Edward Edward Godwin [also known as E.W. Godwin] was born in Bristol, England on 26 May 1833 and was the son of William Godwin (c.1794–1846), a partner in Godwin, Smith & Co., a building and decorating firm. After serving his articles with the architect William Armstrong in Bristol from c.1848 to c.1853, he established his own practice at 1 Surrey Street, Bristol in 1854.
In 1856 Godwin moved to Ireland where he designed cottages and three small churches in County Donegal. By 1858 he had returned to Bristol and over the next five years designed warehouses, a brewery and Northampton Town Hall (1861-66). He also worked on the restoration, additions, and redecoration of several churches, including Highbury Chapel in Bristol (1862–63), and St Grada's Church in Grade, Cornwall (1860–61).
From 1864 to 1871 he was in partnership with the Bristol architect Henry Crisp (1825-1896).
In 1865 Godwin moved to London where he established an office. During the late 1860s he was engaged on a number of commissions in Northampton. Two of his most significant commissions from this period were the restoration of Dromore Castle (1866–73). and Glenbeigh Towers in County Kerry (1868–70).
In addition to his work as an architect Godwin was also a decorative designer. He designed furniture and furnishings for Gillows & Co., the Art Furniture Company, Collinson & Lock, Waugh & Sons, Cox & Sons, W. A. & S. Smee, and James Peddle; textiles for Warner and Ramm and Cowlishaw, Nicol & Co.: carpets and flooring for Waugh & Sons; wallpapers for Jeffrey & Co., James Toleman & Sons, Lightbown Aspinall & Co., and the Papyrotile Company; tiles for Minton and Hollins and Burmantoft; and ceramics for Brownfield & Sons. In his designs he employed in a range of styles, including Gothic Revival, Anglo-Greek, Anglo-Egyptian, and Jacobean or Old English.
In 1884 Godwin founded the Costume Society and subsequently designed women's dress, acting as a consultant on costume for Liberty & Co. During the 1870s and 1880s he also designed costumes and sets for a number of theatrical productions.
He contributed numerous articles to architectural and archaeological journals including Building News, British Architect, The Architect, and the Archaeological Journal.
Godwin died at his home, 6 Great College Street in Westminster, London on 6 October 1886.
Architectural projects by Godwin in the 1870s and 1880s included several houses in Bedford Park, Chiswick (1875-77); a number of houses in Chelsea, including the White House in Tite Street (1874-79) for James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903); the studio-house at 44 Tite Street (1878-79) for the artist George Francis Miles (1852-1891); and the interiors of 16 Tite Street (1884-85) for Oscar Wilde (1854-1900); and a new entrance the Fine Art Society on Bond Street, London (1881).
Armstrong, Barrie and Armstrong, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts movement in the North West of England: a handbook. Wetherby, England: Oblong Creative Ltd., 2006
Aslin, Elizabeth. The furniture designs of E.W. Godwin. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970.
Aslin, Elizabeth. E.W. Godwin: furniture and interior decoration. London: John Murray, 1986
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London: Continuum, 2001
Donohue, Joseph. ‘E. W. Godwin's Failed Production of "The Duchess of Padua"’. The Wildean, no. 30, Januasry 2007 pp. 36-44
E. W. Godwin: Aesthetic movement architect and designer. Edited by Susan Weber Soros and Catherine Arbuthnott. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press published for the Bard Graduate Center Studies in the Decorative Arts, New York, 1999
Girouard, Mark. 'The Victorian artist at home'. Country Life vol. 152, 23 November 1972 [A description of the studio-house in Chelsea, London designed by Godwin for for James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)]
Girouard, Mark. The Victorian Country House. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, revised and enlarged edition, 1979
Godwin, E.W.; Kinchin, Juliet and Stirton, Paul. Is Mr Ruskin living too long? : selected writings of E.W. Godwin on Victorian architecture, design and culture. Oxford, England: White Cockade Pub., 2005
Greeves, T. Affleck. 'London's first Garden Suburb: Bedford Park'. Country Life vol. 142, 7 December 1967 pp. 1524-1529 [First part of a two part article on the involvement by Godwin in the development the Bedford Park estate in the 1870s]
Greeves, T. Affleck. 'London's first Garden Suburb: Bedford Park'. Country Life vol. 142, 14 December 1967 pp. 1600-1602 [Second part of a two part article on the involvement by Godwin in the development the Bedford Park estate in the 1870s]
Harbron, Dudley. The Conscious Stone: The Life of Edward William Godwin. London: Latimer House Limited, 1949
Harbron, Dudley. ‘Edward Godwin’ in Edwardian Architecture and its Origins. Edited by Alastair Service. London: The Architectural Press Ltd., 1975 pp. 56-67 [originally published in Architectural Review vol. 98, August 1945 pp. 48-52]
Hayes, Richard W. ‘The Aesthetic Interior as Incubator of Health and Well-Being’. Architectural History vol. 60, 2017 pp. 277-301
Hyde, H. Montgomery. ‘Oscar Wilde and his architect, Edward Godwin’ in Edwardian Architecture and its Origins. Edited by Alastair Service. London: The Architectural Press Ltd., 1975 pp. 68-76 [originally published in Architectural Review vol. 109, March 1951 pp. 175-176]
Kauffer, Edgar. 'Edward Godwin and Christopher Dresser: the 'esthetic' designers, pioneers of the 1870's'. Interiors vol. 118, December 1958 pp. 162-165
Kinchin, Juliet. ‘Designer as Critic: E. W. Godwin and the Aesthetic Home’.Journal of Design History vol. 18, no. 1, Spring 2005 pp. 21-34
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 64, 4 February 1888 pp. 75-77, 101
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects Transactions vol. 5 (new series), 1889 p. 2
Reed, Aileen. ‘Dromore Castle, County Limerick: Archaeology and the Sister Arts of E. W. Godwin’. Architectural History
vol. 30, 1987 pp. 113-142
Robertson, Pamela. ‘Review’ [of The Secular Furniture of E. W. Godwin by Susan Weber Soros; E. W. Godwin: Aesthetic Movement Architect and Designer by Susan Weber Soros] Victorian Studies vol. 44, no. 1, Autumn 2001 pp. 137-140
Soros, Susan Weber. E. W. Godwin: secular furniture and interior design. PhD thesis, Royal College of Art, London, 1998
Soros, Susan Weber. The secular furniture of E. W. Godwin: with catalogue raisonné. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press published for the Bard Graduate Center Studies in the Decorative Arts, New York, 1999
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: InternationalArchitect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 pp. 22-23
Watson, Anne. ‘Not Just a Sideboard: E. W. Godwin's Celebrated Design of 1867’. Studies in the Decorative Arts vol. 4,. no. 2, Spring-Summer 1997 pp. 64-84
Watt, William. Art furniture from designs by E.W. Godwin and others: with hints and suggestions on domestic furniture and decoration. London: B.T. Batsford, 1877.
Wilkinson, Nancy Burch. Edward William Godwin and Japonisme in England. Ph. D. thesis,University of California, Los Angeles, 1987
Zelleke, Ghenete. ‘E. W. Godwin’. Apollo vol. 151,no. 456, 2000 pp. 54-55