Walter Hindes Godfrey was born in Dalston, Hackney, London, England on 2 August 1881 and was articled to James Williams. He also attended Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.
From 1900 to 1903 he worked in the architectural section of the London County Council. In 1903 he returned to Williams's office. By this time Williams had retired and the practice was being run by his partner Edmund Livingstone Wratten (1877-1925) who employed Godfrey as an assistant for two years. In 1905 he joined Wratten in partnership as Wratten & Godfrey. They remained in partnership until Wratten's death in 1925.
Godfrey was the author of numerous publications on architectural history, including The Work of George Devey, Architect (1908); The English Staircase (1911); The Survey of the Parish of Chelsea; (2 vols, 1909, 1913); A History of Architecture In London (1911); Some Famous Buildings and Their Story (1913); The Story of Architecture in England (2 vols., 1928 and 1931); and The English Almshouse (1955).
He was a Fellow of the Society of Architects (FSA) and was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1926.
His address was given as 11, Carteret Street, Queen Anne's Gate, London in 1914 and 1926; 203 High Street Lewes, Sussex in 1930 and 1936; and Lewes House, Lewes, Sussex in 1939. He died in Oxford on 16 September 1961.
In partnership as Wratten & Godfrey: Crosby Hall, re-erection at Chelsea; restorations of Tower House (Apuldram), Dean's Place (Alfriston), Dorset Arms (Withyham), Bull House (Lewes); additions to Pitchford Hall (Shrewsbury), Henley Hall (Ludlow), Primrose House (Roehampton), Ascott House (Leighton Buzzard), Burford Priory (Oxon); numerous new domestic buildings In London and South of England; Eton College Memorial Chapel (fittings and decoration) ; memorial cross and tablets at Highclere, Hants, and Street, Sussex: tablets at West Hoathly, Westmeston, in Sussex; Pitchford, Shropshire; St. Devereux, Hereford ; Hatfield Broadoak, Essex. Gardens at Ashdown Place, Forest Row; Dalmgridge. Place, West Hoathly; High Barn, Godalming; Elm-Tree Farm, West Wittering; Barton, Cambridge; etc. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1923]
See also Historic England [link below]
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 201, 22 September 1961 p.534
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal vol. 69, January 1962 pp. 17-18
Who's Who in Architecture 1923. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: Architectural Press, 1923