Nat Gould

Memories Of John Gould 1849-1920

The Reverend John Gould 1849-1920 was housemaster of Latham House at Repton School in Derbyshire from 1880 to 1912.

He was there during the headmastership of Dr Steuart Adolphus Pears from 1854 until 1874. Pears Hall was built in 1884-1886 to commemorate that great headmaster, and John Gould donated its east window.

John Gould was a deeply loved and revered housemaster, and was the inspiration for the hero in James Hilton's novel Goodbye, Mr Chips. The 1939 film of the book was made at Repton.

The following tributes were published following the death of John Gould in 1920:

The Reptonian December 1920

"John Gould came to Repton as a boy of 14 in 1863 and was in Mr. Latham's House. He left in 1868 and went up to Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1872 he took an assistant mastership at Reading School, and in 1878 joined the staff at Repton. In 1880 he was appointed House Master of his own old House, and continued in that position till he retired in 1912. But he was not to be parted from Repton, his first and only love among schools, for he built himself a house on the Milton Road and lived there till his death, rarely leaving it, never in term-time, and always associating himself closely with all that went on in the School or among the old boys, especially, of course, his old boys.

He was not a great scholar, but a man of a shrewd and practical mind, with a turn for happy phrases and remarks, and on the whole a successful teacher, especially of the Bible, which seemed to form part of his very being. He was a most devoted House Master, and generations of old boys can tell of his personal interest in them and their characters, as well as of his wonderful management of the material side of things, without a wife or a sister to help him. It was a bitter grief to him to give up his house on the score of advancing years, but he never lost touch with it, and hardly a day, never a Sunday afternoon passed without his welcoming boys from Latham House or elsewhere to tea, or tennis, or talk or playing the pianola.As a preacher in the School Chapel he was always listened to with interest, and his sermons, without being eloquent, were consistently clear and earnest, with many a thought neatly expressed which lived in the memory of the hearers.

His colleagues, including the five Head Masters under whom he served, and the old boys had the greatest regard and affection for him. For many years he acted as Treasurer of the Old Reptonian Society. his advice, frequently asked for, was given readily and wisely, and though he sometimes masked his feelings behind a somewhat brusque manner, there was never any doubt as to his kindliness, charity, and generosity, the last exemplified by many munificent gifts to School objects. Always modest and unassuming, almost shy, he was yet a power in the place, and many could speak of help given by him, in the hour of need, but never talked about.

His sudden death has come as a great shock to his many friends, old and young. But he died, as he lived, quietly and without fuss, just in the way he would himself have chosen. "Where's Johnnie," said a small boy once coming to his class-room with a message and not seeing him as he sat amongst his boys, helping the weak. "He's here," replied John. And now he's there - that is all the difference.
The Arch and the Cricket Field will know him no more, but his spirit surely still hovers round the School." Arthur Cattley

The Reptonian December 1920

"An Old Lathamite's Appreciation:
I was in Mr. J. Gould's House from, I believe, January, 1884, to December, 1889. During that period he endeared himself to us all by kindness, interest, attention and general humanity. When we were sick, or pretended to be so, he gave us the run of his entire house, including the billiard room, no small asset; when we were well he asked us to dine or have supper or tea.

He was always fair and kind; to give an example of this. I was one of the seniors, and on one occasion he asked me if I had lights in our dormitory after the lights were turned off, and I said "Yes, we have a candle in a large biscuit box under the bed to learn lessons we have not done in the evening." He replied, "I should prefer you to have candles in the study in future, even after time." I asked him how he found out, and he replied, "I thought you might have lights but expected a straight reply," and he inflicted no penalty. He treated us as gentlemen, and in our small way we tried to do the same by him. I believe many of us also wrote occasionally to him if we wanted his assistance, also to hear how he was getting on, and he always sent us genial replies at an early date."

The Reptonian February 1921

"An Appreciation of the Rev. John Gould
May I as a member for six years of his House, of which for the last two I was head, place on record my appreciation of John Gould, House-Master and friend? And first I would ask permission to quote extracts from a letter just received from another O.R., extracts which appear to me peculiarly valuable owing to the prismatic view-point which was the privilege of the writer, who writes:

May I as four years a Repton boy, three years a Master, and then eleven years a father of seven sons in J.G's. House confirm beforehand all that you can find to say in praise of J.G.? 'We all knew him so well; he was always the same—sturdy, firm, loyal and extremely generous: there is no knowing how much the School, the boys and the parents owed to his quiet, free-handed liberality . . . .

As a House-Master there were too occasions in every year when he made parents particularly welcome—Speech Day and the Confirmation. His hospitality was as delightful as it was unlimited: and all the associations of the Confirmation were happy and sacred. St. Andrew's Day must have been a turning point in many a boy's life, and most impressively so in J.Gs. House. For his insistent character of sterling goodness, his unfailing interest in his boys, and for all that he has done for the good of the School, he will always be remembered by those who knew him: and it is only fitting that a lasting memorial should be dedicated to his memory.Something for the good of the boys would be what he would have liked best......E.T.M

I too can testify to his shy but large generosity, but in respect for what I am sure would be his wishes I may not cite examples. His personal interest was unfailing, both whilst still a House-Master and after retirement, as I though living for the last 12 years at the other end of the earth, know both of myself, and from his unceasing kindness to the brothers and nephew who succeeded me in his House.He was essentially a House-Master. At school we perhaps underrated him as a teacher in form (he had in his time been Head of the House), but to us his kingdom was his House. His kindly gruffness, full of shyness, was irresistible. Pleased as he was at athletic successes (I remember him taking us to a Derby County v. Stoke Match at Derby when we won the Senior Football Cup), his pride was in the tone of his House. And he had in his heart a very warm place and a particular care for those boys who to the prefects formed the troublesome element, but to him they were precious because they had (I think I quote his own words to me) “a bit of the natural devil” in them. He seldom praised. A very wise and human counsellor. E.A.G.S"

[From Repton 1557-1957:]

"Rev. John Gould (1878-1912) was Housemaster of Latham from 1880 until his retirement. “An O.R. and a bachelor, small in stature but large-hearted, clad in a Master’s gown built for a taller man, the tassell of his cap depending over a grave but kindly face, he would wend his way with step sedate to take the Lower Fourth. A clergyman of mid-Victorian type, his scholarship sufficient for his needs, he made a satisfactory Form Master. He might have been seen after breakfast on summer mornings behind a large pipe, cutting his standard roses, or on half-holiday afternoons, clad in blue blazer and white flannels, for his game of lawn tennis, or in winter mounted on his roan pony trotting round a football field followed by a mastiff not much smaller then the pony.” (Reptonian, 1937.)

Arthur Hollis (Latham, ’04) remembers him as “a most lovable person with certain peculiarities. His sharpening of the carving knife could, as we were returning to his House on whole School days, be heard as far away as Pattinson’s Shop (the Post Office), and to sit within a radius of two feet of him when he was carving was to invite considerable damage to one’s clothing from gravy. I once saw him cut a flying wasp neatly in half with the carving knife when it attempted to disturb him during this necessary exercise.”
He was a generous benefactor of the School and was famous for the kingly manner in which he fed his boys. When he retired he went to live in the house which he had built on the Milton road."

The excerpts from The Reptonian, Repton 1557-1957, and the photograph of the Reverend John Gould were kindly supplied by Paul Stevens, the School Archivist and Librarian.