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The Gossetts Were Huguenots

The pursuit of education and other influences were introducing a change in the social structure in western Europe. The study of literature, art, science, and architecture was available. Before 1500, about eighty universities, including the University of Paris, were founded. Education became obtainable and important. The degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts originated in the latter part of the Middle Ages. Europeans were desiring progress, which was impossible under medieval restraint. People of all nations were beginning to explore and to develop far-away places. For instance, the Spanish built San Lorenzo in Panama, of which Margaret Newcomer Barbour (a Gossett descendant) wrote in a letter from Curundu, Canal Zone, June 21, 1949, the following description:

" . . . We also visited the ruins of San Lorenzo, situated near Colon on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. The Fort was built by the Spanish in 1565 and later captured by Morgan. The original cannon and cannon balls are still in evidence, Also officers' quarters, storehouses, and the chapel."

In the medieval period all European countries were controlled by the Roman Catholic Church. But, about 1555, many families in France turned away from Catholicism, which was to them nothing more than idolatry and superstition, and they embraced the Protestant faith. They united and formed a group called "The Huguenots" -- the name of the French Protestants. Religion played the most important part in the Reformed Movement. In addition it was a political, social and economic revolution, dominated by the aristocracy and the upper middle class. Wishing to retain their power, the nobles were leaders in the Huguenot Party. The university became a center for the Reformation. The Rebellion between the government and the Huguenots continued approximately one hundred years, from about 1572 to 1685. The details are fully recorded in history. Literature and music also deal with the subject. For example, the opera "Les Huguenots", which is considered Meyerbeer's greatest work, is written around the profoundly pathetic subject of the massacre of the Huguenots by the Catholics on St. Bartholomew's Day in Paris, August 24, 1572.

Outstanding party leaders were outlawed and stripped of their honors and offices, including titles of nobility. The Gossets, leaders in the movement, were denied in 1555 their rank of nobility. Then, in 1685, the Gosset estates at St. Sauveur were confiscated by the government and Jean Gosset, a Huguenot, fled from Normandy and took refuge in Jersey Island, England. "The French Government offered to restore the Gosset estates, about 1846, to the descendants of Jean Gosset, but Matthew Gosset, Viscount of Jersey, then the head of the family, refused to pursue the claim." (Driscoll, Genealogical Sketches, Etc.)

The Edict of Nantes (1598), giving tolerance to the Protestants, was repealed in 1685, and the Huguenots were deprived of all security and rights. The Huguenots fled from France in great numbers to other countries of Europe. Great lords established themselves in Geneva, Switzerland; tradespeople and artisans fled to the Netherlands; vintners crossed into Germany. Large groups joined expeditions to America and settled in parts of the country owned by Holland and England, where they could enjoy independence and self-government. Among those settlements was the present city of New York. The Huguenot refugees found congenial conditions in the southern colonies--Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina.

France lost through religious expatriation more than half a million of her finest citizens. They were the moral, the intelligent, the industrious. Wherever they settled, the Huguenots preserved the amenities of life. They brought French refinement and love of beauty and the noble courage of their ancestors.

"The name Huguenot . . . is the synonym of integrity, of deathless courage, fealty personified, loyalty unquestioned; reputation unsullied; character unsmirched, coupled with keen intelligence and a sense of justice unsurpassed." ("The Influence of the Huguenots", an address by the Honorable E. E. Patton before the National Huguenot Society, Knoxville, Tenn., May 1, 1941; pub. in The Huguenot, 1939-1941, p. 39.)

Jean Gosset, A Huguenot

Jean Gosset, a Huguenot, fled from Normandy, France, and settled in Jersey Island, England, in 1685 (after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes), when his estates near St. Sauveur were seized by the French government.

Belonging to England and situated in the English Channel, Jersey Island is about fifteen miles from the west coast of Normandy. It is the largest, most important, and most southerly of the group of the Channel islands, which Victor Hugo called, "those lovely gardens of the sea". Jersey Island is an attractive summer resort with fine, rocky scenery and a pleasant climate.

In Jersey, Jean Gosset with his family resided in the Manor House of Bagot, where the Gossets lived for many years. Gossets are buried in St. Saviours -- St. Saviours Church is near St. Helier, which is the capital of Jersey. The Gossets acquired the Bagot manor through a marriage into the Bagot family. A descendant of Jean Gosset was named George Bagot Gosset.

The Bagot family was a peerage family recorded in Domesday Book. The Bagots had been among the greatest nobles of Normandy, and they went to England at the conquest. Since Jersey Island was brought to the Crown of England with the Norman conquest, the Bagot estate in Jersey was, no doubt, bestowed by William the Conqueror on the Bagots, in 1066, as part of their vast territorial possessions. Their family estates in various localities in England cover many thousand acres. The baronial family of Bagot founded the great, old feudal house of Stafford, Earls and Dukes of Buckingham, so renowned in the history of England.

The following quotations summarize the history of the family of Gosset in Jersey and England, and disclose that many members of the family of Jean Gosset became prominent citizens. They were eminent scholars, artists, and clergymen; they were officials in the British government; they were high-ranking officers in the army and navy of England; and, the Rev. Isaac Gosset, born 1783, was married into the royal family of England.

Quotation from J. B. Payne, An Armorial of Jersey, p. 171:

Gosset

A biography appearing in Who's Who (1908) follows:

Gosset

Major-Gen. Sir Matthew William Edward Gosset

K.C.B., cr.1907; C.B. 1887; F.R.G.S., F.H.S., M.R.A.S., M.R.N.S.; b 6 July 1939 [Correction by author after publication: "6 July 1839"]; 2nd. son of Major Arthur Gosset, R.H.A. of Town Court, Orpington, Kent. Entered Army, 1856; Instructor in Tactics, R.M.C., 1873-77; Brig.-Major, Aldershot, 1877-78; A.D.C. to G.O.C., S. Africa, 1878-79; D.A.A.G. and Commandant, Durban, 1881; commanding lst Dorset Regt., 1887-90; A.A.G. Egypt, 1891; commanding 2nd Class District Burmah and Bangalore, 1891-96; served Indian Mutiny, 1857-59 (Medal); Kaffir War, 1878 (despatches, brevet of Major); Zulu War, 1879 (despatches, brevet Lieut-Col. medal with clasp); Boer War, 1881; Burmah 1891-92 (medal with 2 clasps); commanded Dublin District, 1897-1901; reward for distinguished service, 1897; Major-General, 1896; retired pay, 1901; Col. Dorsetshire Regt, 1903. Address: Westgate House, Dedham, Essex. Clubs: United Service, Arts, Burlington Fine Arts.

Quotation from John O'Hart, Irish Pedigree, 1915, P. 471:

Gosset: A Huguenot family, originally from Normandy, which first settled in Jersey, whence some of the younger branches passed over into England. Among the members of the elder branch of the family was Matthew, for many years Vicomte of Jersey, who died in 1842; Major-General Sir William Gosset, who held the office of Under-Secretary of State for Ireland, was some time M.P. for Truro, and for several years Sergeant-at-Arms to the English House of Commons, and who died in 1848.

Quotation from Henry Driscoll, Genealogical Sketches, New York, 1918, p. 34:

Gosset: The Gossets are of Bagot, Jersey, Eng.; Seats: Eltham House, Eltham, Kent; Town Court, Orpington, Kent; Burston Road; Putney Hill, S. W. Clubs: Junior; United Service; Junior Conservative; Present head of the house is Matthew William Edward Gosset C B Brig General; late of Dorset Regt; born 1839.

He is the second son of Arthur J P D L Major Royal Horse Artillery who is the son of Matthew Gosset, Viscount of Jersey; eldest son of Matthew Gosset.

The family is of a noble Norman family who early adopted the Protestant religion, and eventually took refuge in the Island of Jersey at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (Agnew's French Protestant Exiles).

In France their names were stricken off the nobility list, on account of their religion, about 1555.

Jean was the first refugee and came over from the neighborhood of St. Sauveur. About the year 1845 the French Government offered to restore the Gosset estates to the descendants of the refugee, but Matthew Gosset, Viscount of Jersey, then the head of the family, refused to pursue the claim.

Jean Gosset died in England in 1712. He had three sons, John, Matthew, and Abraham. (Consult the chart, J. B. Payne, "Pedigree of Gossett".)

Descendants Of Jean Gosset

The third son, Abraham, was born about the time his father moved to Jersey (1685), since Matthew, the second son, was born in 1683. The name of Abraham was carried down in succeeding generations, both in England and in America. It is apparent that Abraham departed from Jersey, since there is no information of him given by J. B. Payne. Upon their departure from Jersey other members of the family, thereafter, were excluded from Payne's chart. Abraham Gosset is found in London in 1709.

The names of Matthew and Abraham Gosset appear (1709) in the following Huguenot record, published in London:

Publications of the Huguenot Society of London; (1701-1800) Vol. XXVII-1922, 1923. Naturalization Act for foreign Protestants. On the Oath Rolls; English rolls. People naturalized in London and Westminster. Queen Anne.

P. 85, 1709, Skin 6-Mathieu Gosset.

P. 87, 1709, Skin 8-Abraham Gosset.

P. 85, 1709. Daniel Gosset., Melchisedech Gosset.

Matthew, the second son of Jean Gosset, died March 27, 1744, at the age of 61. He was an artist, a modeler of portraits in wax. He lived in Horton House, Wraysbury, London, and was distinguished by the honorary appointment as one of the Gentlemen of the Band of Pensioners to King George II. He was a member of the Spalding Society. An account of him is found in Dictionary of National Biography, P. 261, with numerous references, including:

Gent. Mag. 1799, vol. IXIX., pt. 2, pp. 1088-9; Hawkin's Medallic Illustr. (ed. Franks and Grueber), II, 621, 706, 726; Patrick's Cat. of the Medals of Scotland, pp. 105, 268; Redgrave's' Dict. of Artists of Eng. School.

About 1704 Matthew Gosset was married to Jane Esther (Ester), who died May 28, 1748, aged 73. They had no children. He is buried in the old Marylebone Cemetery, on the south side of Paddington Street in London. A description and the inscription of his tomb are given in Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. VII., pp. 36-45, London, 1859. Matthew, his wife, three of his nephews, and Ann Gosset, the wife of one of his nephews, are buried in his substantial marble tomb, which is surrounded by massive iron rails.

Matthew Gosset's epitaph reads, he was "well-known for his superior skill in some of the polite arts". This inscription testifies that the Gossets were highly cultivated. In the seventeenth century the Fine Arts were available only to the aristocrats.

D'Allain Family Coat of Arms

John, the oldest son and the heir of Jean Gosset, was married to Susan D'Allain in Jersey Island. An Armorial of Jersey (1862) by J. B. Payne has the following paragraph concerning the family of D'Allain in Jersey Island:

"This family is a branch of the Norman one of that name settled for so long a period near Cerisy, whence its then representative retired to Jersey, in consequence of his religious opinions, circa 1680. It is now represented by Alphonsus Frank D'Allain, Esq., of S. Laurence. Arms: Argent, three martles gules; on a chief azure, three estoiles or."

The D'Allain family, of noble Norman ancestry, were Huguenots and fled to Jersey Island about 1680. From early Norman days the family lived near Cerisy, Normandy, about fifty miles south of Cherbourg. Cerisy was the seat of an important monastery, founded in 1030 by Robert, Duke of Normandy, and completed by his son, William the Conqueror. The church is described in 1908 by C. B. Black in Normandy and Picardy (London):

"--otherwise the whole of the edifice is of the original date, 11th cent., and is as plain and grand in its simplicity as St. Etienne of Caen."

The D'Allain coat-of-arms is described and illustrated in Riepstap's Armorial Général.

The symbols are three red martlets on a silver shield; on a blue chief are three gold stars.

The meaning is as follows: the martlet (or martle), a bird, was originally a martin or swallow which is never represented with feet. Its legs terminate in the feathers which cover the upper part of the legs. In heraldry, the martlet was carried by the fourth son of a nobleman and indicated that he had no land upon which he could settle and that he must, perforce, fly away and support himself by his wings; that is, by his sword or his brains.

The eldest son succeeded to his father's lands. During his father's lifetime, the eldest son was represented by the Label. The second son was always represented by the Crescent; the third son, the Mullet; the fourth son, the Martlet; the fifth son, the Annulet; the sixth son, a fleur-de-lis.1

On the chief of the D'Allain arms are three stars. The star, the crescent, and the annulet definitely indicate the Crusades. Three stars mean the third crusade, or three of the crusades. Then, the interpretation of the D’Allain arms is, the fourth son (Martlet) gained distinction and leadership with his sons, three knights in all. Having power and authority (chief), they engaged brilliantly in the third crusade, or in three of the crusades. Silver, red, blue, and gold are the colors in the shield. (See Chapter 3 of this volume on Heraldry, Knights and the Crusades; also, Chapter 4.)

John and Susan Gosset had six sons. They resided in the Manor House of Bagot in Jersey, where their sons grew to manhood. None of the sons remained in Jersey Island except Abraham, the second son, who became the heir. Their sons were (see Payne's chart):

1. John Gosset, born 1699, came to America. He took up land in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1735, and he is found in the records to have settled on the frontier before 1735. His activities will be discussed after data on his five brothers have been presented.
   
2. Abraham, the second son, was the heir. He was born 1701; died 1785; was married to Jane White. The illustrious descendants (high officials in the British government and high-ranking officers in the British army and navy) of Abraham and Jane White Gosset are enrolled in "Pedigree of Gosset" in J. B. Payne's An Armorial of Jersey, and their records are found in other references. The lineage of this landed gentry family to the present representative appears regularly in the publications of Burke, The Landed Gentry. Burke (1952) lists the Rev. George Allen Gosset, Curate of St. Luke, Parkstone, Dorsetshire, as the present representative.
   
3. Jacob, the third son of John and Susan D'Allain Gosset, was born 1703; died 1788. Gyll's History of Wraysbury refers to his burial place in London, "M. I. Hampstead", meaning his name occurs in the Manuscript Index of the Register of Deaths in Hampstead, which is a parish in Middlesex, London.
   
4. Peter, the fourth son, was born 1705. He was married to Catherine Du Four, and they had five children. Catherine Du Four was a member of a very ancient, noble family of France. There were many Du Four branches with different coats-of-arms. They were Huguenots, and Du Four families fled to England and to America and settled in Boston and other localities in the earliest period of the Huguenot settlements. Peter Gosset with his family came to America between 1750-1760, therefore the references to this family will be cited in Part II of this Gossett history.
   
5. Gideon, the fifth son, was born 1707; died Aug. 6, 1785; married Ann _______, who died March 26, 1761, aged 56. Gideon and Ann Gosset are buried in Matthew Gosset's tomb at St. Marylebone, London.
   
6. Isaac, the sixth son of John and Susan D'Allain Gosset, was born 1713; died 1799; married dau. of _______ Bosquet. He settled in London. Like his uncle, Matthew Gosset, Isaac Gosset was an artist and a modeler of portraits in wax. He was closely associated with his uncle at Horton in London, and he and his only son, the learned Rev. Dr. Isaac Gosset, are buried in Matthew Gosset's tomb at St. Marylebone. Concerning Isaac Gosset, the artist, the following extract is quoted from Rev. David C. A. Agnew, Protestant Exiles from France, London, 1871, V. II, p. 230: "John Gosset, who married Susan D'Allain ... their youngest son, Isaac Gosset, Esq., died at Kensington, 28th Nov. 1799, having nearly completed his 88th year. He invented a composition of wax in which he modeled portraits in the most exquisite manner. His works were numerous, and included the royal family, and many of the nobility and gentry from the time of George II down to 1780. In the line of his art he may be said to have been unique as the inventor of the inimitable materials with which he worked, the secret of which was confided only to his son, the learned and Rev. Dr. Isaac Gosset."
   

Dictionary of National Biography, London, 1908, VIII, 261-2, gives further information, mentioning numerous portraits made by Isaac Gosset, in the excerpt as follows:

". . . He contributed to the first artists' exhibition in 1760 and was a member of the Incorporated Society of Artists, contributing twenty-four portraits to their exhibition between 1760 and 1778. Several of his wax models are still in Windsor Castle, and some in Lady Charlotte Schreiber's collection in South Kensington Museum. Among these are cameo portraits of George II and the Princess Dowager of Wales. He made numerous portraits in wax of the royal family and of distinguished gentlemen ... One of his portraits was of Lady Mary Coke, to whom Horace Walpole (1717-1797) dedicated The Castle of Otrano. Walpole owned several of Gosset's portraits..."

Isaac Gosset is described as a man of amiable character.

An account of his son, Isaac Gosset (1744-1812), D.D., F.R.S., of Exeter College, Oxford, bibliographer, a well-known Greek scholar and famous as a collector and judge of books, is found in M’Clintock and Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II, 1887. He is referred to as, “ a Church of England divine, well-known in London as a most intelligent purchaser and collector of books, conspicuous at all public sales ... He was of a refugee French noble family, and was the son of a modeler in wax who settled in London. He displayed from his childhood an extraordinary passion for rare books, and was educated at Exeter College, Oxford. He became eminent as a preacher, was a good scriptural critic, and excelled as a bibliographer. . .

The National Biography gives with references a complete biography of the Rev. Dr. Isaac Gosset, including these facts:

1. As a student of Hebrew and Arabic, of Greek and Latin, he matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1764; graduated B.A. in 1767; M.A. in 1770; was elected F.R.S. (Fellow of the Royal Society) on 18 June 1772; and, he went out grand compounder for the degrees in divinity 7 November 1782. (Foster, Alumni Oxon. 1715-1886, col. 543; Oxford graduates, 1851, p. 267.) He died in Newman Street, London, 16th December 1812, in his 68th year.
   
2. He was married to Catherine, daughter of Haydock Hill. She was a philanthropist in Horton, London. They had two sons and a daughter. The elder son was Isaac Gosset III, of whom presently. The younger son, Thomas Stephen Gosset (1791-1847), a senior fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A. 1812, M.A. 1815, ninth wrangler and senior chancellor’s medallist), became vicar of Old Windsor in 1824 He never married....
   
3. Isaac Gosset, the Third (1782-1855), was the Rev. Isaac Gosset, M.A. of Exeter College, Oxford. He was vicar of Datchet, Bucks, 1814-52, Windsor, 1821-55, and was chaplain to the royal household at Windsor under four sovereigns, from 1818 until his death Feb. 11, 1855. He was married into the British royal family, April 21, 1814, to Dorothea Sophia Banks Lind (who d. 1863), daughter of James Lind, M.D., cousin and physician to George IV. The descent of the Rev. Isaac Gosset appears in Foster, Our Noble and Gentle Families, pp, 789; 790-91. Also, records appear in Payne and in Burke.