Christabel Goodwin was the youngest daughter of the artist Albert Goodwin (1845-1932) and his second wife, Alice. Albert Goodwin was born at Maidstone in Kent in 1845, one of a large family consisting of nine brothers and sisters. He studied under the guiding hands of Pre-Raphaelite artists Arthur Hughes and Ford Maddox Brown. His work was strongly influenced by that of Turner and the early Pre- Raphaelites. Christabel and her sister Olive lived in the family home ‘Ellerslie”, Ellerslie Lane, Bexhill with their father from 1907 until his death in 1932.
There is evidence that in 1949, still with Olive, Christabel lived at ‘Little Ellerslie”. Christabel Goodwin ran the ‘Highwoods Pottery’ from a small building at the entrance to what was then the Lunsford Brick Company in Turkey Road. There was a ready market for the sale of her pottery and there are a few examples of her work in the Museum Collections. Christabel and Olive Goodwin were responsible for giving large collections of their fathers’ work to both Hastings and Maidstone Museums.