At Calne Heritage Centre, we recently received this wig, owned by Charles Ogle Gough. A long
time Calne Town Clerk and a solicitor. It's a fantastic artifact to add
to our collection and as you can't see it in person at the moment, I'm
glad to be able to share it here.
Gough was one of only five people to receive the Freedom of the Borough. The text below is taken from the booklet commemorating that event:
Charles Ogle Gough, the second son of the late Mr. and Mrs. George Isaac Gough, was born at 28 Church Street, Calne, where he now has his offices as Senior Partner in the firm of G. I. Gough and Son.
He was educated first at the Bentley Grammar School and afterwards at Monmouth Grammar School. He qualified as a Solicitor in February 1905.
He was married to Isabella Shepherd Hood of Dumfermline on the 25th June, 1915—she died on the 11th July, 1955. There are three children of the marriage—Katherine Muriel Linthwaite now living with her family in Malaya, Isabel Margaret Bowyer living with her family in Letchworth and Charles Cameron Gough, D.S.C., who lives at Caine and is in partnership as a Solicitor in his father’s firm.
Mr. Gough’s father, George Isaac Gough, was Town Clerk from 1891 to 1911 and previously he was Clerk to the old Caine Urban Sanitary Authority from 1873. On the occasion of his father’s illness in 1906, Mr. Gough was appointed Deputy, and in 1911, when his father resigned, he was appointed Town Clerk, an office which he still holds.
During his long term of office there have been many Royal occasions in which Mr. Gough has been responsible for the local arrangements. He is the proud possessor of medals which commemorate the Coronation and Silver Jubilee of King George V, and the Coronations of King George VI and the present Queen.
In his younger days Mr. Gough played football and cricket for Calne Town. He was Captain of the football team in 1907 when Caine won the District League Cup, and he was President of the Caine and Harris’ United Football Club from 1937 to 1948. He also plays golf and is one of the oldest members of the North Wilts Golf Club. He is fond of swimming and is keenly interested in the proposal to provide facilities in Caine.
He has been Clerk to the Governors of St. Mary’s School before and since its incorporation in the year 1928 and Clerk to the Governors of the Bentley Grammar School since 1911. He was one of the deputation appointed to meet the Wiltshire Education Committee in 1934 when proposals had been made to close the School and transfer the children to Chippenham Grammar School. It was largely due to the efforts of Mr. Gough and Alderman F. W. Smith that the School was saved. Mr. Gough has also served the Old Boys and Girls of the School as President of the Old Bentleians’ Association since 1950.
