John Bonnycastle (baptized 29 December 1751 in Hardwick or Whitchurch, England – 15 May 1821 in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

, England) was an English teacher of mathematics and author.

Life

John Bonnycastle was born in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, in about 1750. Nothing is known of his family or early life, but he went to London where he established an Academy. He became a tutor to the two sons of the Earl of Pontefract at Easton in Northumberland. Between 1782 and 1785, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

, where he remained until his death on 15 May 1821. He was a prolific writer, and wrote for the early volumes of ''

Rees's Cyclopædia Rees's ''Cyclopædia'', in full ''The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature'' was an important 19th-century British encyclopaedia edited by Rev. Abraham Rees (1743–1825), a Presbyterian minister and scholar w ...

'', about algebra, analysis and astronomy.

Family

At the age of 19, he married a Miss Rolt, but she died young. On Oct.7th, 1786 he married Brigette Newell with whom he had six children Charlotte, William, Mary, Sir Richard (Royal Engineer/Author), Humphrey and Charles. His son

Richard Henry Bonnycastle Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle (30 September 1791 – 3 November 1847) was an officer of the British army active in Upper Canada. Life Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle was the son of Professor John Bonnycast ...

settled in Canada, where the family became quite well known in Winnipeg and Calgary. His son, Charles Bonnycastle (1796-1840) became Professor of Mathematics at the University of Virginia.

Writings

*''The Scholar's guide to Arithmetic'', 1780 *''Introduction to Algebra'', 1782 *
Introduction to Astronomy
', 1786 (7th edition 1816) *''Euclid's 'Elements' '' with notes, 1789 *''A Treatise on Plane and Spherical Geometry'', 1806 *''A Treatise of Algebra'', 1813

Notes

References

* *''Gentleman's Magazine'', 1821, i, 472, 482 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnycastle, John

John Bonnycastle John Bonnycastle (baptized 29 December 1751 in Hardwick or Whitchurch, England – 15 May 1821 in Woolwich, England) was an English teacher of mathematics and author. Life John Bonnycastle was born in Buckinghamshire, in about 1750. Nothing ...

1750s births 1821 deaths Academics of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich British textbook writers English mathematicians Schoolteachers from Buckinghamshire Mathematics educators