Francis John Hyde Wollaston
FRS (13 April 1762,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
– 12 October 1823) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
natural philosopher
Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...
and
Jacksonian Professor at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
.
Life
Francis John Hyde Wollaston was the son of
Francis Wollaston (1731–1815) and Althea Hyde, and brother to
William Hyde Wollaston
William Hyde Wollaston (; 6 August 1766 – 22 December 1828) was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering the chemical elements palladium and rhodium. He also developed a way to process platinum ore into malleable ingo ...
(1766-1828). He was educated in Scarning,
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
and at
Charterhouse
Charterhouse may refer to:
* Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order
Charterhouse may also refer to:
Places
* The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery
* Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey
Londo ...
before entering
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge in 1779. He graduated as
senior wrangler
The Senior Frog Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain."
Specifically, it is the person who a ...
in 1783, became a fellow of
Trinity Hall in 1785, and was ordained a priest in 1787.
Wollaston was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in 1786. From 1792 to 1813 he was Jacksonian Professor at Cambridge. Resigning his Trinity Hall fellowship to marry Frances Hayles in 1793, he became Rector of
South Weald South Weald is a mainly farmland and park settlement in the Borough of Brentwood in Essex, England. The civil parish of South Weald was absorbed by Brentwood Urban District in 1934. In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 6370.
South Weald con ...
the following year. In 1807 he was elected Master of Sidney Sussex College, but the election was declared invalid on the grounds that he had never been a fellow of Sidney Sussex. On resigning his professorship in 1813, he assumed additional clerical duties: from 1813 to 1823 he was rector of
Cold Norton
Cold Norton is a village on the Dengie Peninsula in Essex, England. It is located in rural countryside 10 miles to the east of Chelmsford, and lies just over a mile to the north of the River Crouch, which can be seen from the village's main hill ...
and
Archdeacon of Essex
The Archdeacon of West Ham is a senior ecclesiastical officer – in charge of the Archdeaconry of West Ham – in the Church of England Diocese of Chelmsford. The current archdeacon is Elwin Cockett.
Brief history
Historically, the Archdeaconry ...
.
[
He is buried with his father in St Nicholas's Churchyard in ]Chislehurst
Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater L ...
.
Works
*''A Plan of a Course of Chemical Lectures'', 1794
*''Charge, delivered to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Essex'', 1815
References
External links
*
Archdeacons of Essex
Jacksonian Professors of Natural Philosophy
Fellows of the Royal Society
1762 births
1823 deaths
Senior Wranglers
People educated at Charterhouse School
Fellows of Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Masters of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Natural philosophers
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