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George Goodwin

Epithet: Artist and Teacher (1851-1922)

Record type: Biographies

Biography: George Goodwin was born in Peel, in 1851, the son of an English schoolmaster (also George Goodwin), who taught locally, in Peel. George’s elder brother, Edmund Goodwin, was a Manx schoolteacher and founding member of 'Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh' (Manx Language Society) and who wrote the book 'First Lessons in Manx' (1901) to accompany the Manx language classes he ran in Peel.

George Goodwin lived in Peel all his life and worked as a house painter. In his spare time, he was an enthusiastic and energetic local historian, compiling amongst many things 'The Genealogical Scrapbook' (which lists the family trees of several of the Island’s families) and publishing 'Manx Annals of Eighty years ago' (1919). He was also a prolific amateur photographer, recording Peel and the surrounding area in the early 1900s; several of his prints survive in the collections of Manx National Heritage. Goodwin was also a prolific amateur painter during the late 1880s and early 1890s. He exhibited 20 paintings, mainly oils, on the Island between 1889 and 1896, most of which depict views in and around Peel. he is typically known for painting rural views of the Isle of Man - although, he did occasionally depict a more urban scene as the Island’s rural landscape began to change.

Manx National Heritage has 15 examples of Goodwin’s oil paintings in its collections and the dated examples all range from the period 1888 to 1891. His most popular subjects were Peel Castle and Glen Rushen - the area to the south of Peel.

Occupation / profession: artist

Gender: Male

Date of birth: 1851

Place of birth: Peel, Isle of Man

Date of death: 1922

Place of death: Peel, Isle of Man

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