Davidge Gould

Sir Davidge Gould GCB (1758 – 23 April 1847) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of admiral. He was one of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's Band of Brothers at the Battle of the Nile in 1798.

Family and early life Gould was born at Bridgwater, Somerset, the son of the Richard Gould, of Wells. He was distantly related to the authors Henry and Sarah Fielding, and was the nephew of the naturalist William Gould. His uncle, Sir Henry Gould, was a Justice of the Common Pleas. Davidge joined the navy in May 1772, serving as a volunteer in the Mediterranean aboard . He later moved to the North American coast, where he was advanced to midshipman. He was promoted to lieutenant on 7 May 1779, later serving aboard and .

He served in succession aboard , and , and was present aboard the Conqueror at Admiral Sir George Rodney's victory at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782.

Personal life and death Gould married Harriet Willes, eldest daughter of the Reverend William Willes, Archdeacon of Taunton, in 1803. The couple did not have any children. He received a pension of £300 per annum, and died at the age of 89 at Hawkshead, Hertfordshire on 23 April 1847. He was by then the last surviving member of Nelson's 'Band of Brothers', the captains who had fought with him at the Nile.