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Dayman to Gutch Dayman, Joseph Lieutenant.1f Dean, Edward, of Macclesfield. 1 tidal letter from. de Morgan, Augustus (1806-1871), mathematician, was born at Madura, in the Madras presidency. De Morgan was sent to various schools. He had a gift for drawing caricatures, and read algebra ‘like a novel.’ He pricked out equations on the school-pew, some of which remained after his death, instead of listening to the sermon. In February 1823 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, as a ‘bye-term man.’ He made many friends at college, including his teachers, Whewell and Peacock. He belonged to a musical society called the ‘Camus’ (i.e. Cambridge Amateur Musical Union Society), and was a skilful flute-player. After some thoughts of medicine he resolved to go to the bar, and entered Lincoln's Inn. The university of London, which afterwards became University College, was just being started. De Morgan found law unpalatable, and on 23 Feb. 1828 was unanimously elected the first professor of mathematics, although the youngest applicant, on the strength of very high testimonials from Peacock, Airy, and other Cambridge authorities. He gave his introductory lecture, ‘On the Study of Mathematics,’ 5 Nov. 1828. From the first De Morgan was a most energetic worker. In May 1828 he was elected a fellow of the Astronomical Society, and in 1830 was placed on the council. He became a member of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, founded by Brougham and others in 1826. He became a member of the committee in 1843. The society was dissolved in 1846. In the vacation of 1837 De Morgan married Sophia Elizabeth Frend, and settled at 69 Gower Street. His lectures at University College attracted many men, afterwards distinguished. He had the power of clear exposition. He never became a fellow of the Royal Society, and held that it was too much open to social influences to be thoroughly efficient as a working institution. His dislike to honorary titles led him to refuse the offer of the LL.D. degree from Edinburgh. For many years he did his best to promote the adoption of a decimal coinage. His separate works include: 10. ‘The Book of Almanacs,’ 1850. He wrote1 tidal letter and received 4 from Airy. Dedel ? 1f Denham, Henry Mangles (1806-1883+) Admiral FRS. The rank of Commander was conferred on him as a reward for the talent he had displayed in the execution of his surveying services generally, and in particular to mark the high sense entertained by the Lords of the Admiralty of the advantages accruing to the public from the completion of his survey of the port and harbour of Liverpool, and the neighbouring coast. The return of the port of Liverpool to the mere capacity of a half tide harbour Capt. Denham succeeded in averting, by dredging a new opening through the Burbo and Jordan Sands, which, on the accession of Her Majesty to the throne, was named the "Victoria Channel". In reference to a steam survey made by him in the North Sea, Sir Francis Beaufort declared it to be his conviction, "that no man could have achieved that great work with more skill;" and, in remarking upon the survey of Morecambe Bay, the same eminent authority recorded it as his opinion, "that a more complete and masterly work had rarely been sent to the Hydrographic Office." 3f Dessiou, Joseph Foss
(1769-1853) Master RN, hydrographer, and a Younger Brethren of Trinity House, was
born on 18th February at Paignton, Devon. Both his father, Joseph Dessiou
(1743-1822), and one of his two sons, Joseph Foss Dessiou (1792-1818), were also
hydrographers. Up to 1802 he served on naval ships, including: Camilla,
Albion, Warrior and Dreadnought. Afterwards, he became master of the
merchantman Naples. Dessiou compiled more than fifty charts and sailing directions for private publishers
- principally William Faden of Charing Cross. Several of the publications make sets.
Those of the Channel
he deliberately formed into a serial. I Dix, Francis 1f Dunlop, Henry 1f 2t Earl G. W. 1f Edwards, George 1f Eckley L. (fl. 1833) Elliot, Sir George (1784-1863)admiral, entered the navy in 1794. He married Eliza Cecilia Ness. He received 1 tidal letter. Evans, Hu. 1f Everett, Edward (1794-1865): M.A. Harvard 1814, politician. He wrote1 tidal letter and received 1. Farghar, R. 1f Fitzroy, Robert (1805-1865), vice-admiral, hydrographer, and meteorologist. He was born at Ampton Hall, Suffolk, on 5 July 1805; entered the navy from the Royal Naval College in 1819, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 7 Sept. 1824. In 1828 he was promoted to the command of the Beagle brig, vacant by the melancholy death of Commander Stokes. The Beagle was at that time, and continued to be, employed on the survey of the coasts of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and more especially of the Straits of Magellan. The vessels returned to England in the autumn of 1830, and in the following summer Fitzroy was again appointed to the Beagle, to continue the survey of the same coasts. The Beagle sailed from Portsmouth on 27 Dec. 1831, having Charles Robert Darwin on board as naturalist of the expedition. After an absence of nearly five years, and having, in addition to the survey of the Straits of Magellan and a great part of the coast of South America, run a chronometric line round the world, thus approximately fixing the longitude of many secondary meridians, the Beagle returned to England in October 1836. In July 1835 Fitzroy had been advanced to post rank, and his work for the next few years was the reduction and discussion of his numerous observations. In 1837 he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society, and in 1839 he published the ‘Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M. ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their Examination of the Southern Shores of South America, and the Beagle's Circumnavigation of the Globe,’ 8vo, 3 vols.; but the third volume is by Charles Darwin. Of Fitzroy's work as a surveyor it is unnecessary now to speak in any detail. Though the means at his disposal were small, the results were both great and satisfactory, and even twelve years later Sir Francis Beaufort, in a report to the House of Commons (10 Feb. 1848), was able to say: ‘From the Equator to Cape Horn, and from thence round to the river Plata on the eastern side of America, all that is immediately wanted has been already achieved by the splendid survey of Captain Robert Fitzroy.’ In September 1842 Fitzroy accepted the post of conservator of the river Mersey, but resigned it early in 1843, on being appointed governor and commander-in-chief of New Zealand. In September 1848 he was appointed superintendent of the dockyard at Woolwich, and in March 1849 to the command of the Arrogant, a screw frigate. The toil proved too much for a temperament naturally excitable, and a constitution already tried by the severe and anxious service in the Straits of Magellan. He refused to take the prescribed rest, and under the continued strain his mind gave way, and he committed suicide. He married Mary Henrietta O'Brien. He wrote 6 tidal letters, mostly to Beaufort. Forbes, James David (1809-1868), man of science, was born at Edinburgh. Forbes was educated at home until the age of sixteen, when he entered the university of Edinburgh, with a view to joining the bar. His natural bent, however, soon drew him to the study of physics, and at a very early age he contributed anonymously some able papers to Sir David Brewster's scientific periodical, the ‘Philosophical Journal.’ He avowed the authorship after a time, when Brewster encouraged his scientific zeal, and proposed him as a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was elected at the unprecedentedly early age of nineteen. Forbes now relinquished his legal studies, in opposition to Brewster's prudent advice. In the spring of 1831 Forbes visited London, Cambridge, and Oxford, where he formed friendships with Mrs. Somerville, Herschel, Babbage, Whewell, Lyell, Airy, and Buckland. The same year he co-operated with Brewster in the foundation of the British Association. In 1832 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London. Forbes had started on an extensive scientific tour in the summer of 1832, when he was suddenly recalled from Geneva by news of the death of Sir John Leslie, professor of natural philosophy in the university of Edinburgh. Sir John Herschel, in a testimonial, spoke of him ‘as marked by nature for scientific distinction.’ His friend Brewster was his chief opponent, and a temporary coolness resulted. Forbes was elected, after a very exciting contest, by a majority of twenty-seven to nine, 30 Jan. 1833. He married Alicia Wauchope. In consequence of ill-health Forbes was compelled to spend the winter of 1843 and the summer of 1844 in Italy, returning to Edinburgh in September of the latter year. The last scientific expedition undertaken by Forbes was a journey to Norway at the close of the university session of 1850-1. He went to see the total eclipse of the sun, and to examine the Norwegian glaciers. The tour was a very fatiguing one, and Forbes returned home with his health greatly impaired. He began his classes in November 1851, but was attacked by hæmorrhage, which proved to be the precursor of a long and dangerous illness. By September 1867 he had to go to the Riviera for his health. His weakness obliged him to decline an offer of the presidency of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In the summer he returned to Clifton, to be under the care of Dr. Symonds. He lingered for eight months. Besides being a fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, and of the Geological Society, he was corresponding member of the Institute of France, and associate or honorary member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, of the Academy of Palermo, of the Dutch Society of Sciences (Haarlem), of the Helvetic Society, of the Pontifical Society, of the Pontifical Academy of Nuovi Lincei at Rome, and of the Natural History Societies of Heidelberg, Geneva, and Vaud; and honorary member of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh, of the Cambridge, Yorkshire, St. Andrews, and Isle of Wight Philosophical Societies, and of the Plymouth and Bristol Institutions. He wrote 1 tidal letter and received 2. Forman, Walter, Commander R.N. of Bath, wrote 1 tidal letter. Franklin, Sir John (1786-1847), Arctic explorer, was born in Spilsby in Lincolnshire. It had been intended to bring him up for the church, but a holiday visit to the seashore excited a strong desire to go to sea, which his father vainly endeavoured to overcome by sending him for a voyage in a merchant vessel as far as Lisbon. On his return he entered the royal navy. While in the Investigator Franklin distinguished himself by his remarkable aptitude for nautical and astronomical observations. He had already, during his absence (1 Jan. 1821), been made a commander; he was now (20 Nov.) advanced to post rank, in recognition of his labours and sufferings; he was also elected a fellow of the Royal Society. He was married to Eleanor Anne Porden. It was also during this period of relaxation that he married Jane Griffin. For the better class of colonists he established a scientific society which has developed into the present Royal Society of Hobart Town; and not only founded but largely endowed a college. Since the finding of this written record Franklin has been recognised as the discoverer of the north-west passage, and is so styled on the pedestal of the statue to his memory erected at the public cost in Waterloo Place, London. There are other statues at Hobart Town and Spilsby. A portrait has been photographed. Another portrait was exhibited in the loan exhibition at South Kensington. Another portrait is engraved for ‘National Portrait Gallery’ (vol. ii.), and there is a capital lithograph. He wrote1 tidal letter. Friend, Mat Curling 1f Gage, John 1f Gairdner, Meredith 1f Galbraith, William 1f Garrett, Newson 1f Gilbert, Davies (1767-1839) (formerly Giddy), president of the Royal Society, was born in the parish of St. Erth, Cornwall. Davies Giddy, the only child, was educated at the Penzance grammar school and at a boarding-school at Bristol. He matriculated from Pembroke College, Oxford, as a gentleman-commoner, 12 April 1785, and was created M.A. in 1789 and D.C.L. in 1832. He married Mary Ann Gilbert. In 1819 he suggested with success the establishment of the observatory at the Cape of Good Hope. On the death of Sir Joseph Banks in 1820, when Sir Humphry Davy was elected president of the Royal Society, his friend Gilbert accepted the office of treasurer. Gilbert was elected president 30 Nov. 1827 and induced to resign the presidency 30 Nov. 1830. During his tenure of office, under the provisions of the Earl of Bridgewater's will he nominated the eight writers of the ‘Bridgewater Treatises’ [see Egerton, Francis Henry]. All his appointments did not give satisfaction, and it was a question whether the earl's money had been distributed in strict accordance with his desires (Correspondence regarding the Appointment of the Writers of the Bridgewater Treatises between D. Gilbert and others, Penryn, 1877, 8vo. Privately printed by his nephew, John D. Enys). His portrait in oils is preserved in the rooms of the Royal Society, London. He wrote1 tidal letter and received 1. Giles, Francis (1787-1847), civil engineer, was brought up as a surveyor, and executed in the early part of his career, under John Rennie, an important portion of numerous surveys which subsequently became models of later practice. Among these were surveys of the Thames, the Mersey, the Wear, and the Tyne, and of the harbours of Dover, Rye, Holyhead, Dundee, and Kingstown. He afterwards engaged in business as an engineer, and executed many important harbour and canal works and river improvements. Giles was in great request as an arbitrator, adviser, and consulting engineer, and enjoyed a lucrative practice. He was an active member of the council of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and took a prominent part in the discussions of that body, besides contributing some valuable plans and charts to its collections. He received 1 tidal letter. Giles, George 1f Glaisher, James (1809-1903) astronomer and meteorologist was a candidate for the superintendacy of the Nautical Almanac upon the death of William Samuel Stratford, wrote one letter to Airy. Godfray, H. 1t Goulburn, Henry (1784-1856), statesman, was born in London, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1805, and M.A. in 1808. A half-length portrait of Goulburn, painted in water-colours, was exhibited at the Loan Collection of National Portraits in 1868 (Catalogue, No. 405). Goulburn married the Hon. Jane Montagu. He wrote 1 tidal letter. Gower, Richard Hall (1767-1833), naval architect, was baptised at Chelmsford, and after spending some time at Ipswich grammar school obtained a scholarship at Winchester in 1778. In 1780 he entered as midshipman on board a vessel in the East India Company's service. When he was twenty he devised an instrument which secured far greater accuracy than had before been obtainable in measuring a vessel's way through the water. Meantime Gower had married, and published ‘A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Seamanship’ (1793, 2nd edit. 1796), which long remained a standard work. Other valuable inventions of Gower, brought out in the face of much discouragement, were the long useful catamaran for forming a raft; a lifeboat on a novel plan for employment at Landguard Fort; a sound tube connecting top and deck; a propeller or floating anchor; and numerous ingenious articles of minor note. He wrote 3 tidal letters. Graham, James D. 1f Greaves, Charles, Captain HMS Beacon, from 1837 to 1838 he wrote 4 letters to Whewell about measuring the velocity of the tide on the Severn. Green, James 1f Greenlaw, C. B. Greenough, George Bellas (1778-1855), geographer and geologist. In 1795 Greenough entered St. Peter's College, Cambridge, and kept nine terms, but took no degree, and in 1798 proceeded to the university of Göttingen to study law. In 1807 he organised in an informal manner what afterwards became the Geological Society of London, though it was not regularly constituted, with Greenough as its first president, until 1811. The young society met with considerable opposition from Sir Joseph Banks, who wished to subordinate it to the Royal Society. He was one of the first trustees of the Geological Society under its charter in 1826, an original member of the British Association in 1831, one of the original council of University College, an active member of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and a fellow of the Royal, Linnean, and Ethnological Societies. In 1852 he laid before the Asiatic Society a series of maps of Hindostan, mainly hydrographical, and in 1854 a large-scale geological map of the whole of British India, afterwards published as a ‘General Sketch of the Physical Features of British India.’ His bust is in the Geological Society's apartments. He wrote 1 tidal letter and received 3. Gregory, Olinthus
Gilbert (1774-1841) mathematician, born at Yaxley, Huntingdonshire, on 29 Jan.
1774. He got his schooling in his native village, and at an early age was placed
with Richard Weston, the Leicester botanist. Weston trained him in mathematics,
with such good effect that at the age of nineteen he published (1793) a small
volume of ‘lessons, astronomical and philosophical.’ Weston also introduced him
as a contributor (1794) to the ‘Ladies' Diary.’ He drew up a treatise on the use
of the sliding rule; though not published, it brought him to the notice of
Charles Hutton, LL.D. who became his correspondent and patron. About 1796 he
settled in Cambridge, obtained a situation as sub-editor on the ‘Cambridge
Intelligencer,’ under Benjamin Flower, which he did not keep long, opened a
bookseller's shop about 1798, and taught mathematics. His teaching became
profitable, so he closed his shop and devoted himself to tutorial work. In 1802
he published a treatise on astronomy, dedicated to Hutton, which brought him
into notice. Griffith, Sir Richard John (1784-1878), geologist and civil engineer, was born in Hume Street, Dublin. Educated with a view to a military career, he obtained a lieutenancy in the royal Irish artillery in 1799. On the union of the two countries and the incorporation of the Irish artillery with that of England, he resigned his commission and entered upon the profession of a civil engineer. After studying for two years in London under the supervision of William Nicholson, editor of the ‘Journal of Natural Philosophy,’ he proceeded to Cornwall in order to acquire a knowledge of practical mining. He was unanimously elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh when only twenty-three years of age. On the passing of the Irish Valuation Act, Griffith, who had greatly assisted the chief secretary, Henry Goulburn [q.v.], in drafting it, was appointed commissioner of valuation. From 1830 onwards his duties became so numerous that there was hardly a work of public importance undertaken in Ireland, including the improvement of the navigation of the Shannon, in which he was not consulted or which he did not personally superintend. He married Maria JaneWaldie. He wrote 3 tidal letters. Gutch, John Wheeley Gough (1809-1862) was born at Bristol, and educated as a surgeon at the infirmary there. He became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and for a time practised at Florence. Afterwards he was appointed one of the queen's messengers, from which post he retired on a pension shortly before his death, in consequence of a stroke of paralysis. From 1842 to 1856 he edited ‘The Literary and Scientific Register,’ an annual encyclopædia. He died in Bloomsbury Square, leaving a widow, but no children. Within 1838 and 1839 he wrote 3 tidal letters and received 2, mostly with Airy about his tide gauge at Swansea.
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