Reverend William Frederick Archdall Ellison
FRAS FRAS may refer to:
* Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, post-nominal letters
* Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland
Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland are individuals who have bee ...
(28 April 1864 – 31 December 1936) was an Irish
clergyman
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
,
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
scholar, organist, avid
amateur telescope maker, and, from 1918 to 1936, director of
Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory is an astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Around 25 astronomers are based at the observatory, studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy and Earth's climate.
In 2018, Armagh Obse ...
in
Armagh
Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...
, Northern Ireland. He was the father of
Mervyn A. Ellison, the senior professor of the School of Cosmic Physics at
Dunsink Observatory
The Dunsink Observatory is an astronomical observatory established in 1785 in the townland of Dunsink in the outskirts of the city of Dublin, Ireland.Alexander Thom''Irish Almanac and Official Directory''7th ed., 1850 p. 258. Retrieved: 2011-02-2 ...
from 1958 to 1963.
Biography
Ellison came from a clerical family, his father Humphrey Eakins Ellison having been
Dean of Ferns
The Dean of Ferns is based at The Cathedral Church of St Edan, Ferns in the united Diocese of Cashel and Ossory within the Church of Ireland.
The incumbent is Paul Mooney.
List
*1272-1282 Richard of Northampton (appointed Bishop of Ferns 1 ...
, County Wexford. He gained a
sizar
At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...
ship of
classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
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 ...
in 1883, became a Scholar of the House in 1886 and graduated in 1887 with junior moderatorships in classics and experimental science. In 1890 he took
Holy Orders and moved to England, where he became the
Curate
A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
of
Tudhoe
Tudhoe is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated approximately south of the city of Durham. It lies just outside Spennymoor, a short distance to the west of the Great North Road. The village is now a quiet backwater, its green ...
and
Monkwearmouth
Monkwearmouth is an area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in North East England. Monkwearmouth is located at the north side of the mouth of the River Wear. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with Bisho ...
. In 1894 he took his
MA and
BD degrees and in the following year won the Elrington Theological Prize.
In 1899 he returned to Ireland to become secretary of the
Sunday School Society
The Sunday School Society was a British association of Sunday schools.
History
It was founded by Baptist deacon William Fox on 7 September 1785 in Prescott Street Baptist Church of London. The latter had been touched by articles by the editor ...
, a post which he held for three years before accepting the
incumbency
The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...
of Monart,
Enniscorthy
Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town and environs was 11,381. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the ...
, moving in 1908 to become
Rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of
Fethard-on-Sea
Fethard-on-Sea or Fethard () is a village in southwest County Wexford in Ireland. It lies on the R734 road on the eastern side of the Hook peninsula, between Waterford Harbour and Bannow Bay.
The village had a population of 311 as of the 20 ...
with
Tintern
Tintern ( cy, Tyndyrn) is a village in the community (Wales), community of Wye Valley (community), Wye Valley, on the west bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, about north of Chepstow. It is popular w ...
in
Wexford
Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...
. Ellison had developed an interest in astronomy, having been introduced to practical
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...
by Dr N. Alcock of Dublin and set up his first observatory at Wexford. On the 31 December 1913 he joined the British Astronomical Association. He became highly adept at making lenses and mirrors and wrote several books and articles on the subject, including major contributions to the ''Amateur Telescope Making'' series, the
Journal of the British Astronomical Association
The ''Journal of the British Astronomical Association'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of astronomy published by the British Astronomical Association since October 1890. It is currently edited by Philip Jennings and publishes original re ...
, and the weekly newspaper
The English Mechanic
''The English Mechanic and World of Science'', commonly referred to as ''English Mechanic'', was a popular-science magazine, published weekly from 1865 to 1926, generally consisting of 24 pages. It was aimed at people interested in inventions and ...
. On 8 February 1918 he was elected to the fellowship of the
Royal Astronomical Society
(Whatever shines should be observed)
, predecessor =
, successor =
, formation =
, founder =
, extinction =
, merger =
, merged =
, type = NGO ...
. His book ''The Amateur's Telescope'' (1920) is still considered a standard for telescope-makers and a forerunner of the more extensive series on the same topic by
Albert Graham Ingalls
Albert Graham Ingalls (January 16, 1888–August 13, 1958) was an American scientific editor and amateur astronomer. Through his columns in ''Scientific American'', including " The Amateur Scientist", and his three-volume series ''Amateur Tele ...
.
On 2 September 1918 Ellison was appointed Director of the Armagh Observatory. He found the Observatory in a state of disrepair and set about repairing the instruments and the observatory dome. On 3 January 1919 he deeded a telescope of his own to the observatory, an 18-inch
reflecting telescope
A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by Isaac Newton as an alternati ...
, which is still there.
Ellison was a highly regarded planetary and
binary star
A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in wh ...
observer. Working with his son Mervyn, he made many measurements of
binary star
A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in wh ...
s using the observatory's 10-inch
Grubb Grubb is a family name and may refer to the following:
* Armstead Otey Grubb (1903–1968), American educator and acting president of Lincoln University
* Catharina Elisabet Grubb (1721–1788), Finnish industrialist
* Curtis Grubb (c. 1730 – ...
refractor
A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens (optics), lens as its objective (optics), objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptrics, dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope d ...
telescope and even discovered a new one close to
Beta Lyrae
Beta Lyrae (β Lyrae, abbreviated Beta Lyr, β Lyr) officially named Sheliak (Arabic: الشلياق, Romanization: ash-Shiliyāq) ( IPA: ), the traditional name of the system, is a multiple star system in the constellation of Lyra. Ba ...
, and according to
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter.
Moore was president of the Brit ...
, was one of the few people to have observed an eclipse of Saturn's moon
Iapetus
In Greek mythology, Iapetus (; ; grc, Ἰαπετός, Iapetós), also Japetus, is a Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia and father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius. He was also called the father of Buphagus and Anchiale in other ...
by Saturn's
outermost (A) ring on 28 February 1919.
In 1934 Ellison became
Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
and
Prebendary
A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...
of
Ballymore,
Armagh Cathedral. He died on 31 December 1936, having held the office of Director of the observatory for nearly twenty years.
Bibliography
* ''The Amateur's Telescope'' (R. Carswell & Son, Ltd., 1920)
Notes
References
*
*
External links
Online version of ''The Amateur's Telescope''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, William Frederick Archdall
1864 births
1936 deaths
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Irish astronomers