Francis Goodwin (1784-1835) was an influential English architect and a colourful character.
He rose to prominence with the Church Building Act of 1818. This granted £1 million for building churches. Nine of the churches he designed were built. He also designed town halls for Manchester and Macclesfield and markets for Leeds and Salford.
He was renowned for his salesmanship. He used employees to chase commissions. He inundated committees with designs and undercut rivals.
In 1833 Goodwin self-published his work “Domestic Architecture”. He aimed to use it to win business designing impressive houses. It was an early forerunner of the house design books and TV shows that are so popular these days.
He presented his elegant designs as views of the houses with their floor plans. Being an architect, he had great attention to detail. Hence his engraved illustrations are top quality.
Here are some of his engravings for you to choose from. They are genuine antiques made in 1833.
