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Rupert Thomas Gould (16 November 1890 – 5 October 1948) was a lieutenant-commander in the British Royal Navy noted for his contributions to horology (the science and study of timekeeping devices).Obituary: Commander Rupert Gould, R. N. The Geographical Journal. Vol. 112, No 4/6 (Oct. - Dec., 1948), pp. 258–259. He was also an author and radio personality.
On 9 June 1917 he married Muriel Estall. That marriage ended by judicial separation in November 1927. They had two children, Cecil Gould (born in 1918) and Jocelyne (born in 1920). His last years were spent at Barford St Martin near Salisbury, where he used his horological skills to repair and restore the defunct clock in the church tower.Betts, Jonathan, 2006
His horological book The Marine Chronometer, its history and development was first published in 1923 by J.D. Potter and was the first scholarly monograph on the subject. It was generally considered the authoritative text on marine timekeepers for at least half a century.
Gould had many other interests and activities. In spite of two more nervous breakdowns, he wrote and published an eclectic series of books on topics ranging from horology to the Loch Ness Monster. He was a science educator, giving a series of talks for the BBC's Children's Hour starting in January 1934 under the name "The Stargazer", and these collected talks were later published. He was a member of the BBC radio panel The Brains Trust. He umpired tennis matches on the Centre Court at Wimbledon on many occasions during the 1930s.
In 1947 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the British Horological Institute, its highest honour for contributions to horology.
Gould died on 5 October 1948 at Canterbury, Kent, from heart failure. He was 57 years of age.
In 2000, Longitude, a television dramatisation of Dava Sobel book , recounted in part Gould's work in restoring the Harrison chronometers. In the drama, Gould was played by Jeremy Irons.
Spurred on by the attention to the Loch Ness Monster in the popular press (news) and his previous work on the sea serpent, Gould spent some days at Loch Ness travelling around it by motorcycle. He interviewed many witnesses and collated evidence for the creature that resulted in the first major work on the phenomenon, entitled The Loch Ness Monster and Others. After this, Gould became the de facto spokesman on the subject, being a regular contributor to radio shows and newspaper articles.
Historian Mike Dash has described Gould as "Britain's answer to Charles Fort".Dash, Mike. (1999). "Rupert T. Gould: scholar, broadcaster, officer and not-quite-gentleman". Charles Fort Institute. Paranormal writer Jerome Clark has described Gould as a "conservative and analytical" Charles Fort writer.Clark, Jerome. (1993). Encyclopedia of Strange and Unexplained Physical Phenomena. Gale Research Incorporated. p. 73 However, sceptical investigator Joe Nickell has described Gould as an "overly credulous paranormalist".Nickell, Joe. (1999). The Silver Lake Serpent: Inflated Monster or Inflated Tale? Skeptical Inquirer 23 (2): 18-21.
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