William Buelow Gould - Convict artist in Van Diemen's Land
1959
When I came first to the Launceston Museum I
found very many paintings by a convict named
Gould. Very soon visitors were asking me questions
about him and I proceeded to read what had been
written. It seemed very little. In fact, it amounted
to the notes that had been put together by Mr.
Henry Allport for an exhibition of Tasmanian art
held in Hobart in 1931. These notes were published
in the " Mercury " newspaper and then put together
in pamphlet form. Every subsequent writer on
Gould has used them.
When people said, however," when was he born?
When did he die? Was he married? Did he leave
any family? Did he paint only in oil?", I had to
reply, "I do not know." I am still not certain when
he was born, but I know when he died.
When people asked, "Where did Gould live?",
I said, vaguely, "Hobart . Then, one day, looking
through some records in the Museum, I found that
William Buelow Gould was before R. C. Gunn,
Magistrate, here in Launceston, for being drunk.
So he wasn't only in Hobart. He was also in Launceston and, I found later, at Macquarie Harbour, at
Port Arthur, at Bridgewater, and at Jericho.
Then-was he married? Did he have a family?
Yes. Did he paint only in oil? No, he used
watercolour too, much more effectively than he
did oil.
So I got together gradually some kind of picture
of this early artist.
Of Gould's early life very little is still known.
Actually his name was Holland, not Gould.
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