Rupert Gould Rupert Thomas Gould ( 16 November 1890 – 5 October 1948 ) , was a lieutenant commander in the British Royal Navy noted for his contributions to horology ( the science and study of timekeeping devices ) . Life . Gould grew up in Southsea , near Portsmouth , where his father , William Monk Gould , was a music teacher , organist , and composer . He was educated at Eastman ' s Royal Naval Academy and then , from 15 January 1906 on , he attended the Royal Naval College , Osborne , and then the Royal Naval College , Dartmouth , being part of the Greynville term , and by Easter 1907 examinations placed him at the top of his class . He became a midshipman , and thereby a naval officer , on 15 May 1907 . He initially served on HMS " Formidable " and HMS " Queen " ( under Captain David Beatty ) in the Mediterranean . Subsequently he was posted to China ( first aboard HMS " Kinsha " and then HMS " Bramble " ) . He chose the " navigation " career track and , after qualifying as a navigation officer , served on HMS " King George V " , and HMS " Achates " until the outbreak of World War I , at which time he suffered a nervous breakdown and went on medical leave . During his recuperation , he was stationed at the Hydrographer ' s Department at the Admiralty , where he became an expert on various aspects of naval history , cartography , and expeditions into the polar regions . In 1919 he was promoted to Lieutenant - Commander ( retired ) . On 9 June 1917 he married Muriel Estall . That marriage ended by judicial separation in November 1927 . They had two children , Cecil ( born in 1918 ) and Jocelyne ( born in 1920 ) . His last years were spent at Barford St Martin near Salisbury , where he used his horological skills to repair and restore the defunct clock in the church tower . Work . He gained permission in 1920 to restore the marine chronometer s of John Harrison , and this work was completed in 1933 . The actor Jeremy Irons played him in " Longitude " , a dramatisation of Dava Sobel ' s book " " , which recounted in part Gould ' s work in restoring the chronometers . His horological book , " The Marine Chronometer , Its History and Development " , was first published in 1923 by J . D . Potter and was the first scholarly monograph on the subject . It was generally considered the authoritative text on marine timekeepers for at least half a century . In spite of two more nervous breakdowns , Gould had many other interests and activities . In addition , he wrote and published an eclectic series of books on topics ranging from horology to the Loch Ness Monster . He was a science educator , giving a series of talks for the BBC ' s Children ' s Hour starting in January 1934 under the name " The Stargazer " , and these collected talks were later published . He was a member of the BBC radio panel Brains Trust . He umpired tennis matches on the Centre Court at Wimbledon on many occasions during the 1930s . Spurred by the arrival of the Loch Ness Monster in the media news and his previous work on the Sea Serpent , Gould spent some days at Loch Ness travelling around it by motorcycle . He interviewed many witnesses and collated evidence for the creature that resulted in the first major work on the phenomenon , entitled " The Loch Ness Monster and Others " . After this , Gould became the de facto spokesman on the subject , being a regular contributor to radio shows and newspaper articles . In 1947 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the British Horological Institute , its highest honour for contributions to horology .