Major-General Sir William Gosset (18 January 1782 – 27 March 1848) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who served as Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons from 1835 to 1847.

Early life and family

Gosset was born in

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

and was of French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

descent. He was the son of Matthieu Gosset of Bagot and his second wife, Marguerite Durell. He had three half-brothers by his father's first marriage, including Matthew Gosset, Viscount of Jersey. His great-uncle was the sculptor Isaac Gosset and his uncle, also named

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

, was a noted bibliophile.

Career

Gosset was commissioned into the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in 1798. During the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, he was sent to Holland in the

Walcheren Campaign The Walcheren Campaign () was an unsuccessful United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British expedition to the Kingdom of Holland in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with First French Empire, France ...

in 1809. Gosset was secretary to William à Court's mission to the

Barbary States The Barbary Coast (also Barbary, Berbery, or Berber Coast) were the coastal regions of central and western North Africa, more specifically, the Maghreb and the Ottoman borderlands consisting of the regencies in Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, a ...

in 1813. During the Bombardment of Algiers in August 1816, he served as major commandant of the engineers under Admiral Viscount Exmouth and destroyed an enemy frigate. In honour of his assistance, he was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(CB) by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in November 1816, and the following year was appointed a Commander of the Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit, by King

Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand I (Italian language, Italian: ''Ferdinando I''; 12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, King of the Two Sicilies from 1816 until his death. Before that he had been, since 1759, King of Naples as Ferdinand I ...

. He served as Member of Parliament for

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

from 1820 to 1826, secretary to Lord Anglesey as

Master-General of the Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...

from 1827 to 1828, private secretary to Anglesey as

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

from 1828 to 1829,

Under-Secretary for Ireland The Under-Secretary for Ireland (Permanent Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland) was the permanent head (or most senior civil servant) of the British administration in Ireland prior to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 192 ...

from 1831 to 1835 and Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons from 1835 until his death. He was knighted in 3 May 1831 by the Queen and appointed a Knight Commander in the

Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Kingdom of Hanover, Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name from the House ...

that same year.

Personal life

In 1808, he married Gertrude Martha, daughter of Ralph Allen Daniell of Trelissick, near Truro. He settled in Cornwall, where he and his wife had one son – who also served as Serjeant-at-Arms – and three daughters.''England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975'' *Sir Ralph Gosset (1809–1885), Serjeant-at-Arms from 1875–85 *Elizabeth Louisa Gosset (1811–1897), married Frederick Willis, Esq. *Gertrude Mary Gosset (1814–1879) *Jennetta Anne Gosset (1817–1890), married Wilbraham Taylor, son of

Edward Taylor Edward Taylor (1642 – June 29, 1729) was a colonial American poet, pastor and physician of English origin. His work remained unpublished for some 200 years but since then has established him as one of the foremost writers of his time. His p ...

, MP

References

1782 births 1848 deaths UK MPs 1820–1826 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Truro Royal Engineers officers British Army major generals Knights Bachelor Under-Secretaries for Ireland Serjeants at arms of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom People from Saint Saviour, Jersey Jersey military personnel Jersey politicians

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

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