The Collection of Medals formed by the late John F. Goodwin

John Frederick Goodwin

John Goodwin was born in Chester on 6 October 1939, the middle son of three children. His Father, then serving with the Cameronians, was stationed in the city. Soon after his birth the family moved to Manchester, where John attended St John's C. of E. primary school and subsequently Manchester Central grammar school.

A quiet and very private man, John had a great sense of humour and enjoyed his own interests and pursuits. From an early age he was interested in reading and collecting military history, books and medals; indeed, his love of books was evident in nearly every room of his house. His other passions were cooking anything, from cottage pie to Indian and Chinese cuisine. He loved cats and always had a cat in the house, the last one being Susie, a stray who found and adopted us five years ago.

John and I were married in Manchester in 1970 and we moved to London with our cats in 1984. John began collecting medals over 30 years ago, first concentrating on English campaign medals and then advancing to foreign awards, all of which he spent a great deal of time researching. It can be truly said that medals, books and cooking gave him a great deal of pleasure, right up to his death on 23 January 2009. I'm pleased to say that a number of charities, including the Gurkhas and the Cameronians, will benefit from the proceeds of this sale.