Known as "B.J.", Gould was born in
Worcester Park, Surrey, to Charles and Mary Ellen Gould. He was educated at
Winchester College and
Oxford University. He joined the
Indian Civil Service in 1907. Gould was a British Trade Agent in
Gyantse, Tibet from 1912 to 1913. In 1912, the
13th Dalai Lama asked that some "energetic and clever sons of respectable families" should be given "world-class educations at
Oxford College, London". The Indian government decided that Gould, who was about to go on leave back to England, should guide the four young boys (known as the "
Four Rugby Boys") on their journey to the United Kingdom and assist them during their first few weeks in England in April 1913. Gould married Lorraine Macdonald Kebbell (1898–1935) when back in England on leave from
India on 14 September 1921. They had two sons. In 1926 Gould was posted to the British Legation in
Kabul, Afghanistan. He was subsequently assigned to
Kurrum,
Malakand and
Waziristan and finally in 1933 to
Baluchistan. His wife Lorraine died in Baluchistan in 1935. Gould married his second wife Cecily, the daughter of Colonel C. H. Brent-Good, of
Yarmouth on the
Isle of Wight. Gould had one son with Cecily. In 1940, Gould attended the installation ceremonies of the
14th Dalai Lama in
Lhasa, Tibet. Gould brought a gift of a
Meccano set for the young
Tenzin Gyatso. In 1941, Gould was
knighted by King
George VI. In 1945,
the British Mission under Gould helped to start a school in Lhasa, but it was soon closed under pressure from Tibetan religious authorities. He died in Yarmouth in 1956, two days before his 76th birthday. ==Publications==