James Childs Gould
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James Childs Gould (9 September 1882 – 2 July 1944)[1] was a British industrialist and Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Cardiff Central from 1918 to 1924.[2]
Gould was born in Penarth, the son of Richard Gould, a stonemason from Devon.[3]
He was brought up in Canton, Cardiff, and educated at Higher Grade School, Cardiff.[4]
In 1906 he married May B. Flagg, of Grand Manan, New Brunswick.[4]
Career
Gould left school at the age of 14 and started work for 4 shillings a week.
In 1901 he obtained a position as an ordinary sailor on the ship Clan Graham, and sailed for South Africa where he worked as a piecemeal laborer. He later moved from South Africa to New York where he worked for an insurance company.[5]
In 1912 he opened his own insurance company in London with offices in Belgium and Germany. The business closed within a year and Gould won a £20,000 award against a partner in New York for misrepresentation.[6]
In 1915, with a capital of £200, Gould committed to buy the SS Dartsmouth for £36,000. Due to the need for ships during the First World War to carry troops and goods, the venture was extremely successful, bringing capital to Gould and his company, Goulds Steamships & Industrials Ltd of £60,000 within 6 months. The profits were re-invested with the purchase of a £1,000,000 navy and shipbuilding business. By the end of the War it was estimated that Gould's personal fortune was around £2 million. After the war there was a major recession in the maritime sector, with the number of shipping companies in Cardiff falling from 150 to 77; the Gould company went bankrupt with debts of over £750,000 in May 1925.[7] In March 1926 he was discharged from bankruptcy on condition of paying £50,000 towards his debts.[8] He failed to pay the £50,000 and was made bankrupt again in 1933.[9] He was acquitted of the second bankruptcy, postponed for two years, in June 1934.[10]