Daniel Godfrey (bandmaster)

Daniel Godfrey (4 September 1831 – 30 June 1903) was a British bandmaster, composer and arranger of compositions for military bands.

He was born in Westminster in 1831, eldest of four sons of Charles Godfrey, bandmaster of the Coldstream Guards for fifty years.

[1] In 1856, on the recommendation of Sir Michael Costa, he was, through the influence of the Prince Consort Albert, appointed bandmaster of the Grenadier Guards.

It was the first visit of an English military band since the creation of the republic, and a special Act of Parliament had to be passed to authorise it.

[1] Subsequently, he formed a private military band which played at the chief exhibitions in England, and with which he twice toured America and Canada.

Photograph in The Sketch , 8 July 1903
Caricature of Daniel Godfrey in Vanity Fair , 10 March 1888