Nat Gould

William Gould 1677-1772

William Gould was born in 1677, probably at Elkstone in Staffordshire, the second child and eldest son of William Gould 1655-1725 and his wife Mary Hollis 1654-1713.

He was seven years of age when the lease of Pilsbury Grange was taken in 1684 by his father, the first of the Goulds of there.

When his father William Gould 1655-1725 divided the Pilsbury Grange farm between his two eldest surviving sons, the older son William Gould had the “Upper House” (1). The tenancy of the "Upper House" remained with his descendants until the last of the Gould tenants left in 1901.

On 2 November 1701 at Hartington in Derbyshire he married Anne Morewood, the daughter of the Reverend John Morewood of Staden who owned a large estate there and elsewhere on the outskirts of Buxton that was eventually sold by his grandson’s executors to the Duke of Devonshire. John Morewood 1645-1682 was a scion of a very ancient family that were living in medieval times at Bradfield in Yorkshire.

They had the following children:

Hannah Gould. She was born in about 1701. She was married on 13 October 1728 at Hartington to Anthony Goodwin of Great Rocks in Wormhill parish in Derbyshire. She died in 1790 and was buried at Wormhill on 19 May 1790.

John Gould. He was baptised at Hartington on 23 July 1702. He lived in London, and died childless.

William Gould. He was born in 1704 at Pilsbury and baptised on 31 August 1704 at Hartington. His first wife was Dorothy Beresford, the daughter and heiress of Samuel Beresford and his wife Ann Marsh. They lived at Brownhill in Warslow and had seven children. Dorothy Gould died in 1739, and was buried on 24 September 1739 at Alstonefield. William Gould re-married in 1741. His second wife was Elizabeth Grindon 1723-1790. She was born in 1723, and died on 26 June 1790 aged 66 years. They had eight children, all under age when their father died. William Gould died in 1757 and was buried on 28 August 1757. He was only 53 years old. His will was drawn up just six days before he died.

Joseph Gould. He was baptised at Hartington on 30 September 1708. He died aged six years old, and was buried at Hartington on 29 August 1715.

Anne Gould. She was baptised at Hartington on 15 February 1709 (modern reckoning). She was unmarried and seems to have lived in Manchester. She died in 1797 and was buried at Hartington on 23 April 1797.

Richard Gould. He was born in 1711, and succeeded his father William Gould at Pilsbury Upper House He married Elizabeth Gilbert 1717-1776 of Cotton Hall in Staffordshire. They had two children.

In 1713 another son was born to William Gould and Anne his wife, and was baptised at Hartington in 1713 (2).

Thomas Gould. He was born in 1714 and died on 7 August 1794. He married Elizabeth Cocks 1735-1818, the daughter of William Cocks of Champion in Derbyshire. She was born in 1736 and died on 18 January 1818 aged 82 years. They lived at Hanson Grange, and had nine children.

Joseph Gould. He was baptised at Hartington on 25 October 1715, and died on 26 November 1777. He was a mercer in Bakewell. On 3 September 1747 he married Ellen Gilbert, daughter of Thomas Gilbert of Cotton Hall. She was the sister of Elizabeth Gilbert 1717-1776 who was married to his brother Richard Gould. Ellen Gould died on 8 July 1792. They had nine children.

Samuel Gould. He was baptised at Hartington on 29 May 1717 and buried there on 17 November 1720.

George Gould. He was baptised at Hartington on 16 June 1719 and buried there on 2 December in the same year.

George Gould. He was baptised at Hartington on 30 September 1720. He was a bachelor, and lived at Crowdecote.

Mary Gould. She was baptised on 21 March 1721, and she died on 8 November 1780. She was married on 14 June 1759 at Thorpe to William Wardle of Boosley Grange, between Longnor and Elkstone in Staffordshire. He was born at Atlow on 7 January 1715 (modern reckoning), son of William Wardle of Atlow and Elizabeth his wife. He became the Steward to Sir Henry Harpur of Calke Abbey. He died on 26 June 1770 and was buried at Hartington. They had one daughter.

Rebecca Gould. She was baptised at Hartington on 2 April 1724 and was buried there on 9 April 1726.

William Gould made his Will on 11 June 1762, by which time he was infirm but of sound mind and memory. He died on 20 January 1772 at Hanson Grange aged 95 years, and was buried on 31 January 1772 at Hartington. His Will was proved on 5 May 1772, his sole executor being his eldest surviving son Thomas Gould who inherited most of his property, except for that at Crowdecote that was bequeathed to his grandson Richard Gould, son of his recently deceased son Richard Gould.

His wife Anne Gould nee Morewood had predeceased him in 1749 and was buried at Hartington on 11 January 1749.

(1) His younger brother Joseph Gould 1715-1777 took on the “Lower House” nearby. In the 1850s the "Lower House" passed out of the tenancy of the Gould family, and the "Upper House" became known by them simply as Pilsbury Grange.
These names were those used by William Gould's great-grandson Thomas Bateman when compiling the family tree in the 1820s. The Upper House stands on slightly higher ground than the present Lower House. Thomas Bateman was following what another great-grandson William Gould of Hanson Grange had been telling him. The names refer to the height of the two houses rather than to their positions upstream or downstream in the Dove valley.
(2) Unfortunately his name and the full date of baptism are unknown, as the page in the Hartington register has been torn at that entry.