MARY GOSLING

Mary Gosling (aka Lady Smith; 1800-1842) was the second daughter of William Gosling and his wife Margaret Elizabeth (‘Eliza’) Cunliffe.

Mary’s PARENTS:

William Gosling (d. 1834) was the son of Robert Gosling and Elizabeth Houghton. William’s younger sister Maria Gosling married Henry Gregg, of Lincoln’s Inn. His other sister Harriet married Alexander Davison, the close friend of Horatio, Lord Nelson.
Eliza Gosling (d. 1803) was the daughter of Sir Ellis Cunliffe, bart. and Mary Bennett. Her only sister, named Mary like their mother, married Drummond Smith of Tring Park (Herts). Mrs Gosling died when her youngest child (our Mary) was not quite four-years-old.

Mary’s SIBLINGS:

The children of William and Eliza Gosling were:

  • William-Ellis Gosling (died unmarried)
  • Robert Gosling (married Georgina Vere Sullivan, 1826); children
  • Bennett Gosling (died unmarried)
  • Margaret Elizabeth Gosling (married Langham Christie of Preston Deanery, 1829); children (including William Langham Christie of Glyndebourne)
  • Mary Gosling (married Sir Charles Joshua Smith, bart., of Suttons, 1826); children

Mary’s HALF-SIBLINGS:

Widower William Gosling married the Hon. Charlotte de Grey in 1806. Their children were:

  • Charlotte Gosling (died unmarried)
  • Thomas George Gosling (died unmarried)

Mary’s CHILDHOOD HOME:

roehamptongrove

Roehampton Grove

The family resided in early years on the Hassobury estate (Farnham, Essex), then predominantly at Roehampton Grove, now the University of Roehampton’s Froebel College. When in London, the Goslings could be found at No. 5 Portland-place, a residence still in existence [see below at *]. Goslings & Sharpe, the family banking firm, continued doing business until they amalgamated with Barclays in 1896; Barclays London headquarters continues business at the old Goslings address of 19 Fleet-street.

* * *

William Gosling’s obituary (Gentleman’s Magazine) mentions his burial in ‘the family vault, at Farnham, Essex.’ Mary (Lady Smith) is buried at St Mary’s, Stapleford Tawney. Others of the Smith family are also buried here.

I tried to find Stapleford Tawney driving from Chelmsford in the summer of 2007, but got lost – way too close to London and oh so many roundabouts… I asked if anyone could get me photographs and/or tomb inscriptions for any of the Goslings, and (especially) Lady Smith, and Mike from Surrey was kind enough to fill that order. Thank you, Mike!

* * *

*note on the Portland Place house: I read the 1926 History of Barclays Bank, which (p. 89) has this to say about the family’s home on Portland-place: William had ‘occupied the mansion in Portland Place, W., which has for three or four generations been the town house of the descendants of Robert Gosling.’ This makes it sound like Robert’s children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren even still resided there – at the time of printing (1926). There was a hotel put up in the late 19th-century which removed a lot of houses, but No. 5 was renumbered and didn’t I find a Kelly’s Handbook to the Titled (1882), which specifies that Robert and Georgina’s son, Robert, lived at No. 28 Portland-place.

NEWS! NEWS! NEWS! Both No. 5 and No. 6 Portland Place exist! they are now Nos. 28 and 30. See my post dated April 2012.

* * *

About Mary’s LIFE and my RESEARCH into it:

mary_emma_entry

Mary Smith’s neat hand

A travel diary written over the years 1814-1824 by young Mary Gosling was my first *find*. I suspected that Lady Smith of Stapleford Tawney (as the microfilm series called her), with daily diaries beginning in 1829, was the same person under her married name. Sure enough! The handwriting was the same (see image above), the references to “my Sister” were the same. The above entry, for the 1829 christening of ‘Cholmeley’ – whose attendants that day included the familiar names of ‘Mr Knight,’ ‘Mrs Leigh Perrot,’ and ‘Mr Austen’ – put me on the road to Jane Austen’s family.  The Smiths & Goslings – next door neighbors in London – have proven a fascinating family to study. Letters exist from as early as the 1790s.

Portraits are included (as are family pedigrees) on this website. And I’m actively seeking more information – be it letters, diaries, drawings – on anyone within the greater family circle. See the pages called “Who’s Who“; “Servants-Clerks-Governesses“; and those pages marked as DRAMATIS PERSONAE for names that appear in the diaries.

For a pre-sorted list of past posts tagged:

%d bloggers like this: