Davidge Gould
Encyclopedia
Sir Davidge Gould GCB
(1758 – 23 April 1847) was an officer of the Royal Navy
. He served during the American Revolutionary
, French Revolutionary
and the Napoleonic Wars
, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral
. He was one of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's
Band of Brothers
at the Battle of the Nile
in 1798.
, Somerset
, the son of the Reverend Richard Gould, of Sharpham Park. He was distantly related to the authors Henry
and Sarah Fielding
, and the naturalist William Gould. His uncle, Sir Henry Gould, was a Justice of the Common Pleas
. Davidge joined the navy in May 1772, serving as a volunteer in the Mediterranean
aboard . He later moved to the North American coast, where he was advanced to midshipman
. He was promoted to lieutenant on 7 May 1779, later serving aboard and . He saw action in the American Revolutionary War, taking part in attacks on shore batteries and cutting out American ships.
He served in succession aboard , and , and was present aboard the Conqueror at Admiral Sir George Rodney's
victory at the Battle of the Saintes
in 1782. He then moved aboard and promoted to commander in June 1782, after which he was given command of the sloop
Pachahunter, and then and , on the Home and Mediterranean Stations. Gould spent 13 months aboard the Pylades, during which time he was active in anti-smuggling operations. He then spent four years on half-pay, before being promoted to post-captain
on 23 March 1789, and assigned to the command of the frigate
.
He sailed to the West Indies Station aboard her, but by 1794 he was in the Mediterranean, in command of at the reduction of Corsica
, and then at the Naval Battle of Genoa
in March 1795, and the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands
in July 1795, as part of Vice-Admiral William Hotham's
fleet. During the action off Genoa, the Bedford came under fire from the Ça Ira and the Censeur
, resulting in nine killed and seventeen wounded aboard the Bedford. Gould took command of in 1796, and was present at Admiral John Jervis's
attack on Cadiz
. He was still in command of Audacious when she was ordered to join Nelson's squadron in their search for the French. On 1 August Gould commanded Audacious at the Battle of the Nile
, engaging the French ship Conquérant
and helped to force her surrender. Gould then took part in the blockades of Malta
and Genoa
for the rest of 1798 and into 1799.
on 17 November 1846, a post he held until his death.
on 23 April 1847. He was by then the last surviving member of Nelson's 'Band of Brothers', the captains who had fought with him at the Nile.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(1758 – 23 April 1847) was an officer of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. He served during the American Revolutionary
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, French Revolutionary
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral
Admiral (United Kingdom)
Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-9, outranked only by the rank Admiral of the Fleet...
. He was one of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
Band of Brothers
Nelson's Band of Brothers
Band of Brothers was a phrase used by Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson to refer to the captains under his command just prior to and at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. The phrase, taken from Shakespeare's Henry V, later came to be more generally applied to his relationship with the captains and men under...
at the Battle of the Nile
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...
in 1798.
Family and early life
Gould was born at BridgwaterBridgwater
Bridgwater is a market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is the administrative centre of the Sedgemoor district, and a major industrial centre. Bridgwater is located on the major communication routes through South West England...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, the son of the Reverend Richard Gould, of Sharpham Park. He was distantly related to the authors Henry
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
and Sarah Fielding
Sarah Fielding
Sarah Fielding was a British author and sister of the novelist Henry Fielding. She was the author of The Governess, or The Little Female Academy , which was the first novel in English written especially for children , and had earlier achieved success with her novel The Adventures of David Simple...
, and the naturalist William Gould. His uncle, Sir Henry Gould, was a Justice of the Common Pleas
Court of Common Pleas (England)
The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...
. Davidge joined the navy in May 1772, serving as a volunteer in the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
aboard . He later moved to the North American coast, where he was advanced to midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
. He was promoted to lieutenant on 7 May 1779, later serving aboard and . He saw action in the American Revolutionary War, taking part in attacks on shore batteries and cutting out American ships.
He served in succession aboard , and , and was present aboard the Conqueror at Admiral Sir George Rodney's
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782...
victory at the Battle of the Saintes
Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned...
in 1782. He then moved aboard and promoted to commander in June 1782, after which he was given command of the sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
Pachahunter, and then and , on the Home and Mediterranean Stations. Gould spent 13 months aboard the Pylades, during which time he was active in anti-smuggling operations. He then spent four years on half-pay, before being promoted to post-captain
Post-Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...
on 23 March 1789, and assigned to the command of the frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
.
Captaincy
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, and then at the Naval Battle of Genoa
Naval Battle of Genoa (1795)
The Naval Battle of Genoa was fought on 14 March 1795 off the coast of Genoa, a port city in north-western Italy, between French warships under Rear-Admiral Pierre Martin and British and Neapolitan warships under Vice Admiral William Hotham...
in March 1795, and the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands
Naval Battle of Hyères Islands
The Naval Battle of Hyères Islands was fought on 13 July 1795 off the Hyères Islands, a group of islands off the French Mediterranean coast, about 25 km east of Toulon. The battle was fought between the van of a British fleet chasing the French squadron, and the French rear...
in July 1795, as part of Vice-Admiral William Hotham's
William Hotham, 1st Baron Hotham
Admiral William Hotham, 1st Baron Hotham was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was the son of Sir Beaumont Hotham , a lineal descendant of Sir John Hotham....
fleet. During the action off Genoa, the Bedford came under fire from the Ça Ira and the Censeur
French ship Censeur (1782)
Censeur was a 74-gun Pégase-class ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1782. She served during the last months of the American War of Independence, and survived to see action in the French Revolutionary Wars. She was briefly captured by the British, but was retaken after a few months...
, resulting in nine killed and seventeen wounded aboard the Bedford. Gould took command of in 1796, and was present at Admiral John Jervis's
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom...
attack on Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
. He was still in command of Audacious when she was ordered to join Nelson's squadron in their search for the French. On 1 August Gould commanded Audacious at the Battle of the Nile
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...
, engaging the French ship Conquérant
French ship Conquérant (1747)
The Conquérant was a Citoyen class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She took part in the Battle of the Nile, where she was armed with only 18- and 12-pounders, and crewed by a mere 400 men, under captain Dalbarade. Second ship in the vanguard of her line, Conquérant sustained fire from...
and helped to force her surrender. Gould then took part in the blockades of Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
for the rest of 1798 and into 1799.
Later life and flag rank
The Audacious escorted a convoy to Britain in late 1800, and on arrival was paid off. In spring 1801 Gould was appointed to command , serving in British waters, and in the West Indies. He commanded in between 1803 and 1804 but was forced to resign command owing to ill-health. He never again served at sea. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral in October 1807, Vice -Admiral in July 1810 and Admiral in May 1825. He was awarded a gold medal for his service at the Nile, and was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1815, followed by being invested as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1833. He was also appointed to the post of Vice-Admiral of the United KingdomVice-Admiral of the United Kingdom
The Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom is an honorary office generally held by a senior Royal Navy admiral. Despite the title, the Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom is usually a full admiral. He is the official deputy to the Lord High Admiral, an honorary office vested in the Sovereign from...
on 17 November 1846, a post he held until his death.
Personal life and death
Gould married Harriet Willes, eldest daughter of the Reverend William Willes, Archdeacon of Taunton, in 1803. The couple did not have any children. He received a pension of £300 per annum, and died at the age of 89 at Hawkshead, HerefordshireHerefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
on 23 April 1847. He was by then the last surviving member of Nelson's 'Band of Brothers', the captains who had fought with him at the Nile.