Rev. Francis George Godson MBE was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister from the village of Brailes in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, and one of the early proponents of a retirement pension for the poor of

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

Family

Godson was the son of Stephen Godson and Mary (Morley). He grew up in the village of Lower Brailes,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, He was married, in the former

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

, to Florence (Hendy) (18691960), and they had one daughter, Annie Godson (19001999), and one son, also named Francis Godson (19021973). At the time of his death, he was survived by his children, and also by four grandchildren, Francis Godson and George Godson (both of Barbados), Stephen Godson (

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

), and Maria Creuco (

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

). Francis Godson is buried in the cemetery of the Bethel Methodist Church on Bay Street in

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the Parishes of Barbados, parish of Saint Michael, Barbados, Saint Mic ...

, Barbados.

Social activism

Godson left England in 1890 to spend most of the rest of his life as a Methodist minister in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and in British Guiana. From 1909 until his death, he was resident in Barbados, initially in the north of the island; it was there that he was witness to the poverty of many of the descendants of

freed slaves A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

and

indentured servants Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract called an "indenture", may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as payment for some good or ser ...

. As early as the late 1910s, Godson had written to the ''

Barbados Advocate The ''Advocate'' ("Barbados Advocate") is the second most read daily newspaper in the country of Barbados. First established in 1895, the Advocate is also the longest continually-published newspaper in the country. History The Barbados Advoca ...

'' newspaper, appealing for assistance for the poor. In 1936, he was a member of a legislative committee charged with “investigating the possibility of introducing in Barbados a scheme of old age pensions”. The following year Godson, as an acting-Member of the

Legislative Council of Barbados The Senate of Barbados is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Barbados. The Senate is accorded legitimacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados. It is the smaller of the two chambers. The Senate was established in 1964 to repl ...

, gave evidence to the ''Deane Commission of Enquiry'', whose final report resulted in an old-age pension scheme coming into operation in Barbados on 1 May 1938.

Honours

Francis Godson was awarded the MBE on 1 January 1949. A road, which circles the National Insurance Office on Culloden Road in Bridgetown, is named ''Francis Godson Drive'', in honour of Godson’s work on behalf of the poor of Barbados.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godson, Francis 1953 deaths 1864 births Methodist ministers People from Warwickshire (before 1974) 19th-century Barbadian people Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire