George Gould (1818–1882) was an English Baptist minister.
Life
The eldest son, by a second marriage, of George Gould, a Bristol tradesman, he was born at Castle Green on 20 September 1818. After passing through (1826–32) a severe boarding school, he became clerk to a wine merchant at the end of 1832, and in 1836 was articled to an accountant.
After illness in the winter of 1836–7, Gould thought of taking orders in the Church of England, but decided he could not conscientiously subscribe the 39 Articles. His father was a Baptist deacon, and he was baptised at Counterslip Chapel on 5 November 1837. On the following 24 December he preached his first sermon at Fishponds and became a student of the Bristol Baptist College in September 1838. In 1841 he was chosen pastor of a small Baptist congregation in Lower Abbey Street, Dublin. He moved in 1846 to South Street Chapel, Exeter.
On 29 July 1849 Gould became pastorate at St. Mary's Chapel, Norwich, in succession to William Brock. In 1857 his church was divided on the question of admitting the non-baptised to communion; a secession followed, and a bill in chancery (May 1858) was filed by a trustee, the Rev. William Norton of Egham Hill, Surrey. The Master of the Rolls gave judgment (28 May 1860) in favour of Gould and the majority of his church, who had advocated open communion. In 1868 new school-rooms and a lecture-room were required at St. Mary's.
