Robert Freke Gould (10 November 1836 – 26 March 1915) was a soldier, barrister and prominent

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and Masonic historian. He wrote a ''History of Freemasonry'' (6 vols.) (London: Thomas C. Jack, 1883–1887), which remains a standard reference work on the subject.

Early life and career

Gould was the son of the Rev. Robert Freke Gould, Rector of

Stoke Pero Luccombe or Luckham is a village and civil parish in the Exmoor National Park in the English county of Somerset. It at the foot of the moor's highest hill, the Dunkery Beacon, and is about one mile south of the A39 road between Porlock and Mineh ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and a brother of the Countess of Strafford. The younger brother of Thomas Wentworth Gould, Robert Freke Gould was born in Ilfracombe in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

aged 18 in 1855 as an Ensign in the 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot, then as a lieutenant in the

31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot The 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot to form the East Surrey Regiment in 1881. History Origins ...

.Robert Freke Gould in the Masonic Dictionary
/ref>The Founders of the Lodge - Quatuor Coronati Lodge website
/ref> He served in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He commanded a company during the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

of 1860 and served on the Staff of General Staveley during the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted fr ...

of 1862. On leaving the Army he qualified as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

in 1868, working mainly on the Western Circuit. Gould became a Freemason in 1855 when he was initiated at

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

in the Royal Navy Lodge, No. 429, and was Master of the Inhabitants Lodge at Gibraltar in 1863, also of the Meridian Lodge, No. 743, a Military Lodge attached to his regiment. He devoted himself to Masonic and military literature from 1858 and on giving up his Law career in 1877 he devoted his life to writing and research. On 29 July 1869 he married Louisa Maria Gough, the daughter of George Gough. Gould was made Master of the Moira Lodge in 1874 and was appointed Senior Grand Deacon of the

United Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic grand lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron T ...

in 1880.Clarke, John M. ''London's Necropolis: A Guide to Brookwood Cemetery'', Sutton Publishing (2004), p. 110 He was a Member of the Board of General Purposes (1876–83) and of the Colonial Board (1876-9).

Quatuor Coronati Lodge

Along with Charles Warren, William Harry Rylands, The Revd

Adolphus Frederick Alexander Woodford Adolphus Frederick Alexander Woodford (1821–1887) was the eldest son of Alexander George Woodford, a career soldier who was already a hero of Waterloo, and would rise to Field Marshal, ending his days in command of Chelsea Hospital. After a sh ...

Walter Besant Sir Walter Besant (14 August 1836 – 9 June 1901) was an English novelist and historian. William Henry Besant was his brother, and another brother, Frank, was the husband of Annie Besant. Early life and education The son of wine merchant Will ...

John Paul Rylands John Paul Rylands, FSA (1846 – 22 March 1923, Birkenhead), was an English barrister, genealogist and topographer. John Paul Rylands was the son of Thomas G. Rylands. He was admitted to the Bar from the Middle Temple. He married Mary Isabel ...

, Major Sisson Cooper Pratt, William James Hughan and George William Speth he was one of the founders of Quatuor Coronati Lodge in 1886. Dissatisfied with the way the history of Freemasonry had been expounded in the past they founded the lodge, obtaining a warrant in 1884. Due to the absence of the first Master Sir Charles Warren on a diplomatic mission in Southern Africa, the lodge was not formally inaugurated until two years later. They insisted on using an evidence-based approach to the study of Masonic history. As such, their approach was new and unusual, and they intended that the results should "replace the imaginative writings of earlier authors on the history of Freemasonry." This began what is now called the "authentic school" of Masonic research. Gould was the lodge's second Master.W.H. Rylands and W.J. Songhurst, Obituary for Robert Freke Gould in ''Ars Quatuor Coronatorum'' - the Transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge Vol XXVIII Part 1
-

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

pg111

Later years

In December 1913 Gould was made a Past Grand Warden in honour of the Centenary of the Union of the Grand Lodges of England. Gould died at his home at Kingsfield Green in

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

in Surrey aged 78.Robert Freke Gould - Brief Obituary in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum - Transactions of Quatuor Coronatum Lodge - Google Books pg63
/ref> On his death he was buried in the nearby Brookwood Cemetery.Robert Freke Gould ''The Builder Magazine'' June 1915, Volume I, Number 6 - Phoenix Masonry website
/ref> He left a widow, Louisa Maria Gould who on her death in 1929 aged 79 was buried with him.

Partial bibliography

*''The Four Old Lodges: Founders of Modern Freemasonry and Their Descendants'', Spencer's Masonic Depot, London (1879) *''The Atholl Lodge'', Spencer's Masonic Depot, London (1879 *''The Military Lodges: The Apron and the Sword, or Freemasonry Under Arms'', Gale & Polden (1899) *''History of Freemasonry: Its Antiquities, Symbols, Constitutions, Customs, Etc'', Jack (London), (1883-7) *''Concise History of Freemasonry'' Gale & Polden (1903)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, Robert Freke 1836 births 1915 deaths People from Ilfracombe British military personnel of the Second Opium War British military personnel of the Taiping Rebellion Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England People from Woking Burials at Brookwood Cemetery 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot officers East Surrey Regiment officers English barristers