(Material researched & presented by Barbara Armstrong)

[1855 - 1928]

Henry Thomas Gould                Photo courtesy of Peter Torokfalvy        with the kind permission of Roger McLennan

Henry Thomas Gould, son of corn dealer, John Gould, and his wife Ann Lucretia Wooldridge, was born near Newport, Isle of Wight in 1855. He served his apprenticeship with a Newport chemist and druggist, Herbert J. Orchard, who was also local mayor and magistrate. After a period at the Westminster College of Pharmacy, London, he passed his qualifying examination as a chemist and druggist.

While still in England, Henry married Alice Amelia Oldman of Somerset, by whom he eventually had five children. He and his wife came to Tasmania in 1880 to manage the pharmacy business of Dr Benjafield at the corner of Elizabeth and Bathurst Streets, subsequently entering into partnership with Dr Benjafield, Dr Gibson, and Mr M. Mason. By the time of his death on 6 November 1928, Mr Gould was the last survivor of the partnership. A later member of the firm was Mr F.W. Colman, who became a partner in the homœopathic pharmacy of Messrs. Fennell and Colman. Gould's eldest son, John Henry Gould, subsequently joined the partnership and after his father's death, became its sole surviving member.

According to H.T. Gould's obituary in The Mercury (7 November, 1928):

For many years the late Mr Gould was prominently associated with the public life in the city. In addition to his duties as an alderman for about nine years, his public activities covered a wide field through which he gained the esteem of the community.

And ...

Showing an intense interest in all phases of his profession, the late Mr Gould, as a member of the Pharmaceutical Society and the Pharmacy Board, occupied every position of responsibility in those bodies. In the early days of the society he was one of the examiners.

As an alderman of the city, Mr Gould carried out his duties with conspicuous ability, and during his term was associated with many undertakings, prominent among which was the work of the Metropolitan Drainage Board. He was a justice of the peace for 29 years. He was one of the founders of the Homœopathic Hospital, and was trustee and chairman of the finance committee of that institution. The late Mr Gould's work in the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in which he held the position of treasurer for many years, is as well known as his activities for the welfare of the Kennerley Boys' Home, and Benevolent Society, in which he was respectively chairman of the Board of Governors, and a member of the Board of Management. He was the chairman of directors of the National Executors and Trustees Agency Co. Ltd., and one of the governors of the Hobart Savings Bank.

For very many years the late Mr Gould was connected with the Fisheries Board and the National Park Board. He also took a leading part in the old Liberal League, which afterwards was absorbed into the National Federation.

In the Tasmania Post Office Directory (Wise’s) for 1903, Gould was listed as being a Justice of the Peace, an Alderman of Hobart, and a Councillor of the Pharmaceutical Society of Tasmania. He was also publisher of the monthly Tasmanian Homœopathic Journal.

According to Mr Gould's obituary, prior to the commencement of the business at the meeting of the Hobart City Council, council members passed a motion expressing their vote of condolence to the widow and family of Mr Gould. Council stated that he had been a prominent member of the Council, and he had done considerable work for the Council. He had been not only an excellent citizen as a member of Council, but had always taken a very prominent interest in the city.

(For more details see the document on Homœopathic Pharmacies, Dispensaries & Manufacturers)

©   Barbara Armstrong

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