"Vigilant" Gould as depicted in Vanity Fair, September 1894. Gould had bought Vigilant,[1] the winner of the previous year's America's Cup, and was racing it in England.
Gould was born on February 6, 1864, the eldest son of Jay Gould (1836–1892) and Helen Day Miller (1838–1889). His father was a leading American railroad developer and speculator who has been referred to as one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age, whose success at business made him one of the richest men of his era.[3]
Upon his father's death George inherited a portion of the Gould fortune (Jay Gould left $15 million to George and $10 million to each of his other 5 children) and his father's railroad holdings, including the DRGW and the Missouri Pacific Railroad. While in charge of the DRGW at the turn of the 20th century, he sent surveyors and engineers through California's Feather River canyon to stake out a route for the railroad to reach San Francisco, California. Through legal wranglings led by E. H. Harriman, who at the time led both the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads, Gould was forced to set up third-party companies to manage the surveying and construction to disguise his role. The route that Gould's engineers built became the WP mainline.
Gloria Gould (1906–1943) who married Henry A. Bishop II, and after a divorce married Wallace McFarlane Barker.[12]
Gould also had a mistress, Guinevere Jeanne Sinclair (1885–1978), and had the following children with her:[13]
George Sinclair Gould (1915–2003) later changed his name to Brodrick (his stepfather's name).[14]
Jane Sinclair Gould (1916–1948)
Guinevere Gould (1922–1968)
After the death of his first wife in 1921, Gould married Sinclair on May 1, 1922. Then with the three children in tow, they moved to England.[15]
Death and burial
He died of pneumonia on May 16, 1923, on the French Riviera after contracting a fever in Egypt where he visited the tomb of Tutankhamun. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in New York. His estate was valued at $15,054,627 but after debts were paid it was worth $5,175,590 in 1933 dollars.[16][2]
^"The Sloop Vigilant Sold. George J. Gould To Be The Owner Of The Cup Defender". New York Times. April 19, 1894. Retrieved 2012-08-10. Mr. George J. Gould has purchased the Vigilant. The gentlemen, who had the yacht built last season to defend the America's Cup against the Valkyrie met yesterday afternoon and decided to accept the terms offered by Mr. Gould. Mr. Gould is to pay $25,000 for the boat. This will be a big surprise to yachtsmen, as Mr. Gould's name was never thought of in connection with the famous cup defender.
^"The Goulds Are Going". Time. March 23, 1925. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved 2007-08-21. Of the seven older children by his first marriage — Kingdon, Jay, George Jay Jr., Marjorie, Vivien, Edith, Gloria — three eloped, one married an English nobleman, and one the daughter of a Hawaiian princess.
^"He Is George Jay Gould, Jr". New York Times. May 15, 1896. Retrieved 2008-08-22. The third son and fifth child of Mr. and Mrs. George J. Gould was christened at noon to-day in All Saints' Memorial Church, ...
^"G.J. Gould Estate is Only $5,175,590. Reduced From $15,054,627 in Settling Suits Over His Father's Fortune". New York Times. January 7, 1933. An appraisal filed yesterday of the New York estate of George J. Gould, who died May 16, 1923, a resident of New Jersey, showed that the property taxable here was worth only $60,592, consisting of his place at Furlough Lake, in the Catskills, with its contents, and personal effects in New York City.
Further reading
Brehm, Frank (2005), The SF&GSL. Retrieved March 2, 2005.
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