Ralph Goodwin was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 variously between 1624 and 1644.

Goodwin matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

 in Spring 1608. In 1611 he was a scholar and was awarded BA in 1612 and MA in 1615. He was incorporated at Oxford University in 1615. He was described as a learned author and an excellent poet.

In 1624 Goodwin was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Ludlow

Ludlow (UK Parliament constituency)

Ludlow is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

 and was re-elected in 1625, 1626 and 1628. He sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.

In April 1640, Goodwin was re-elected MP for Ludlow in the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

 and was re-elected for the Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

in November 1640. He supported the King and was disabled from sitting in February 1644.

Goodwin married Dorothy Long, daughter of Sir Walter Long. In 1630 he settled his property at Cowarne on his wife Dorothy. In 1646 he married a second time to Elizabeth Brabazon, daughter of Wallop Brabazon.

Fourteen years after his death there was a dispute over his inheritance. In his will he left Cowarne to his brothers John and Thomas Smith. He also mentions his brother Sir Thurston Smith and the nephew of his tutor at Trinity Dr Samuel Heron. The allegation was made that he was illegitimate and that the estate at Cowarne defaulted to the crown. A marginal note states that he was legitimate and born at Ipswich.