Giffard was born in c. 1235 in England, the son of Hugh Giffard of Boyton in Wiltshire, a royal justice, by Sibyl, a daughter and co-heiress of Walter de Cormeilles. He had a brother, Walter Giffard, who was to become Archbishop of York and whose successful career ensured the preferment of Godfrey. His sister Mabel was the abbess of Shaftesbury Abbey.
Having entered the church Giffard speedily obtained valuable preferments owing to the influence of his brother Walter, who became chancellor of England in 1265. In 1266 Godfrey became chancellor of the exchequer, succeeding Walter as chancellor of England when, in the same year, the latter was made archbishop of York. In 1268 he was chosen bishop of Worcester. Henry III accepted his appointment, and he received the temporalities on 13 June 1268. After some little resistance, Archbishop Boniface of Savoy confirmed his election, but it was not until 23 September that he was consecrated by the archbishop at Canterbury and he was enthroned in Worcester Cathedral on Christmas Day 1268. In 1272 Giffard acted with Roger de Meyland Bishop of Lichfield in treating with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd of Wales. In May 1273 he was sent abroad with Nicholas of Ely, Bishop of Winchester, and Walter Bronescomb, Bishop of Exeter, to meet King Edward I on his return from the Holy Land. He was made a commissioner along with Roger Mortimer to investigate certain grievances of the Oxford scholars, and in 1278 acted as an itinerant justice in Hertfordshire and Kent. In 1279 Giffard inherited the valuable property of his brother the archbishop, he was employed on public business by Edward I. His main energies, however, were devoted to the affairs of his see. He had one long dispute with the monks of Worcester, another with the abbot of Westminster, and was vigilant in guarding his material interests. Despite his long running quarrels with the chapter at Worcester, Giffard was a benefactor of his Cathedral; during his reign he beautified the pillars of both the choir and lady chapel by interlacing them with smaller pillars and in 1280 he laid the first stone of the pavement of the cathedral. Giffard also sought leave to fortify and finish Hartlebury Castle which Bishop Cantelupe had begun. He extracted from the Bishop's executors a legacy which had been left to the See, for supplying a stock of cattle on the lands of the Bishopric. Giffard also obtained a "grant of fairs" to Stratford-on-Avon and Blockley and secured permission to fortify his palaces at Worcester and Wydindon as he had done at Hartlebury. Giffard ruled over the See of Worcester for more than thirty-three years, and his activities were almost confined to his own diocese. The bishop died on the 26th of January 1302, and was buried in his cathedral. Giffard, although inclined to nepotism, was a benefactor to his cathedral, and completed and fortified the episcopal castle at Hartlebury.
