Gould, Rupert Thomas, Lieutenant Commander, 1890-1948.

The papers were deposited on loan in 1979 by the Chronometer Section, Hydrographic Department, Herstmonceux. They consist of eight working notebooks containing details kept by Gould on the stripping, cleaning, re-assembling and testing of the four Harrison Timekeepers, 1923-39; three monographs (bound together) relating to the No.1 timekeeper; typescript detailed account on the No.2 timekeeper; and a printed lecture delivered to the British Horological Institute in 1931 on the No.3 timekeeper. There are also various files of correspondence relating to his presentation of notebooks and papers to the Royal Observatory, 1945-46. (13 vols, 5 files; 1ft) Related Material HSR/Z/23

Administrative / biographical background
Gould entered the Navy in 1906 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1911. He served on the China Station and in the Mediterranean, but was invalided from active service in 1915. In 1916 he was appointed Naval Assistant to the Hydrographer of the Admiralty, a post he held until 1927. In 1920 Gould offered to clean and reconstruct the four Harrison marine timekeepers belonging to the nation, now on display in the National Maritime Museum.