Nat Gould

Richard Gould 1711-1762

Richard Gould was born in 1711, the son of William Gould 1677-1772 and his wife Anne Morewood 1679-1749.

He succeeded his father William Gould at Pilsbury Upper House. He married Elizabeth Gilbert 1717-1776 of Cotton Hall in Staffordshire.

Their children were:

Elizabeth Gould 1739-1742. She was baptised at Hartington on 7 November 1739.

Richard Gould 1741-1820. He succeeded his father at Pilsbury Grange.

Anne Gould. She was born in 1744, and baptised at Hartington on 8 June 1744. She was married to George Ratcliffe.

Elizabeth Gould 1749-1805. She was known in the family as Betty, and is mentioned in a letter that her brother Richard Gould 1741-1820 wrote to his son John Gould 1784-1814 in 1806.

Mary Gould. She was born in 1750.

William Gould. he was born in 1754.

Their mother Elizabeth Gilbert was the daughter of Thomas Gilbert of Cotton Hall in Staffordshire. Her sister Ellen Gilbert was married to her husband’s brother Joseph Gould.

Their brothers were Thomas Gilbert 1720-1798 and John Gilbert 1724-1795. They were land agents to the Marquess of Stafford and the Duke of Bridgwater, and were important canal pioneers, working on many projects with James Brindley. Their waterways include the Duke of Bridgwater's Canal and the Trent and Mersey Canal.

John Gilbert and Thomas Gilbert brought about many industrial enterprises in eighteenth-century Staffordshire. They brought industry to the Churnet Valley and developed the Cauldon Low quarries, and had interests in the Ecton copper mines.

Thomas Gilbert was Member of Parliament for Lichfield from 1768 to 1794, and introduced poor law reform. He inherited Cotton Hall, which he largely re-built.