Protestant Exiles from France/Volume 2 - Book Third - Chapter 24 - Gosset

2912464Protestant Exiles from France — Volume 2 - Book Third - Chapter 24 - GossetDavid Carnegie Andrew Agnew

Gosset. — Many members of this family have been enrolled as officers in our army:—

(1.) Sir William Gosset, born in 1781, was the eldest son of Matthew Gosset, Esq. of Bagot, Jersey, by his second wife, Margaret, daughter of Thomas Durell, Esq. Having highly distinguished himself in his military education, he was enabled to enter the Royal Engineers; he served in Holland in 1799, and then in Ceylon. In 1813 he was Secretary to the Legation in the Barbary States under Lord Heytesbury. He made himself so well acquainted with the plan and strength of the fortifications of Algiers, that in 1816 he was appointed to accompany Viscount Exmouth. After the successful expedition he was made a C.B., and also received the Neapolitan knighthood of St. Ferdinand. In 1828 he was Secretary to the Master-General of the Ordnance. The Marquis of Anglesey, as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, made him his private secretary, and in 1829 made him Under Secretary of State for Ireland, with knighthood. Sir William Gosset is known as having been Sergeant-at-Arms to the House of Commons. He attained the rank of Major-General in the army, and died on 27th March 1848, aged sixty-six.

(2.) Major John Noah Gosset, of the Rifle Brigade, was a younger brother of Sir William. He served in the Peninsula from October 1813 to July 1814, including the battle of the Nive on the 9th, 10th, 11th, I2th, and 13th December, passage of the Gave d’Oleron, battle of Orthes, actions at Turbes and Tournefeuille, and battle of Toulouse. He afterwards served in America, and was constantly engaged near New Orleans from 23d December 1814 to 7th January 1815, and at the attack on New Orleans on the 8th, when he was wounded in the head. He received the war medal with three clasps. He was appointed Barrack-Master of Cork, and married Maria Margaret, daughter of T. Driscoll, Esq., of Dublin.

(3.) Major-General William Driscoll Gosset is the son of Major John Noah Gosset. He entered the Royal Engineers on 20th June 1840, and became Colonel on 3d August 1872; he retired as Major-General on 24th September 1873. He married Helen, daughter of Rev. Isaac Gosset, Vicar of Windsor.

Abraham Gosset. Isaac Gosset.
Matthew Gosset of Bagot. Rev. Isaac Gosset, D.D., F.R.S.
Matthew Gosset of Bagot. Sir William Gosset,
Major-General.
Major Gosset. Rev. Isaac Gosset, M.A.,
Vicar of Windsor,
born 1783, died 1855.
Matthew Gosset of Bagot. Ralph Allen Gosset. Major-General
W. D. Gosset.
Rev. Isaac Henry Gosset, M.A.,
Vicar of Northam.

(4.) The third Matthew Gosset, Esq. of Bagot, who died in 1843, was the father of 1. Lieut-Colonel William Matthew Gosset of the Royal Engineers, who served in Canada in 1813 and 1814, and died in 1856.

2. Admiral Henry Gosset, who died in March 1877.

3. Commander Charles Gosset, R.N., who died on 24th November 1868.

4. George Bagot Gosset of the 4th Dragoon Guards, who died on 30th June 1840.

(These were brothers of Arthur Gosset, Esq. of Eltham House, Kent.)