John Gould (1780 - 1866)

Born 1 Sep 1780 in West Stafford, Dorset, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Wellsteed) Gould — married 18 Sep 1818 in Calbourne, Isle of Wight, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 14 Sep 1866 at age 86 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

John was a twin born in 1780 to Nicholas Gould and Mary Stillman in West Stafford. His father owned Frome Billet (now called Stafford House) in West Stafford.

In Fall 1798, John entered Trinity College, Oxford. In June 1799, Jane Austen was in Bath and recorded meeting John Gould in her diary as follows: “…took a very charming walk from 6 to 8 up Beacon Hill, & across some fields to the village of Charlcombe…We had a Miss North & a Mr Gould of our party; —the latter walked home with me after Tea; —he is a very Young Man, just entered Oxford, wears Spectacles & has heard that Evelina was written by Dr Johnson…” [Evelina was a novel written by Fanny Burney in 1778. Austen was only five years older than Gould. She wrote her first important novel, Sense and Sensibility, in 1811].

John earned a BA in 1802, MA in 1805, became a Fellow in 1808, and earned a BD (bachelor of divinity) in 1814. By 1816, he was Vicar of New Shoreham, a position he gave up when he married.

In 1818, John 38 married Mary Wellsteed 25 in Calbourne, Isle of Wight. They had seven children, all born in Beaconsfield.

John and Mary knew each other in their youth but were then separated ten years before their marriage. Mary's father, John Wellsteed, was gamekeeper to the Gould family, which means they were living in the thatched roof Keeper's Cottage less than a mile from Frome Billet. In 1814, the Wellsteeds moved to a large farm in Calbourne, Isle of Wight.

After their marriage, John became Rector of St Mary and All Saints Church in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. He served in this position for the next 48 years “all of them marked by contention and angry disputation.”

In 1823, Rev. Gould's father Nicholas died. His father willed that their family home, Frome Billet, should be sold and the proceeds divided between his twin sons. Instead, John purchased his twin’s half. It was probably the wrong decision because John soon ran up large debts within the decade. By 1830, the estate was listed for sale in The Times (see advertisement below).

In 1827 in Beaconsfield, John lost a protracted court case to the local farmers about their tithes. To celebrate, the farmers set up a stone Tithing Stone photo, now on the A40 near North Drive, Holtspur, that reads: “3rd May 1827, Boundary stone of the Manor and Parish of Beaconsfield. The custom of tithing corn in this Parish is (and has been so immemorially) by the TENTH COCK and the ELEVENTH SHOCK”.

In the 1830s, Rev. Gould was imprisoned for personal debt. In the 1841 Census, John Gould 60, Clerk in Orders, and Thomas Gould 60, Captain in Army, are both enumerated as being at St. George the Martyr church in Queens Bench Prison, Surrey wikipedia entry. Rector John Bradfield and his family are at Beaconsfield church. Daughter Mary Gould is lodging in Lyme Regis and Gertrude and Alice are in school at St. Mary’s Hall, Brighthelmstone (Brighton), Sussex. By the 1851 Census, Rev. John Gould and family are back together at Beaconsfield.

In 1852, his daughter Susanna Rennie 29, her husband John Rennie 30, and oldest boy William 3 died of scarlet fever, leaving behind two children. His daughter Mary 32 also died of scarlet fever after having cared for the family. Rev. Gould performed all of their burial services.

John's wife Mary passed away in 1859 in Beaconsfield at age 66. After the loss of his daughter and wife, John grew deeper into debt and was committed to Newgate Debtor’s Prison wikipedia entry. When the Beaconsfield Church could not find his substitute, the authorities allowed him out of prison on Sundays to lead the service. This arrangement lasted until his death.

John passed away in 1866 in Beaconsfield at age 87.

In 1869, his daughter Elizabeth arranged for a memorial stained glass window on east side of Beaconsfield Church. The plaque reads “In memory of JOHN GOULD, B.D. 48 years Rector of this Parish. Born Sepr 1st 1780; Died Sep 14th 1866; aged 86 years; and of MARY his wife died August 23rd 1859 aged 66 years; also ELIZABETH HUSSEY GOULD second daughter of the above born 11th June 1822 died 8th February 1896” Image of Stained Glass dedicated to Rev. John Gould

The Times (London) 15 July 1830, page 8, column A

Dorsetshire—The fine estate of Frome, with its manors and excellent trout fishery, delightfully situate, within 2 miles of the county town of Dorchester, and within a short drive of Weymouth, surrounded by the preserves of Moreton Pitt Esq, Mrs. Floyer and the late Lady Caroline Damer(?). By Daniel Smith & Sons at the Mart, Wed Aug 18th in 1 lot, unless acceptable offers shall be previously made for the estate, together or in lots, parts being eligible for building.

The above very valuable Freehold Property, beautifully situate, at the opening of a rich vale near Dorchester; comprising Frome House, a comfortable and highly respectable family seat, with its various appendages, lawns and gardens, surrounded by about 550 acres in a ring fence of exceedingly rich land forming one of the best farms in the county, of which about 178 acres are remarkably fine water meadows, and the remainder excellent arable; particularly adapted to the turnip system, with respectable farmhouses and buildings of every description. The estate abounds with game of all kinds and a beautiful trout stream intersects the property, expanding into a small lake, the favourite resort of wild fowl, near the mansion, affording to a sportsman attractions at all seasons of the year. The estate may be viewed with cards and descriptive particulars, with plans, may shortly be had at the inns at Dorchester and Blandford; at the libraries, Weymouth and Salisbury, at the Mart; of Messrs E.G. Smith & Son, Solicitors, Angel Court, Throgmorton Street and of Daniel Smith & Son, land agents and surveyors, Alderman's Walk, New Broad Street, London and Windsor, Berks.

1851 England Census in Be[a]consfield, Buckinghamshire:

• John Gould 70 Rector of Be[a]consfield, B.D. of Oxford
• wife Mary 57
• daughter E. Husey 28
• son John Hy 24
• daughter Gertrude 21
• visitor Henry Tanner 38
• visitor's wife M R Tanner 39
• visitor's daughter G. E. Tanner 4
• visitor William Bradley 23

1861 England Census in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire:

• John Gould 80 born Wiltshire
• daughter Husery 38 born Beaconsfield, Buckinghampshire
• daughter Gertrude 31 born Beaconsfield, Buckinghampshire
• servant Sarah Broadbridge 45 born Shoreham, Sussex
• servant Jane Smith 29 born Little Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire

History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, by Sir Bernard Burke, Vol. 1, London: Harrison, 1882, page 668

GOULD OF FRAMPTON.

II. John (twin brother with Thomas), b. 1 Sept. 1780; B.D., Fellow of Magdalen Coll. Oxon, and Rector of Beaconsfield, Bucks; m. 18 Sept, 1818, Mary, eldest dau. of John Wellsteed, Esq. of Stafford, Dorset, and had issue,

• 1 John Henry, b. 12 Nov 1826; Lieut. Dorset Militia; went to Australia, Sept. 1852.
• 1 Mary, d. unm. 10 June, 1852.
• 2. Elizabeth Hussey.
• 3 Susanna, m. 20 July, 1848, John Rennie, Esq. of Auchinloch, J.P. co. Lanark; he d. 5 June, she 7 June, 1852, leaving, William, b 15 July, 1850; and Susan Jean Urquhart [another source gives as Margaret].
• 4 Alice, m. 18 Sept. 1849, William Mitchell, Esq. of Craigleith House, co. Edinburgh; she d. 30 Jan. 1859, leaving Alexander John, b. 26 July, 1850; and Robina Janet McCaul.
• 5 Gertrude Stirling.

London Times, Tues Sep 15, 1818, page 3, col. F

[Wellsteed-Gould marriage]

On Thursday last, at Calbourne, Isle of Wight, the Rev. J. Gould, second son of N. Gould, Esq., of Frome-house, Dorsetshire, and Fellow of Magdalen-college, Oxford, to Mary, eldest daughter of Mr. Wellsteed, of Calbourne.

A Trowbridge Scamp: John Gould, by Chris Viveash in Wiltshire Family History Society magazine, issue 129, April 2013.

In June 1799, Jane Austen was in Bath and recorded meeting John Gould in her diary as follows: “…took a very charming walk from 6 to 8 up Beacon Hill, & across some fields to the village of Charlcombe…We had a Miss North & a Mr Gould of our party; —the latter walked home with me after Tea; —he is a very Young Man, just entered Oxford, wears Spectacles & has heard that Evelina was written by Dr Johnson…”

[Note: Evelina was a novel written by Fanny Burney in 1778. Jane Austen was only five years older than Gould and she wrote her first important novel, Sense and Sensibility, in 1811].

Sources

• 1780 West Stafford Parish Church records for christening of John Gould, whose parents are Nicholas

and Mary Gould [1]

• 1818 Hampshire Parish Registers of marriage for John Gould and Mary Wellsteed [2] [3]
• 1841 England Census
• 1851 England Census [4]
• 1861 England Census [5]
• Beaconsfield Church stained glass window
• London Times, Tues Sep 15, 1818, page 3

• History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, by Sir Bernard Burke, Vol. 1, London: Harrison, 1882, page 668 [6]
• A Trowbridge Scamp: John Gould, by Chris Viveash in Wiltshire Family History Society magazine, issue 129, April 2013
• Dickens and Elizabeth Hussey Gould: Womens Rights, Debtors Prisons and a New Dickens Letter, by Alan Dilnot, The Dickensian vol. 112, issue 499, pages 130-137 [7]