author

Samuel B. Goslin

A practical Victorian writer on bell ringing, he helped make a specialized craft feel approachable to beginners. His surviving books show a clear teacher’s voice and a strong connection to the world of English bells and foundries.

1 Audiobook

First Steps to Bell Ringing

First Steps to Bell Ringing

by Samuel B. Goslin

About the author

Samuel B. Goslin is best known for writing accessible manuals on bell ringing in the late 19th century. Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archive preserve works including First Steps to Bell Ringing and The A B C of Musical Hand-Bell Ringing, both aimed at helping newcomers learn the basics in a straightforward way.

Information gathered from Wikisource and the Whiting Society identifies him as Samuel Benjamin Goslin. The Whiting Society says he was born in Kennington on February 6, 1845, worked as a foundry foreman for John Warner & Sons at the Cripplegate Bell Foundry, and was closely connected with the high-quality bell work associated with that period.

That background helps explain the practical tone of his writing. Rather than treating bell ringing as something mysterious or exclusive, his books guide readers step by step, making them valuable both as instruction manuals and as small windows into Victorian musical and church-ringing culture.