Reginald Stuart Goddard

Reginald Stuart Goddard
Profile image of RS Goddard
Born(1890-08-27)August 27, 1890
DiedDecember 25, 1946(1946-12-25) (aged 56)
Cambridge
OccupationsZookeeper, animal breeder
Known forFounding Chessington Zoo

Reginald Stuart Goddard (27 August 1890 – 25 December 1946) was a British Zookeeper, notable for founding Chessington Zoo, and for making Paignton Zoo a public entertainment attraction.

Personal life

Reginald, known as "RS" was born to Arthur Goddard, owner of a firm which manufactured slate for billiards tables, and his wife Dorothea.

He married Doris Ena Layborn in 1915, and they had three children, Joan, Moira, and James.

Career

Before zookeeping

During World War I, Goddard served for two years from 1917 in the Royal Naval Air Service, eventually qualifying as a balloon pilot and serving at RNAS Kite Balloon Base Tipnor in Portsmouth. Following demobilization in 1919, he went to work for his family firm - Goddard and Son, Billiard Slate Manufacturers - in Battersea, where he eventually became managing director. In 1928 Reginald pleaded guilty to failing to provide a proper safety guard on a machine at the Goddard and Son factory in Battersea, despite having been previously warned, and having compensated a worker for loss of a finger.

In 1930, he was awarded a patent for a new type of asymmetric billiards practice table, to allow players to practice their shots, and this was manufactured by Thurston.

He expanded the business to include opening a chain of billiard halls across London, and then later came to own some pet stores which started his animal keeping and expansion into more exotic animals.

Chessington

Goddard posing with a monkey at Chessington

Goddard had been collecting exotic animals in a private collection, and he was driving past the "Burnt Stub" site in Chessington when he saw a house and land for sale. He purchased the land and set about creating a public attraction with a range of animals and other entertainments, including a circus, funfair, and miniature railway, spending a reported £12,000. It opened as "Surrey Zoological Gardens" on 28 July 1931, and in the first six months of trading attracted 42,000 people.

Reginald suffered an injury to his hand caused by a lion, "Billy" in 1931. As a thanks to Epsom Cottage Hospital where his injury was treated, he returned later in the year with three bears and a monkey to entertain the child patients.

When applying for a liquor license for the zoo in early 1932 there were accusations that Reginald was, in fact, disgraced police sergeant George Goddard who had been convicted of accepting bribes when heading the vice squad at Vine Street police station, accepting money from nightclub owner Kate Meyrick. The licensing committee heard that George Goddard and Meyrick were going to start a nightclub at Chessington. This connection was emphatically denied by Goddard. This rumour persisted over decades, including being stated as fact in the book Crime in London by former Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Gilbert Kelland. The license was granted at the second hearing in March, after initial refusal.

Later in 1932, Reginald's wife lost a diamond earring which was swallowed by a monkey at the zoo.

In 1936 Goddard successfully sued Lady Waechter de Grimston for libel after she wrote a letter to the RSPCA complaining about the way in which penguins were being kept at Chessington, describing conditions as "disgusting".

Paignton Zoo

The miniature railway 'Jungle Express' moved from Chessington to Paignton and opening in 1940

In 1939, government restrictions on large public gatherings required the temporary closure of many entertainment venues, including Chessington Zoo. This prompted Goddard to form a partnership with Herbert Whitley, who owned a zoo then called Primley Zoological Gardens (and later to be Paignton Zoo, who agreed to house evacuated animals at Primley. Among the animals transferred were Peggy, daughter of the tigress Beauty and known for appearing in the film Elephant Boy, as well as a home‑bred lioness and her four cubs.

The relocation included not only a large collection of animals, but a miniature railway and entire circus including the clowns and acrobats. Not all of the animals were moved from Chessington, and some remaining in Surrey, a number of which were injured or killed by bombing in 1944.

The zoo at Paignton was re-opened to the public on Saturday 24 August 1940, with a combined collection operating as the Devon Zoo and Circus. Goddard introduced a more entertainment‑focused programme than Whitley had previously favoured, including circus acts and a miniature railway.

In 1946, following the end of the war, Goddard unsuccessfully negotiated with Whitley for a long-term lease on Primley Zoo, and on 3 February 1946 he shut the zoo, leading to a dispute with Whitley. Whitley gained a High Court injunction against Goddard, where Goddard was said to have cancelled arrangements for animal feeding (including not leaving any provision for ration coupons so that Whitley could obtain animal feed) and care of Whitley's remaining animals whilst removing his own back to Surrey. He was also found to be in breach of his tenancy agreement with Whitley for trying to surrender his alcohol license.

Goddard did return with most of his animals to Chessington, though some other attractions remained for several years.

Death

Goddard died in a nursing home in Cambridge on Christmas Day 1946, only a few months after returning his collection to Chessington.

His estate was worth £193,329, of which £20,000 was left to his wife, and £4,000 was to be divided amongst employees at Chessington.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Reginald Stuart Goddard". Chessington Zoo & Circus Archive. Retrieved 26 October 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "History". Attraction Source.
  3. ↑ "Woodworking machinery, unsatisfactory guard at Broughton Street". South Western Star. 31 August 1928. p. 2.
  4. ↑ "83,102: Playing Table". Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office. 20 January 1931.
  5. 1 2 "Death of Mr R.S. Goddard". Torquay Times. 3 January 1947. p. 8.
  6. ↑ "Brief History of Chessington Zoo". Chessington Zoo and Circus Archive. Retrieved 26 October 2026.
  7. ↑ "Mr Reginald Stewart Goddard". The Evening News. 2 February 1932. p. 3.
  8. 1 2 "Surrey Zoo - Rumours Denied - Licence Refused". Mitcham Advertiser. 4 Februrary 1932. p. 5. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ↑ "Three Bears at a Hospital". Reynold's Illustrated News. 27 December 1931. p. 16.
  10. ↑ "The Goddard Trial, Hard Labour for All Three Defendants". Northern Whig via the British Newspaper Archive (subscription required). 30 January 1929. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "Goddard Trial at Old Bailey". Dundee Courier via the British Newspaper Archive (subscription required). 7 January 1929. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  12. ↑ "Rogues and Villains" (PDF). The Goddard Association of Europe. November 2004. p. 3.
  13. ↑ "The Surrey Zoo". The Advertiser. 3 March 1932. p. 7.
  14. ↑ "A Monkey Trick". Mitcham Advertiser. 24 March 1932. p. 10.
  15. ↑ "Lawsuit Penguins Parents". Daily Express. 18 March 1936.
  16. ↑ "Libel Action over zoo penguins". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 2 March 1936.
  17. ↑ "history". The Chessington Zoo & Circus Archive. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  18. 1 2 "Our Story: The war years". Paignton Zoo.
  19. ↑ "Paignton Zoo To Re-Open". The Express and Echo. 21 August 1940.
  20. ↑ "Devon Zoo Will Be Licensed". Western Morning News. 8 February 1941.
  21. 1 2 "Zoo Proprietor's Death on Xmas Day". Paignton Observer and Echo. 2 January 1947. p. 1.
  22. ↑ "High Court grants injunction - Care of Primley Zoo Livestock". Paignton Observer and Echo. 14 February 1946.
  23. ↑ "history". The Chessington Zoo & Circus Archive. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  24. ↑ "A Surrey Zoo made him £193,329". London Evening News. 22 February 1947.
  25. ↑ "Zoo Owner's £193,000 will". Sunday Express. 23 February 1947.