Henry Brinton (27 July 1901 – 1 June 1977) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

political activist and

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

. Born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

, Brinton joined the Labour Party and the

League of Nations Union The League of Nations Union (LNU) was an organization formed in October 1918 in Great Britain to promote international justice, collective security and a permanent peace between nations based upon the ideals of the League of Nations. The League of N ...

. He travelled to

Republican Spain The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...

as part of an Anglican delegation during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, and then with Wilfred Roberts organised a reception camp for Basque child refugees. Brinton stood unsuccessfully for the Labour Party in

Great Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linc ...

at the

1935 United Kingdom general election The 1935 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 14 November 1935 and resulted in a large, albeit reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Stanley Baldwin of the Conservative Party. The greatest number of members, ...

, St Ives at the

1945 United Kingdom general election The 1945 United Kingdom general election was a national election held on 5 July 1945, but polling in some constituencies was delayed by some days, and the counting of votes was delayed until 26 July to provide time for overseas votes to be bro ...

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

at the

1950 United Kingdom general election The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first ever to be held after a full term of Labour government. The election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was the first held following the abolition of plural voting and university con ...

, Scarborough and Whitby at the

1951 United Kingdom general election The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held twenty months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats. The Labour government called a snap election for Thursday 25 October 1951 ...

, and also in the

1954 Bournemouth West by-election The Bournemouth West by-election was held on 18 February 1954. It was held due to the resignation of the incumbent Conservative MP, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil. It was won by the Conservative candidate, John Eden. When Eden was elected he was th ...

. Unable to get selected for a winnable seat, he then decided to focus on his interests in writing and astronomy. Brinton moved to

Selsey Selsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about eight miles (12 km) south of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is bounde ...

in 1957, joining the

British Astronomical Association The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers. Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaborati ...

, and writing books on astronomy which became known for their photography. These included ''Astronomy for Beginners'', and ''Measuring the Universe''. He wrote a series of "Discovering..." science books for schools. He also wrote thrillers, both under his own name and as "Alex Fraser", his work including the 1962 novel ''Purple-6''. In 1975, Briton suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

, and had to give up astronomy, though he continued work as a member of the West Sussex County Council. He presented his telescope to

Hatfield Polytechnic The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was iden ...

. He died two years later. "The Brinton Telescope" was mounted in Bayfordbury Observatory, then moved to Slindon College, finally being restored at Chichester Planetarium by Dr John Mason.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinton, Henry 1901 births 1977 deaths 20th-century British astronomers British writers Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Wolverhampton People from Selsey