John Wrottesley, 2nd Baron Wrottesley (5 August 1798 – 27 October 1867) was an
English
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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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
.
Life
Wrottesley was the son of
John Wrottesley, 1st Baron Wrottesley, and his first wife Lady Caroline Bennet, daughter of
Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville. He attended Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated with a First Class degree in Mathematics in 1819. He succeeded his father as baron on 16 March 1841.
Wrottesley is distinguished for his attainments in astronomical science, was a founding member of the
Royal Astronomical Society
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and served as its president from 1841 to 1842. In 1839 he received the
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society is the highest award given by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The RAS Council have "complete freedom as to the grounds on which it is awarded" and it can be awarded for any reason. Past awar ...
for his ''Catalogue of the Right Ascensions of 1,318 Stars''. In 1853 he called the attention of the House of Lords to
Lieutenant Maury's valuable scheme of meteorological observations and discoveries, and on 30 November 1855 succeeded the Earl of Rosse as
President of the Royal Society
The president of the Royal Society (PRS) is the elected Head of the Royal Society of London who presides over meetings of the society's council.
After informal meetings at Gresham College, the Royal Society was officially founded on 28 November ...
. Wrottesley was President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1860, the year of the famous debate between Wilberforce and Huxley at the Association's Oxford meeting.
The crater
Wrottesley on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
is named in honour of John Wrottesley.
Lord Wrottesley died in October 1867, aged 69.
Family
On 28 July 1821 Wrottesley married Sophia Elizabeth (d. 13 January 1880), third daughter of Thomas Giffard of Chillington in Staffordshire. By her he had five sons and two daughters. His two youngest sons—Henry and Cameron—were killed in warfare. He was succeeded in the baronetcy and barony by his eldest son
Arthur Wrottesley.
George Wrottesley was his third son.
References
External links
Awarding of RAS gold medal
;Attribution
1798 births
1867 deaths
19th-century British astronomers
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Eldest sons of British hereditary barons
Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fellows of the Royal Society
Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society
Presidents of the Royal Society
Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
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