Gough, Richard

A volume from the second half of 18th century entitled Memoirs of the Life and Character of Mithridates K [ing] of Pontus. Extracted from various authors by Richard Gough Esq .

Gough was born in London, 1735. He proved to be a scholastic child and, at the age of just 11, he wrote The History of the Bible, translated from the French , which was printed privately by his mother. In 1751 his father died, leaving him various properties and Gough went to study at Corpus Christi, Cambridge. While he was there some of his journals were included in the Gentlemen's Magazine , which he also contributed towards later in his life. Leaving Cambridge without a degree Gough travelled extensively throughout Britain compiling large amounts of notes and high quality sketches. In 1767 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in London and thirty years later became the Director of that society. He was also a fellow, 1775-95, of the Royal Society. The death of Gough's mother in 1774 brought him more land and the finances to fully pursue his interest as an antiquary. During this period of his life he embarked upon his most ambitious project, Camden's Britannica , 1789, the compilation and printing of which took sixteen years as well as many other topographical and historical publications. He died in 1809.

Access to the items in the collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the controlled environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room Uncatalogued material may not be seen. Please contact the University Archivist for details.

Bought from Jefferies in 1967.

Collection level description.

The Bodleian Library, Oxford University, holds manuscript collections for the history of Enfield (Ref: MSS Gough), notes on Buckinghamshire churches, 1797 (Ref: MS Top Bucks f1), correspondence and papers (Ref: MSS Top gen c6-14, d1-4, e16-45), notes on Saxon heptarchy (Ref: MS Eng hist c1028), an account of a tour of Wales (Ref: MS Eng misc e115), correspondence with John Charles Brooke (Ref: MSS Eng lett c221-27, e98-99; misc a13, c455; Top gen e99-128; Yorks c75); the Derbyshire Record Office, Matlock, has antiquarian papers and notes relating to Derbyshire; the Enfield Local History Unit, London, contains correspondence and papers; Lincoln Cathedral Library holds accounts by Gough and John Carter of archaeological discoveries at Lincoln, 1791-1795 (Ref: MS 280); the British Library, London, has a memorandum book and antiquarian collections (Ref: Add MS 29309; Eg MS 2382), and correspondence with Foote Gower, 1765-1775 (Ref: Add MS 22936); Lambeth Palace Library, London, contains miscellaneous papers (Ref: MSS 2214-16); Cambridge University Library holds a copy of Literary memoirs of living authors of Great Britain (R Faulder, London, 1798) by David Rivers, interleaved with manuscript notes by Gough (Ref: Adversaria Oo VII 68, 69); the Beinecke Library, Yale University, Connecticut, USA, has letters from Joseph Halfpenny, 1806-1809 (Ref: 43.372); the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, contains letters from Francis Leighton, 1784-1791 (Ref: NLW MS 6647); the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, holds correspondence with George Paton, 1771-1804; the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, has correspondence with George Paton and others, 1771-1802 (Ref: Adv MSS 29 3 8, 29 5 5-8); Warwickshire County Record Office contains letters to Thomas Pennant, 1772-1775 (Ref: CR2017); the Society of Antiquaries of London holds correspondence to the Society, 1755-[1809] (Ref: MS 447); Norfolk Record Office, Norwich, has miscellaneous correspondence, 1789-1790 (Ref: Frere Collection/C3/2/4).

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.