Lieutenant Commander Rupert T. Gould RN

Lieutenant Commander Rupert T. Gould RN, 16 November 1890, Southsea - 5 October 1948, Canterbury

• Though born in Portsmouth he lived in and around Ashtead for a number of years (including Leatherhead and Epsom) and is buried at St Giles' graveyard, the funeral was conducted by Alan Cooper. According to the Daily Mail 24 November 1927, which covered the proceedings of his divorce from Murial Hilda Gould, Rupert's mother, Agnes, lived at Downside Ashtead. Downside was the name of 41, Woodfield Lane and it is simply recorded as such as Gould's address in the 1938 edition of Kelly's Directory. The house became a school and now is long gone and the site is occupied by the Library and Moat Court. His addresses are given as Ashtead The Case for the Sea-Serpent, 1930 and A book of Marvels, 1937. In late 1942 in a letter to the BBC and 1943 it is given as Upper Hurdcott, Barford St Martin [, near Salisbury] The Stargazer Talks.
• Always known as Rupert T. Gould, his middle name was Thomas.
• A clock fanatic like H. Alan Lloyd
• John Harrison's clocks, from National Maritime Museum
• He is most famous for restoring John Harrison's clocks. In 1735 John Harrison (1693-1776) invented the first clock that remained accurate whilst at sea, as so was able defeat the problem of determining Longitude. In doing so he eventually, 1774, won the £20,000 prize offered by the UK Parliament. However his masterpieces were left to decay until Rupert Gould came along. It took Rupert 12 years, from June 1920 to Feb 1933 to restore the three clocks and a watch.
• He started his first series of talks for the BBC in January 1934. In The Children's Hour he was known as The Stargazer. In 1944 he wrote up some of these talks in a book by the same name. The book shows the diversity of his talks. The Indian Rope Trick, The Mary Celeste, The Canals of Mars and The man in the Iron Mask being among the topics covered. He is well known for his books on Captain Cook and The Marine Chronometer. He is also known for his appearances in the "Brains Trust", a popular wartime radio programme, that had it's first transmission on 1 January 1941.
• In the excellent film Longitude (see below) Rupert Gould is shown as being on the TV version of "The Brains Trust" however it's first transmission was 4 September 1955, 7 years after his death. Although what the film shows could have been one of the three sessions that were filmed for cinema release in 1943. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has an excellent article of the history and characters involved in the Brains Trust

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• The story of John Harrison and Rupert Gould is told in Dova Sobel's best-seller Longitude. At last count there were 10 versions of the book!
• In the two-part film entitled Longitude, first shown on Channel 4 on 2nd and 3rd January 2000, (and again on 30th and 31st December 2000), Rupert Gould was played by Jeremy Irons. The link to Jeremy Irons has an excellent photograph of the clock and some interesting snippets of information.
• See Other items of Merit regarding the DVD/video
• Jonathan Bett has written an excellent biography about Rupert Gould entitled Time Restored - The Harrison Timekeepers and R.T. Gould, the Man Who Knew (Almost) Everything
• For an article on on the Brains Trust entitled "Any Questions?" and 3 pictures of Commander Gould see American Magazine Life, 17 May 1943
• For an article on Gould see Bulletin of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Vol. IV, No 4 June 1950

• He is buried at St Giles, in grave reference N23 AGNES HILTON GOULD 12-IV-1860 – 24-XI-1937 also her younger son RUPERT THOMAS GOULD Lieutenant Commander Royal Navy, Horologist, author and broadcaster born Southsea 1890 died Canterbury 1948

In-Print books are available, as they say, 'from all good book sellers', including

Just click on the books below or their links to go to Amazon's relevant pages.

		Begegnungen mit Seeungeheuern, [Encounters with sea-monsters] Rupert T. Gould & Korv.-Kapitän a. D. Georg-Günther Freiherrn von Forstner: Published 1935 by Grethlein & Co. Leipzig, 179 pages, hardback Authorised translation into German by Fritz von Bodmer
		A Book of Marvels Seven Essays taken from the twenty in Oddities and Enigmas Rupert T. Gould: Published 1937 by Methuen
		Captain Cook Rupert T. Gould: Published 1982 by Duckworth, 128 pages, ISBN 071561665X First published 1935 by Duckworth, 144 pages Published 1978 by Duckworth, 128 pages, ISBN 0715610619
		The Case for The Sea-Serpent Rupert T. Gould: Published 1930 by Philip Allan, 291 pages hardback Rupert T. Gould: Published 1934 by G.P. Putnam, 291 pages hardback
		Communications Old & New Rupert T. Gould, illustrations by C.F. Tunnicliffe: Published 1945 for Cable and Wireless Ltd by The R.A. Publishing Co Ltd, 54 pages hardback
		Enigmas - Another book of unexplained facts Rupert T. Gould: Published 1987 by University Books, 320 pages, hardback, ISBN 0821600745 Published 1966 by University Books, 248 pages, hardback First published 1929 by Philip Allan, 320 pages
		The History of the Chronometer Rupert T. Gould: Published 1921 by Royal Geographical Society, 18 pages, extract from The Geographical Journal

		John Harrison And His Timekeepers Rupert T. Gould: Published c1943 by unknown but sold by National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, 24 pages, paperback Reprinted from The Mariner's Mirror (The Quarterly Journal of the Society for Nautical Research) Vol. XXI, No 2, April 1935 pages 115-139 This was the annual lecture for 1935
		John Harrison And His Timekeepers Rupert T. Gould: Published 1958 by National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, 22 pages, paperback, ISBN 0905555163 Reprinted from The Mariner's Mirror (The Quarterly Journal of the Society for Nautical Research) Vol. XXI, No 2, April 1935 pages 115-139 This was the annual lecture for 1935 4th edition published 1978 by National Maritime Museum
		The Landfall of Columbus - an old problem re-stated Rupert T. Gould: Published 1927 by Royal Geographical Society, 15 pages
		The Loch Ness Monster Rupert T. Gould: Published 1976 by Citadel P, 228 pages, hardback, ISBN 0806505559 First published 1934 by Geoffrey Bles, hardback Also published 1969 by University Books, hardback
		The Marine Chronometer, its history and development Rupert T. Gould: Published 1989 by Antique Collectors' Club, 401 pages, 150+ illustrations, hardback, ISBN 0907462057 Published by Holland Press 1960, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1978, 287 pages First published 1923 by J. D. Potter, 287 pages, 39 photographic plates and 85 line drawings by Gould on 23 plates

		Mariner's Mirror (The Quarterly Journal of the Society for Nautical Research) Vol. XXI, No 2, April 1935 pages 115-139 Published 1935 by the Society for Nautical Research, 472 pages, hardback See John Harrison And His Timekeepers, above
		Nine Days' Wonders Rupert T. Gould: Published post 1930 if at all
		Mersenne's Numbers - Pamphlet Rupert T. Gould: Published 2006 by Kessinger Publishing, 16 pages, hardback, ISBN-10: 1428688293 ISBN-13: 978-1428688292
		Oddities - A book of unexplained facts Rupert T. Gould: Published 2001 by Gramercy Books, 230 pages, hardback First published 1928 by Philip Allan, 336 pages
		The Sea Serpent Rupert T. Gould using his Sette name of Hydrographer: Published 1926, 55 pages, paperback, limited edition of 167 copies
		The Stargazer Talks Rupert T. Gould: Published 1943 by Geoffrey Bles, 128 pages, hardback
		The Story of the Typewriter - From the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Centuries Rupert T. Gould: Published 1949 by London Office Control and Management, 48 pages
		Unexplained Facts - Enigmas and Curiosities Rupert T. Gould: 2nd Edition Published 1945

		The Book of Big Ben - The Story of the Great Clock of Westminster Alfred Gillgrass, Foreword by Lieutenant Commander Rupert T. Gould RN (retired): Published 1946 by Herbert Joseph, 47 pages, hardback
		Marine Sextants and Accessories Introduction by Rupert T. Gould: Published by Marine Instruments Limited, 27 pages, paperback With sextants made by Kevin Bottomley & Baird and Henry Hughes & Son
		Uncle Mac's Children's Hour Story Book Editor Derek McCulloch OBE (aka Uncle Mac), Author/contributors: Rupert T. Gould, Gerald Bullett, Geoffrey Dearmer, Olive Dehn, Edward D. Dickinson, Ken Francis, Eric Hosking FRPS, Daphne Lea, Nora Lewis, Cyril Newberry, Eileen Poynder, Rosemary Tonks, Mervyn Vance, Dr. Vevers: 125 pages, hardback

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