Charles Godfrey was born in October, 1873. At an early age he went to King Edward’s School, Birmingham, where he was head of the school, a position which depended entirely on a boy’s ability in classics, and he spent at least five years in the top mathematical division under Rawdon Levett. The top mathematical division in those days consisted of a dozen boys, and generally contained three future major scholars of Trinity. Godfrey went up to Trinity as a major scholar in 1892, and was fourth wrangler in a brilliant year (1895), with Bromwich, Grace and E. T. Whittaker above him; in the following year he was placed in the first division of the first class of Part II. of the Mathematical Tripos; later on he won the Isaac Newton Studentship.