John Godolphin (1617–1678) was an English jurist and writer, an admiralty judge under the Commonweath.
The second son (by Judith Meredith) of John Godolphin, who was younger brother of Sir William Godolphin (died 1613), he was born at Scilly, 29 November 1617. He became a commoner of Gloucester Hall, Oxford, in the Michaelmas term of 1632. There he studied philosophy, logic, and the civil law; he graduated as B.C.L. in 1636 and D.C.L. in 1643.
He took the Parliamentarian side, and on 30 July 1653 was appointed judge of the admiralty, with William Clerk and Charles George Cocke. After Clarke's death Godolphin and Cock were reappointed in July 1659 to hold the same office until 10 December. After the Restoration he became one of the king's advocates.
He died near Fleet Street, 4 April 1678, and was buried in Clerkenwell Church. He was four times married, and had by his first wife a son, Sidney, who was governor of Scilly, and whose daughter Mary married Henry Godolphin.
Godolphin wrote the following books on law and divinity:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Godolphin, John". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.