The Reverend Joseph Woolley MA LLD

FRAS FRAS may refer to: * Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger ...

(1817-1889) was a fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

and a founding member of the

Royal Institution of Naval Architects The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (also known as RINA) is an international organisation representing naval architects. It is an elite international professional institution based in London. Its members are involved worldwide at all levels ...

Early life and education

Woolley was born in Petersfield,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

on 27 June 1817. He was the third son of George Woolley, a local surgeon, and later employee of the Royal Humane Society and his wife Charlotte. Woolley was educated at Brompton Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge in 1835. He graduated BA as third Wrangler in 1840, and became a Fellow and Lecturer at St John's College, and was

Rede Lecturer The Sir Robert Rede's Lecturer is an annual appointment to give a public lecture, the Sir Robert Rede's Lecture (usually Rede Lecture) at the University of Cambridge. It is named for Robert Rede, Sir Robert Rede, who was Chief Justice of the Common ...

in 1844. In 1846, Woolley gave up his post to become a country rector.

Career in Naval Architecture

Woolley's career in naval architecture began when he was appointed was the first Principal of the short-lived School of Mathematics and Naval Construction,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

which ran from 1848 to 1853. Its predecessor, the School of Naval Architecture, led by Professor

James Inman James Inman (1776–1859), an English mathematician and astronomer, was professor of mathematics at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, and author of ''Inman's Nautical Tables''. Early years Inman was born at Tod Hole in Garsdale, then in the ...

, another Cambridge graduate, had closed in the 1830s. like the earlier school, the School was distrusted by those without academic training, who referred to its graduates as '

Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ...

boys.'H.W. Dickinson, "Joseph Woolley - Pioneer of British Naval Education; 1848-1879,"Education Research and Perspectives, Vol. 34, No. 1, 2007 In 1864, Woolley became the first principal of the Royal School of Naval Architecture.

Family connections

He was related to the 20th-century astronomer

Richard van der Riet Woolley Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley OBE FRS (24 April 1906 – 24 December 1986) was an English astronomer who became the eleventh Astronomer Royal. His mother's maiden name was Van der Riet. Biography Woolley was born in Weymouth, Dorset ...

(Joseph Woolley was the brother of Benjamin Woolley, Richard van der Riet Woolley's paternal grandfather).

Sources

*H. W.Dickinson, 'Joseph Woolley - Pioneer of British Naval Education; 1848 - 1873', ''Education Research and Perspectives'' (2007) 34(1) pages 1–26
Richard van der Riet Woolley biography
including Woolley family history {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolley, Joseph 19th-century British astronomers 1817 births 1889 deaths British naval architects Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge 19th-century British businesspeople