Until yesterday, I have to say that I was unaware of Rupert Gould. But after listening to a lecture at the British Horological Institute (BHI) in Upton Hall, Newark, I learned that he was one of the great geniuses of the twentieth century.
Not only was Mr Gould a distinguished Naval Commander, author and BBC Radio presenter, he was perhaps the finest horologists of the past hundred years.
Rupert Gould single-handedly restored the John Harrison Maritime chronometers. John Harrison is the man who, in the eighteenth Century, through years of painstaking work, created the means by which ships could measure Longitude - thus enabling safe long distance travel. Astonishingly, his Maritime instruments had been left to rack and ruin and were only discovered on top of a radiator, by Mr. Gould when he visited the Royal Maritime Museum.
Mr Gould's restoration work took many years, during which he suffered from a marriage break-up and a number of nervous break-downs. As so often with those who have genius, his life was littered with personal tragedy, illness and many other hardship.
Had the former Naval Commander not made restoring the Harrison chronometers his life work, it is likely that Harrison's own inventions would have been lost in the mists of time. It is thanks to Mr Gould that we know of the achievements of John Harrison (whose clocks are now in the Royal Maritime Organisation and restored to their former glory).
It was a good day at the BHI. In another lecture, I also learned of the amazing story of Big Ben. After, I wandered around Upton Hall (BHI's Home), and looked at the old clocks and watched on display. Quite remarkable.
P.S. The pictures show me with the President of the BHI, and a BHI 'model' showing the mechanics inside a watch.
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