Herschel family, astronomers

  • Herschel, William, Sir, 1738-1822.
Date:
18th century-19th century
Reference:
MSS.7867-7868
  • Archives and manuscripts

Collection contents

About this work

Description

Letters to and from various members of the Herschel family. MS.7867 contains material relating to Sir William Herschel (1738-1822), Caroline Lucretia Herschel (1750-1848) and Alexander Stewart Herschel (1836-1907); MS.7868 centres on Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871).

Publication/Creation

18th century-19th century

Physical description

2 files

Contributors

Acquisition note

Purchased from: Stevens, London, July 1923 (acc.89267), August 1930 (acc.63313), January 1931 (acc.68115), March 1931 (acc.56482, 68134); R.V. Westcott, May 1927 (acc.45498); Tregaskis, December 1927 (acc.68037); Sotheby's, London, December 1929 (acc.52331), May 1930 (acc.52792), July 1931 (acc.57468), February 1932 (acc.76066, 76088), November 1933 (acc.67469), April 1934 (acc.66602); Mrs. Barrett, London, March 1930 (acc.91327); Puttick and Simpson, May 1930 (acc.62824); Desgranges, Paris, June 1930 (acc.67390), February 1931 (acc.64689), September 1931 (acc.64710), September 1932 (acc.65659), July 1934 (acc.67124), either from Desgranges, Paris, January 1936, or Glendining, London, c.1932 (acc.69293, 69294); Glendining, London, December 1931 (acc.67597), March 1932 (acc.67624), August 1932 (acc.67694); Transferred from Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, c.1939 (acc.91800); no accession details recorded for nos.4, 11-12, 23, 30, 73-75, 81, 83, 91, 98.

Biographical note

Sir William Herschel (1738-1822) was born in Hanover and came to England in 1757, where he taught music in Leeds, Halifax and Bath. He devoted himself to the study of mathematics and astronomy, built his own telescope in c.1773, and with it discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 (which he named 'Georgium Sidus' in honour of George III). He was appointed private astronomer to George III in 1782 and knighted in 1816, and is regarded as the virtual founder of sidereal science.

His sister Caroline Lucretia Herschel (1750-1848) discovered eight comets, receiving a salary from George III in 1787. She received the Astronomical Society's gold medal for her catalogue of Sir William Herschel's star clusters and nebulae, 1828, and was created an honorary member of the Society in 1835.

Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871), the son of Sir William Herschel, was a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, and obtained his M.A. in 1816. With George Peacock (1791-1858) he translated Lacroix's Elementary Treatise on the Differential Calculus, and was elected F.R.S. in 1813.

His son Alexander Stewart Herschel (1836-1907) was born in South Africa, and studied meteorology at the Royal School of Mines, London, 1861. He was professor of physics at Glasgow, 1866-1871 and at Durham College, Newcastle, 1871-1886. He reported on observation of meteors to the British Association, 1862-1881, observing a solar eclipse in Spain in 1905, and was elected F.R.S. in 1884.

Finding aids

Database description transcribed from Richard Aspin and Christopher Hilton's typescript supplement to S.A.J Moorat's Catalogue of Western Manuscripts

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Identifiers

Accession number

  • Various: see Acquisition note.