Nat Gould

Pilsbury Grange Letter 13

Letter 13 of the Letters from Pilsbury Grange is dated 7 March 1847, and was written by William Gould to his brother Richard Goodwin Gould.

[[The letter is dated 7 March 1847, and bears an imperforate penny red adhesive postage stamp. Although the postmark is incomplete, the letter appears to have been posted in Birmingham on that day. The top of the missing day numeral is a straight line [[7] and not a curve [[8].

The cover was backstamped on arrival in London on 8 March 1847. At a later date the cover was used to add up a sum of money (correctly) in pencil. The letter is addressed to:-]

Mr Gould
Cooper & Batchelor’s
New Bond St
London

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Birmingham Mar 7/47

Dear Dick

I am sorry to say £10 will be as much as I can spare I wish I had known two or three weeks ago I could then have let you had double that amount I should cer-tainly have a gold watch when I did have one. I should think Mrs Green’s affairs will be settled without any difficulty. I dare say we shall have something of it when we all see in the Summer. I shall cer-tainly not be rash about taking a farm but I have quite made

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up my mind to it and unless I am on the look out I shall never meet with one I heard from Bess yesterday they seem to be going on pretty well Gil and Mr John are going to Ashbourn steeple chase next week I believe Frank is going to run a horse Bess says she expects he is going to be married soon I wish he may I think it will be much be much better for him than leading the life he has been doing lately Bess & Gil were at Bakewell on Monday

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she says that young man that was with them in the summer has left he as committed himself in some way or other I am sorry to hear Bob as left Harrisons if you should happen to see him shortly tell him to write I want to hear from him

I remain Your affectionate brother
William

William Gould was apparently intending to leave his job in Birmingham and buy a farm, but needed the legacy expected from Mrs Green. Her identity is unknown, as is what William means about the gold watch. (The significance of several such comments in these letters is now lost to us, but they were evidently a running joke or story between the brothers.)

Of the people mentioned in the letter, Mrs Green is Sarah Green nee Sarah Goodwin 1758-1846. Gil is William’s brother Gilbert Gould 1821-1891, who had taken on the farming at Pilsbury Grange after the deaths of his parents Edmund Gould 1817-1859 and Margaret Gould 1783-1844. Mr John is John Gould of Ludwell, Gilbert Gould's neighbour. Bess is the writer's sister Elizabeth Ann Gould 1827-1868. The identities of Frank, Bob and Harrisons are unknown.