Major General J W Gosset, R.E. : Part One

Well, here is a beginning of some of the information found on a great-great-great grandfather, James William Gosset, who served in the Royal Engineers. He was the earliest member of the family that my grandmother knew of (her maternal grandfather William Montgomery Gosset's father).

The information gleaned so far comes from a variety of sources:


J. B. Payne's Armorial of Jersey;
Auckland City Library holding of Hart's Army Lists;

descriptions of maps in the National Archives;

death notices;

Google Book Search findings;

The Times military intelligence news;

an auction house catalogue,

and, related to that, the New Zealand online auction site trademe.co.nz (!).
The last (no longer online?) let me know what he actually looked like, so here he is below:

CORRECTION: I have since discovered that this photo is NOT of James Willim Gosset, despite being sold at auction as being his portrait. The man in the photo is an uncle of James, John Hammond, Bailiff of Jersey (born 1801; died 1880).

Payne's Armorial of Jersey has a pedigree of the Gosset Family. The first of the two sheets is reproduced in this online Pedigree of Gosset. At the bottom of that sheet in the middle is Isaac Gosset, Clerk of Cheque, Ordnance Department. Isaac was born about 1774 and died 18 February 1854. He married twice, to Magdalen Robin (daughter of Philip Robin and Anne Pipon of Noirmont, Magdalen Robin d. in or before 1815), and in 1815 to Margaret Hammond (1787-1878), daughter of James Lempriere Hammond and Rachel Durell, or Le Vavasseur-dit-Durell, all of the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands.


James William Gosset was the second but eldest surviving son (after an older brother also named James) of the second marriage of Isaac to Margaret (James William Gosset is shown on the second sheet of the pedigree in the Armorial but not shown in the online Pedigree). James was born at Saint Saviour's Jersey on 30 December, 1818 (from the book The Gossett Family, by Frank Gossett). He was evidently named for his grandfather James Lempriere Hammond.


A catalogue entry from an auction house that recently sold items possessed by James William Gosset shows that he was marked for a military career from an early age. In the auction house catalogue mentioned above a writing box in one lot included a letter dated 21 December 1830 (when James was not quite twelve) advising that he had been placed on the list of candidates for admission to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich (where Royal Engineers were trained). A Gentleman Cadet parchment in another lot was dated 8 February 1833, when he was fourteen.

The choice of a career in the Royal Engineers was a popular one for the Gossets. James' father Isaac Gosset had a half-brother Sir William Gosset (1782-1848) who had become a Major General in the Royal Engineers. Isaac and Sir William's nephew William Drsicoll Gosset (son of John Noah Gosset) also became a Major General, R.E., and assorted descendants of Sir William were R.E. officers. This can become problematic distinguishing one Gosset R.E. from another, as some of them had careers that were contemporary.

Hart's Annual Army List for 1860 (sourced at Auckland City Library, Family Research Section) gives information on James William Gosset's promotions to 1860.

16 Jun 1838 Ensign.

07 Sep 1840 Lieutenant.

01 Mar 1847 Captain - this appears to be promotion to second captain as a note on 1 April 1854, page 12 of the The Times, reads:

01 April 1854, "2nd Capt James William Gosset to be Captain".

26 Oct 1858 Major.

The Gentleman's Magazine of 1844 (via Google Book Search) gave an annoucement of his marriage, 16 September 1844, to Maria Asia Hull Woodriff.

The annoucement of the marriage in Gentleman's Magazine, 1844, page 541, read, for marriages in September of that year:

"16. At Jersey, Lieut. James W. Gossett, R.E., son of Isaac Gosset, esq. of Jersey, to Maria-Asia-Hull, dau. of Lieut. J.K Woodriff, R.N., of Preston, near Weymouth, and grand-dau. of Commissioner Woodriff, R.N., C.B., late Greenwich Hospital."

Maria Asia Hull Woodriff was christened 16 July 1819, Northam, Devon (found via the International Genealogical Index at familysearch.org), and died 26 January 1878, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand (her death certificate). She was the only (or only surviving) child of John Robert Woodriff (1790-14 February 1868), who was later Captain in the Royal Navy, and his first wife Maria Hull (d. 1834). Note it should have read J.R. Woodriff in the annoucement and not J.K. (presumably a transcription error). Note the spelling of "Gossett" in the marriage announcement. This variation between Gosset and Gossett happened throughout the life of James and his family.

John Robert Woodriff was one of several members of his family to serve in the Royal Navy. His father (and Maria's grandfather) the Commissioner was Captain Daniel Woodriff, R.N. (1756-1842). More on the Woodriffs in a future posting. Among the online sources for the life and career of Daniel Woodriff is an entry in the Australian Dictionary of National Biography.

James William and Maria Asia Hull Gosset had seven children. The census returns for Jersey in 1861 and 1871 between them give us birthplaces for the children which act as a partial guide to where James W. Gosset's R.E. career took him and Maria:

(1) Maria Margaret Gosset (b. 1846, Mauritius)

(2) Gertrude Gosset (b. 23 January 1849, Mauritius)

(3) James Woodriff Gosset (b. 22 March 1851, Mauritius)

(4) Mary Asia Gosset (b. 23 Aug 1852, St. Helier, Jersey)

(5) William Montgomery Gosset (b.c. 1854, Clonmel, Ireland)

(6) Arthur Charleton Gosset (b. 1856, Kilkenny, Ireland)

(7) Alfred Hobson Gosset (b. 1857, Kilkenny, Ireland)



The National Archives Catalogue also gives us an idea of what James did at Mauritius where the three eldest children were born. A "Sectional elevation showing the proposed position of a lighting conductor at the Fantaron powder magazine", with "Scale: 1 inch to 10 feet" was signed 31 October 1851 by J W Gosset and A B Fyers.


A further item was a " 'Plan of a piece of ground and sea shore that he wishes to have conceded to him'. 'He' is Mr Murray; the map also showing land granted to Mr Murray; patent slip, breakwater and Mr bird's Basin; low water mark and depths. Copied by J W Gosset, Capt RE, 11 March 1852".


By the time Mary Asia was born in August 1852 (christened 15 September 1852) the family were on Jersey. They (or James at least) moved to Ireland by April 1853 where the youngest three children were born. This is evidenced by more plans from the National Archives Catalogue:


"Ireland: County Tipperary. (1) No 1: 'Clonmel. Plan of Barracks shewing the course of the Boelick Stream above and below the Barrack and the proposed new Auxiliary Drain ...'. Scale: 1 inch to 50 feet. Compass indicator. Signed by R Hammond, Foreman of Works, 16 April 1853. Signed by J Gossett, Captain, Royal Engineers, 18 April 1853. Initialled by B R B [Baker]. "


"(2) No 2: 'Clonmel. Artillery Barracks. Detail Plan of Sewer Mouth & Sluice ...': sections and elevation. Scale: 1 inch to 2 feet. Signed by J Bennett, Clerk of Works, 10 May 1853. Signed by Hammond, 6 May 1853; and by Gossett, 11 May 1853. (3) No 3: section along line shown on (1). Scale: horizontal 1 inch to 50 feet; vertical 1 inch to 10 feet. Signed by Hammond, 16 April 1853; and by Gossett, 18 April 1853. Initialled by B R B [Baker]."

EDIT: 9 Feb 2010: The information below has been shown to be incorrect! While the Times does name "Brevet-Col. James W. Gosset" Hart's Army Lists for 1866 and 1867 show quite clearly that the Gosset appointed commander of Engineers at Woolwich was William Driscoll Gosset, NOT James. Instead in the 1866 Army List James William Gosset was commanding Royal Engineers in the Windward and Leeward Islands! This is supported by an entry in Chambers's Edinburgh Journal for 1869, which on page 522 quotes "Colonel Driscoll Gosset" concerning matters at Woolwich. I will leave the original part of the posting here. This shows the need to check sources - or to check more than one source, even a reliable one!!!


A notice in The Times shows he was promoted Brevet Colonel in 1860 and moved to England in 1867. Under Military and Naval Intelligence in the 8 May 1867 edition, page 14, is a note that Brevet-Col. John S. Hawkins, commanding Royal Engineers at Woolwich, had a new posting to Barbados from 17 May. He had been "superseded by Brevet-Col. James W. Gosset (January 6, 1860), from Dublin, who takes up his appointment at Woolwich this morning".





Joseph Haydn's "Book of Dignities", page 902 (Auckland City Library holding, 4 GBR PRG) stated that "Jas. Wm. Gosset" was promoted to the rank of Major General, 6 July 1867, although the auction house catalogue showed that his Major General's Commission was dated 12 June 1867. He had retired shortly afterwards, being Maj. Gen. RE retired on Full pay in the 1871 census for Jersey, where he was with his family, except for his eldest son, James Woodriff Gosset.

A Small Start...

Well, here goes a little of nothing, perhaps. With so many blogs abounding in the world, and with many persons far more conversant in genealogical research that I, why add my twopence worth? I thought a blog might be an interesting way of communicating my interest and advertising it to a wider world. I have discovered distant (and not so distant) relatives in different parts of the world that I would not have found if I had not gone looking. So, maybe this will serve as a contact point to those who have, like me in the past and currently, recognise a name on a webpage as belonging to an ancestor. This might also be a way to help ensure that anything I might have discovered in my off-and-on research will not be lost.

Family tree research can grow exponentially. As each person has two parents, each generation back gives two more people to trace, and as those two have parents, four more people to trace, then eight more and so onwards and upwards, or backwards. Well, generally. Unless one discovers cousinal intermarriage on occasion, which can narrow a line down a bit. Then there are inevitable pending areas of research, where you get "stuck", and it is seemingly impossible to get past a certain generation.

I have long been interested in my family tree - the basic idea of where did I come from? How did I get here? Where did my parents parents parents come from and what did they do? I would plague relatives asking about our mutual ancestors, what were their names, where did they come from, what did they do, and who did they marry? These seemed like simple questions to me but did not always have simple answers. Beyond a certain generation knowledge seemed to be lacking. In a place like my country, New Zealand, for immigrants to the country, knowledge went as far as the first to arrive, but no further back. New Zealand's border seemed to be a barrier to much knowledge of those who had been back in the "Old Country", wherever that country happened to be.

In some ways I thought a blog, as fleeting as it may prove to be, might help ensure that information that has been rediscovered is retained by succeeding generations of relatives. I say rediscovered and not discovered as the relatives I research knew who they were, and presumably knew who their parents and children were. However, very often it seems that that knowledge has been lost by succeeding generations.

To some extent my family and ancestors have been luckier than some, for some of the generations at least.

On my father's paternal line we had a reprinted pamphlet "The Shortridges: The Records of a Cumberland Family", by M. Aird Jolly, Reprinted from the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society's Transactions, Volume XXXIX-New series, 1939. This reprinted pamphlet (pages 35-44 in the Transactions) has generations from my paternal great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents William Shortriggs or Shortridge, of Bewcastle, Cumberland (1698-21 September 1753) and his wife Betty or Elizabeth, nee Routledge (died 21 March 1745). It follows them down to my great grandparents, John Wood Shortridge (1852-1921) and his wife Carmela Esposita (1855-20 November 1941). It was John Wood Shortridge, and later his wife, who came out to New Zealand.

For other lines in the family, knowledge was much more variable. My father's mother told me about three of her four grandparents, but only knew of one great grandparent by name.

On my mother's side, we knew back to her mother's paternal grandparents with certainty, but beyond then could get a bit murky. For her paternal grandparents we have been fortunate that her grandfather, at one stage Chemist's assistant (the Chemist being his father-in-law), knew photography and there is quite a pictorial record of family in England and early years in New Zealand. We have been rather less fortunate on other sides where some areas have little or no photographs that have survived, or at least, not that we know of.

Anyway, I intend to cover some of this at least in successive posts. But, a blog should have links, so below are some starter links for beginners in genealogical research that I've found very useful.

Quite a few of my ancestors came to New Zealand from England. For that country, there are some basic sites to get started with.

Especially of importance is the freebmd site. This is invaluable, as transcriptions are made of birth, marriage and death registers in England. Centralised registration began with the September quarter of 1837. Note the name/s, district, volume number and page number the entry appears on, as this will be very helpful - and saves money! - when going on to request a certificate.

Having discovered a likely certificate to order, go and visit the General Register Office, log in and place an order for the certificate(s) that you are interested in. Presently the certificates cost 7 pounds each if you supply the district name, quarter, and page number as well as the name and year (having found these via a freebmd search. The certificate is sent to you by surface post.

If your ancestor left a will you might be able to access it via the National Archives page, which has English wills up to 1858 that were proved in the Court of Canterbury. Wills cost 3 pounds 50 to request, and can be downloaded as soon as you have autenticated the transaction (credit cards accepted!). I have used this page primarily for accessing wills, but then discovered, almost by accident (that is, I'd overlooked them entirely!), a host of other certification available on the site, such as the Royal Naval Officers' Service records, and other records that are available via their Catalogue.

Anyway, this is long enough for now.