Robert Goose ( 1863-1945)
We heard of Robert Goose, who had made and played dulcimers around the turn of the twentieth century, from his grandson Barney Wood whom we first met in 2001.
Robert Whitrick Goose was born in Norwich but the family moved to London when he was young. By the time young Robert was of working age, they were back in Norwich and by 1881 Robert was apprenticed to a coach builder, a trade he pursued for the rest of his working life, and which clearly gave him the skills necessary to build dulcimers. He worked for about twenty years in Norwich but by 1901 he had moved to Watford where he lived the rest of his life.
He told his grandson that his own dulcimer had five courses, but those he made for others had three or four. He made them as a hobby – he worked for Scannells making carts. He made a lathe for turning bridges and some of the instruments he made were quite decorative. He sold some to other people. By the time Barney (b.1931) started to take an interest in the dulcimers, Robert Goose would have been in his late seventies. Barney estimated that his grandfather was active in making dulcimers between 1880 and 1920 and recalled that he used to sit in his workshop and play. The lathe and the strips of bridges made on it were still there with other bits and pieces which hadn’t been touched for ages. Barney knew that his grandfather had kept a note of ‘hours worked etc. income etc’ relating to his dulcimer making, but the notebook hasn’t turned up yet.
Barney’s own dulcimer was made by his grandfather and has five strings to a course – the location of this instrument is now unknown.
Robert Goose and family
This photograph was given to us with no names, but centre is Robert Goose, with his wife Lavinia on his left. The others are the six children who survived to adulthood: Sidney, Beatrice, Harry, Blanche, Reg, Olive, Clarence. Olive was Barney Wood’s mother. Date unknown: presuming they are standing in age order, the two in the back row with their hands (no wedding rings) showing are Sidney and Beatrice who were both married by 1920; Blanche died in 1938.
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