Major-General William Driscoll Gosset FRSE (1822–1899), also Gossett, was a

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 ...

officer serving in the Royal Engineers. A skilled

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

and surveyor, he did much work on the original British

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

Early life

He was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 13 April 1822, the second son of Major John Noah Gossett (1793 - 1870) of the Rifle Brigade and his wife, Maria Margaret Driscoll (1796 - 1883). He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1840 and was deeply involved in the survey work in Britain 1840 to 1850. He was promoted captain in 1850. He was for his mapping work elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1850, subsequent to his proposal by

Charles Piazzi Smyth Charles Piazzi Smyth (3 January 1819 – 21 February 1900) was an Italian-born British astronomer who was Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1846 to 1888; he is known for many innovations in astronomy and, along with his wife Jessica Duncan P ...

Ceylon

In 1855 Gossett was made 6th Surveyor General of Ceylon, succeeding H. Chims in this role, and holding the office until 1858. He was succeeded by

Charles Sims Charles Sims may refer to: * Charles Sims (painter) (1873–1928), British painter * Charles Sims (mathematician) (1938–2017), American mathematician * Charles Sims (aviator) (1899–1929), British World War I flying ace * Charles Sims (American ...

. He was active in recruiting assistants, interviewing in London; but failed to spot embezzlement by the survey's head clerk.

British Columbia

Gosset then served as Colonial Treasurer of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, arriving in November 1858. He clashed seriously with James Douglas, from 1860. He also uncovered book-keeping issues, and recommended the dismissal of

Alexander Caulfield Anderson Alexander Caulfield Anderson (10 March 1814 – 8 May 1884) was a British Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fur-trader, explorer of British Columbia and civil servant. Anderson joined HBC in 1831 and emigrated to Canada from Europe. He was placed ...

. In the aftermath of the

Fraser Canyon Gold Rush The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, (also Fraser Gold Rush and Fraser River Gold Rush) began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River a few miles upstream from the Thompson's c ...

, coin was short in British Columbia. In 1861 Douglas sent Gosset, or the assayer Francis George Claudet, to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, for equipment to set up a local mint in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...

; in 1862 Gosset operated the mint. Gosset was replaced as Treasurer in 1862. In 1873 he returned to Britain to take a more sedate role in a Science and Art Department in London. He retired in 1894. He died on 19 May 1899 at 70 Edith Road in West Kensington in

Family

In 1852, Gosset at

Eton, Berkshire Eton ( ) is a town in Berkshire, England, on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor, connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The civil parish, which also includes the village of Eton Wick two miles west of the town, had a population of 4 ...

married his cousin, Helena Dorothea Gosset (b. 1830), who was the daughter of Isaac Gosset (1782 – 1855) and the granddaughter of James Lind of Windsor. They had one son Ernest A. Gossett.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gosset, William Driscoll 1899 deaths Surveyors General of Ceylon 1822 births Royal Engineers officers British Army major generals