John Arthur Godley, 1st Baron Kilbracken, (17 June 1847 – 27 June 1932), was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

aristocrat and British civil servant and the longest serving, and probably the most influential,

Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India This is a list of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State and Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Permanent Under-Secretaries of State at the India Office during the British India, period of British rule be ...

Early life

Arthur Godley was the only son of

John Robert Godley John Robert Godley (29 May 1814 – 17 November 1861) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and bureaucrat. Godley is considered to be the founder of Canterbury, New Zealand, although he lived there for only two years. Early life Godley was born in Dubl ...

, a colonial reformer, and Charlotte Godley, a letter-writer and community leader. From April 1850 to December 1852, he was with his parents in New Zealand; his father has become to be regarded as the founder of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. Godley Jr. was painted by Mary Townsend in 1851; the original is held by Canterbury Museum. He studied at

Radley Radley is a village and civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfor ...

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

, and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

(where he won the

Gaisford Prize The Gaisford Prize is a prize awarded by the Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford for a composition in Classical Greek Verse and Prose by an undergraduate student. The prize was founded in 1855 in memory of Dr Thomas Gaisford (1779–1855 ...

for Greek Verse).

Career

His first important role was acting as Assistant Private Secretary to

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

, then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, during the years 1872 to 1874 and called to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

bar in 1876. He was elected a fellow of

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

for the period 1874 to 1881. In 1880 Godley was appointed Commissioner for

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

, a position he held till 1882. Appointed Under-Secretary of State at the India Office in 1883, he remained there for 26 years, retiring in 1909. He was a member of the 'Royal Commission on Indian Finance and Currency' in 1913. He was bestowed a GCB in the

1908 Birthday honours The 1908 Birthday Honours for the British Empire were announced on 28 June, to celebrate the birthday of Edward VII. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged by honour, with classes (K ...

list, and on 8 December 1909 he was raised to the peerage as The

Baron Kilbracken Baron Kilbracken, of Killegar in the County of Leitrim, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1909 for the senior civil servant Sir Arthur Godley. He was Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India between 1883 an ...

, of Killegar in the County of Leitrim. His autobiography, ''Reminiscences of Lord Kilbracken'', was published in 1931, the year before he died.

Personal life

Lord Kilbracken was a first cousin of the classical scholar

A. D. Godley Alfred Denis Godley (22 January 1856 – 27 June 1925) was an Anglo-Irish classical scholar and author of humorous poems. Godley was born in Ashfield, County Cavan, to Rev James Godley and his wife Eliza La Touche. James was the Church of Ire ...

. He was married to Sarah (Sarina) James daughter of 1st

Baron Northbourne Baron Northbourne, of Betteshanger in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1884 for Sir Walter James, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Kingston upon Hull in the House of Commons as a Co ...

on 26 September 1871 until her death on 13 September 1921. The union bore 2 sons and three daughters. The barony was inherited by his eldest and only surviving son,

Hugh Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

References

Book cited

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilbracken, Arthur Godley, 1st Baron 1847 births 1932 deaths 1

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of Hertford College, Oxford People educated at Radley College People educated at Rugby School Godley, Arthur Godley, Arthur Godley, Arthur Peers created by Edward VII