Sir Francis Goodwin (1564–10 August 1634) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at various times between 1586 and 1626. Goodwin was the son of Sir John Goodwin and his second wife Anne Spencer, daughter of Sir William Spencer. In 1586, he was elected Member of Parliament for

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. He was elected MP for Wycombe in 1589. From 1591 he was a J.P. for Buckinghamshire and in 1596 was commissioner for musters.History of Parliament Francis Goodwin (1564-1634) of Upper Winchendon, Bucks
/ref> He succeeded to the title of Upper Winchendon in 1597 on the death of his grandfather,'Parishes: Upper Winchendon', A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 4 (1927), pp. 122-125. Date accessed: 27 November 2011
/ref> and in that year was elected MP for Buckinghamshire again. He was knighted in 1601. After the

Union of the Crowns The Union of the Crowns (; ) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas diplomacy) of the two separate realms under a single ...

in 1603, Goodwin gained the office of Surveyor of the jointure lands of

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

in Buckinghamshire. This was probably due to his existing connections with

Sir Robert Cecil Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612) was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart period, Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury ser ...

and with Robert Sidney, Viscount Lisle, who served on the queen's council. Goodwin's election for Buckinghamshire in 1604 in circumstances where he was challenged over

outlawry An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

led to a significant constitutional confrontation, "Goodwin's Case", between the

and

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 unti ...

. The result was ultimately overturned but Goodwin was elected later that year in a by-election for

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of ...

after the death of the sitting MP. He was elected MP for Buckinghamshire again in 1614. In 1618, he settled the manor of Upper Winchendon on his son Arthur at the time of his marriage. He was re-elected MP for Buckinghamshire in 1621. He obtained a grant from the king of the whole of his inheritance of Upper Winchendon in about 1623. From 1623 to 1624 he was

High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire The High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. Sheriff is the oldest secular office under th ...

. He was elected MP for Buckinghamshire again in 1625 and in 1626. Goodwin died at the age of about 70 in 1634. Goodwin married Elizabeth Grey, daughter of

Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton The Rt Hon. Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton, KG (1536–1593), was a baron in the Peerage of England. Lord Grey de Wilton is now largely remembered for his memoir of his father, for participating in the last defence of Calais (1558), a ...

. Arthur Goodwin was their son.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Francis 1564 births 1634 deaths High sheriffs of Buckinghamshire English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626