GOMERSAL, Edward Alexander (son of a military officer). b. Gomersal near Leeds; first appeared in London at Haymarket theatre 16 Sep. 1811; spoke the first words upon boards of new T.R. Windsor; played Napoleon in The Battle of Waterloo at Astley’s about 1817, acted same character in every amphitheatre in Great Britain; proprietor with B. O. Conquest of Garrick theatre, Whitechapel to 4 Nov. 1846 when it was burned down; is referred to in the Bon Gaultier Ballads and The Newcomes. d. Leeds 19 Oct. 1862 aged 74. Era 26 Oct. 1862 p. 10, col. 4.
GOMM, Sir William Maynard (1 son of lieut. col. William Gomme, killed 1794). b. Barbadoes 10 Nov. 1784; gazetted ensign 9 regt. 24 May 1794; served in Holland 1799, Spain 1800, Hanover 1805, Baltic 1807, Peninsula 1808–9, 1810–14, at Quatre Bras and Waterloo 1815; lieut. col. of Coldstream guards 1836; K.C.B. 2 Jany. 1815, G.C.B. 21 June 1859; commander in Jamaica 1839–41; governor of Mauritius 1842–49; col. of 13 foot 10 March 1846, of Coldstream guards 15 Aug. 1863 to death; commander in chief in India, Jany. 1851 to Dec. 1855, general 1854, field marshal 1 Jany. 1868; constable of Tower of London 31 Oct. 1872 to death; knight of St. Anne of Russia 1815, of St. Vladimir 1874; author of The story of Newcastle, Jamaica, etc. 1864; five Field-marshal Gomm scholarships founded at Keble coll. Ox. by the will of his widow who d. 30 Nov. 1877 leaving £15,000 for the purpose. He d. Brighton 15 March 1875. bur. Ch. Ch. Rotherhithe. I.L.N. lxi, 412, 414 (1872), portrait; Graphic xi, 315 (1875), portrait; Letters and Journals of Sir W. M. Gomm (1881), portrait.
Note.—The public house Sir William Gomm, 44 Abbeyfield road, Rotherhithe, London, is named after him.
GOMPERTZ, Benjamin (son of Mr. Gompertz, diamond merchant). b. Bury st. London 5 March 1779; a stock broker; president of Old Mathematical soc. of Crispin st. Spitalfields which became Astronomical soc. 1820, member of council 1821–31; F.R.S. 29 June 1819; F.R.A.S., member of council 1832, contributed to the complete catalogue of stars; actuary of Alliance British and Foreign assurance Co. 1824–48; propounded the law of human mortality 1825; author of The principles and application of imaginary quantities 2 vols. 1817–18; Hints on Porisms 1850. d. 1 Kennington terrace, Vauxhall, London 14 July 1865. Assurance Mag. April 1866, pp. 1–20; Walford’s Insurance Cyclop. v, 437–54 (1878).
GOMPERTZ, Lewis (younger brother of the preceding). Spent his life in enforcing kindness to animals; a strict vegetarian and would never ride in a coach; hon. sec. of soc. for prevention of cruelty to animals 1826–32; founded the Animals’ Friend soc. 1832; edited The Animals’ Friend or the Progress of Humanity 1846; invented shot proof ships, fortifications for reflecting the balls to the place fired from, a mechanical cure for apoplexy, and the expanding chuck which is now found attached to lathes in workshops; author of Mechanical inventions and suggestions on locomotion 1850; Fragments in defence of animals 1852. d. 5 Kennington oval, London. 2 Dec. 1861. Fragments in defence of animals by L. Gompertz (1852), portrait.
GOOCH, Sir Daniel, 1 Baronet. (3 son of John Gooch of Bedlington, Northumberland 1783–1833). b. Bedlington 24 Aug. 1816; chief locomotive engineer to Great Western Railway Company 1837–1864, chairman Nov. 1866 to death; M.P. for Cricklade 1865–85; comr. on Trades Union; Chairman of Great Eastern Steamship Co.; Chairman of Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company; one of purchasers of Great Eastern Steamship, with a view to her being employed in laying Atlantic cable, and this having been effected in 1866, created baronet 15 Nov. 1866, being first engineer made a baronet. d. Clewer park, Windsor 15 Oct. 1889. Biograph, March to April 1882 pp. 329–32; Touchstone 29 March 1879 pp. 1–2, portrait; Colburn’s New monthly mag. cxvi, 1390 (1879), portrait.
GOOCH, Sir Edward Sherlock, 6 Baronet. b. Holbecks, Suffolk 1802; M.P. for East Suffolk 19 Feb. 1846 to death; provincial grand master of freemasons 1851 to death; succeeded 18 Dec. 1851. d. Benacre hall, Suffolk 9 Nov. 1856.
GOOCH, Rev. John Henry. b. Suffolk; ed. at Trin. coll. Cam., scholar, 14 wrangler 1834, B.A. 1834, M.A. 1837; assist. master Wakefield proprietory sch. 1838–40; master of Heath gr. sch. Halifax 1840–61; Inc. of Stainland near Halifax 1841–60; author of Church catechism expanded 1851. d. 22 July 1861 aged 60. T. Cox’s History of Heath gr. sch. (1879) 45, 77, portrait.
GOOCH, Thomas Longridge (eld. son of John Gooch). b. London 1 Nov. 1808; pupil of George Stephenson 1823–29; made working drawings for Liverpool and Manchester railway 1827–8, resident engineer on it at Liverpool 1829–30, had charge of the Dart locomotive on opening of the line 1830; resident engineer on London and Birmingham line 1833; with G. Stephenson joint principal engineer of Manchester and Leeds line 1839–41 and alone 1841–44; with G. Stephenson and G. P. Bidder engineer of Trent valley line 1845; retired from business 1851; as an engineer second only to the Stephensons and Brunel; M.I.C.E. 3 June 1845. d. Team lodge, Gateshead 23 Nov. 1882. Min. of proc. of Instit. of C.E. lxxii, 300–8 (1883).
GOOCH, Sir Thomas Sherlock, 5 Baronet. b. 2 Nov. 1767; M.P. for Suffolk 1806–30; succeeded his father 7 April 1826; chairman of Suffolk quarter sessions to 1843. d. Benacre hall, Suffolk 18 Dec. 1851.