George Templeman Kingston (1816–1886) was a Canadian professor, meteorologist, author, and public servant. For successfully promoting and organizing one of Canada's first national scientific services, Kingston has been called the father of Canadian

Meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

Biography

George Kingston was born at the British Factory Chaplaincy,

Oporto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, Portugal on 5 October 1816, a son of British wine merchant Lucy Henry Kingston and his wife Frances Sophia Rooke, and grandson on his mother's side of Sir Giles Rooke,

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, England. His brother was author

William Henry Giles Kingston William Henry Giles Kingston (28 February 1814 – 5 August 1880), often credited as W. H. G. Kingston, was an English writer of boys' adventure novels. Life William Henry Giles Kingston was born in Harley Street, London on 28 February 1814. H ...

. He attended

Cambridge University , 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 ...

, graduating with honours in mathematics in 1846, and was awarded an M.A. in 1849. In February 1851, he married Harriette Malone (1829-1899), daughter of Edward Malone Esq., at East Stonehouse, Plymouth, Devon, England; they had one son, George Malcolm (born at Quebec, Canada, June 1854). After teaching at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

for some time, he came to Canada in 1852 to take the position of Principal of the Nautical College at

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

. When that school closed in May 1855, he began his association with the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and the Magnetic Observatory. Recognizing the need for a true description of Canada's

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of stud ...

, in 1871 Kingston persuaded the government of the advantage of a network of stations to observe and issue storm warnings. This was the beginning of a national meteorological service, which by late 1872 extended from Halifax to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. In October 1876, the first storm warning prepared in Canada was issued, and in 1877, the first general forecast. The weather predictions were telegraphed to 75 cities and towns in Canada each day and bulletins were then posted. Storm warnings were the more important then and these bulletins were displayed to mariners and sailors by combinations of wicker baskets hung on poles at ports and harbours on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the Atlantic Coast of Canada. George Templeman Kingston retired from his posts in 1880, and died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on 21 January 1886, at

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario.

External links

* * * (middle name misspelled)
Kingston's First Mathematical Prize medal
held at th
University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingston, George Canadian meteorologists 1816 births 1886 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in Ontario