1668, he was a successful intermediary between the King and his sister Henrietta Anne, the wife of the Duke of Orléans, to secure an agreement with King Louis XIV of France to reject England's Dutch allies in return for French money. In 1669, he was awarded a 31-year lease on all tin mines in Rialton and Retraigh in Cornwall. In 1670, Godolphin was appointed Groom of the Bedchamber along with a pension of £500 per annum. He held that post until 1678. The King said that he valued Godolphin because he was "never in the way and never out of the way".
Charles appointed Godolphin envoy-extraordinary to Louis XIV in 1672 to reassure France of Charles's allegiance before Louis attacked the Dutch. Godolphin was with Louis in the field during the Franco-Dutch War but was unimpressed with his capabilities as a military commander.
In March 1679, Godolphin was appointed a member of the Privy Council and in September was promoted, along with Viscount Hyde (afterwards Earl of Rochester) and the Earl of Sunderland, to the chief management of affairs.
Exclusion and revolution
Although he voted for the Exclusion Bill in 1680, which, if successfully enacted, would have prevented the Catholic Duke of York from assuming the throne, he continued in office after the dismissal of Sunderland, and in September 1684, he was created Baron Godolphin of Rialton and succeeded Rochester as First Lord of the Treasury. After the accession of James II, he was made chamberlain to the queen, Mary of Modena, and, along with Rochester and Sunderland, enjoyed the king's special confidence. In 1687 he was named commissioner of the treasury. Although Parliament had voted to grant James II £6,000,000, Godolphin was involved in the payment of approximately £125,000 to James II by Louis XIV in return for James's support for Louis. The historian David Ogg has written, "James and his two ministers, Rochester and Godolphin, were prepared to barter the independence of England for a sum little more than a sixtieth part of that granted by the national legislature".
He was present at the birth of the Old Pretender, but during the ensuing controversy as to whether or not the birth was genuine, he said diplomatically that he had no useful information to contribute, as he was too far from the bed to see anything. He was one of the council of five appointed by King James to represent him in London when James went to battle after the landing of William of Orange in England, and he, along with Lord Halifax and Lord Nottingham, was afterwards appointed a commissioner to negotiate with the prince. On the accession of William, he obtained only the third seat at the treasury board but was in control of affairs. He retired in March 1690 but was recalled in November and appointed first lord.