Letters, memoranda and journal containing the history of Mr William Gooch

Letters, memoranda and journal containing the history of Mr William Gooch

William Gooch (1770-1792), astronomer, was born at Brockdish near Diss in Norfolk. He attended Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1791 as Second Wrangler. He was appointed by the Board of Longitude as astronomer to George Vancouver's expedition to the North-West coast of America. In August 1791 he sailed on the storeship Daedalus with the intention of meeting Vancouver at Nootka Sound. He was killed by Pahupu (Hawaiian warriors) on the island of Oahu before he was able to join Vancouver's ships.

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The papers were presented to the University of Cambridge in c.1835 by Dawson Turner, a local historian of Norfolk. For further information on their provenance, including Turner's letter of donation, see the opening letters of the volume.

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Gooch, William