Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse, KP, FRS (17 November 1840 – 29 August 1908) was a member of the

Irish peerage The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divis ...

and an amateur astronomer. His name is often given as Laurence Parsons.

Biography

He was born at Birr Castle,

Parsonstown Birr (; ga, Biorra, meaning "plain of water") is a town in County Offaly, Ireland. Between 1620 and 1899 it was called Parsonstown, after the Parsons family who were local landowners and hereditary Earls of Rosse. Birr is a designated Iris ...

, King's County, Ireland, the son and heir of the

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 ...

William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse (17 June 1800 – 31 October 1867), was an Irish astronomer, naturalist, and engineer. He was president of the Royal Society (UK), the most important association of naturalists in the world in the nineteenth ...

who built the "

Leviathan of Parsonstown Leviathan of Parsonstown, or Rosse six-foot telescope, is a historic reflecting telescope of aperture, which was the largest telescope in the world from 1845 until the construction of the Hooker Telescope in California in 1917. The Rosse six-f ...

" telescope, largest of its day, and his wife, the Countess of Rosse (née Mary Field), an amateur astronomer and pioneering photographer. Lawrence succeeded his father in 1867 and was educated first at home by tutors, like

John Purser John Purser (born 1942) is a Scottish composer, musicologist, and music historian. He is also a playwright.cover notes from ''Scotland's Music'' CD Purser was born in Glasgow. He initiated the reconstruction that commenced in 1991 of the Iron ...

, and after at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He was the brother of

Charles Algernon Parsons Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931) was an Anglo-Irish engineer, best known for his invention of the compound steam turbine, and as the eponym of C. A. Parsons and Company. He worked as an engineer on d ...

, inventor of the steam turbine. He served as the eighteenth Chancellor of

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

between 1885 and 1908. His father served as the sixteenth Chancellor. He was

Lord Lieutenant of King's County This is a list of those who have served as Lord Lieutenant of King's County. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated on 23 August 1 ...

and Custos Rotulorum of King's County from 1892 to his death. He was also a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the county and was appointed

High Sheriff of King's County The High Sheriff of King's County was the British Crown's judicial representative in King's County (now County Offaly), Ireland, from 1556, when King's County was created, until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replac ...

for 1867–68. He was knighted KP in 1890. Lord Rosse also performed some preliminary work in association with the practices of the electrodeposition of copper sulfate upon silver films circa 1865 whilst in search of the design for a truly flat mirror to use in a telescope. However, he found it impossible to properly electroplate copper upon these silver films, as the copper would contract and detach from the underlying glass substrate. His note has been cited as one of the earliest confirmations in literature that

thin film A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer (monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many ap ...

s on glass substrates experience residual stresses. He revived discussion in on his work ''Natures August 1908 edition after witnessing similar techniques used to present newly devised searchlights before the Royal Society. Although overshadowed by his father (when astronomers speak of "Lord Rosse", it is almost always the father that they refer to), he nonetheless pursued some astronomical observations of his own, particularly of 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 ...

. Most notably, he discovered NGC 2. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in December 1867 and delivered the

Bakerian lecture The Bakerian Medal is one of the premier medals of the Royal Society that recognizes exceptional and outstanding science. It comes with a medal award and a prize lecture. The medalist is required to give a lecture on any topic related to physical ...

there in 1873. He was vice-president of the society in 1881 and 1887. From 1896 he was President of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

. In May 1902 he was at Carnavon to receive the honorary degree

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

(Legum Doctor) from the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

during the ceremony to install the Prince of Wales (later King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

) as Chancellor of that university.

Marriage and children

He married Frances Cassandra Hawke, daughter of Edward Harvey-Hawke, 4th Baron Hawke and Frances Fetherstonhaugh, on 1 September 1870. They had three children: *

William Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse William Edward Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse (14 June 1873 – 10 June 1918) was an Irish peer and British Army officer. He was known as Lord Oxmantown until 1908. Early life He was the son of Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse and Frances Ca ...

(14 June 1873 – 10 June 1918), married Frances Lois Lister-Kaye, daughter of Sir Cecil Lister-Kaye, 4th Baronet and Lady Beatrice Adeline Pelham-Clinton * Hon. Geoffry Lawrence Parsons (24 May 1874 – 13 May 1956), married Margaret Betty Gladstone, daughter of

Sir John Gladstone, 4th Baronet Sir John Evelyn Gladstone, 4th Baronet (23 November 1855 – 12 February 1945) was the 4th Baronet of Fasque and Balfour. He succeeded to the title on 25 June 1926 on the death of his cousin, Sir John Robert Gladstone, the 3rd Baronet. He was th ...

* Lady Muriel Frances Mary Parsons (13 November 1876 – 10 April 1927), married Brigadier-General Harold Maxwell Grenfell, son of Pascoe du Pre Grenfell and Sophia Grenfell

Sources

References

External links

Obituaries

MNRAS 69 (1909) 250

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosse, Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl Of 1840 births 1908 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Parsons, Lawrence, 4th Earl of Rosse Parsons, Lawrence, 4th Earl of Rosse Knights of St Patrick Lord-Lieutenants of King's County Irish representative peers Chancellors of the University of Dublin Fellows of the Royal Society High Sheriffs of King's County Earls of Rosse (1806 creation)