William Mann (1817–1873) was an English astronomer active at Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, where he erected a new transit-circle in 1855 and made valuable observations.

Life

William Mann was born at

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

in Kent on 25 October 1817. He was third son of Major-general Cornelius Mann, R.E., and grandson of

Gother Mann Gother Mann (1747–1830) was an English army officer and military engineer in the Royal Engineers. He commanded a body of militia on Dominica when the island was captured by the French in September 1778, and his small garrison, outnumbered, ...

, and accompanied his family to

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in 1830, on his father's appointment as commanding-royal engineer. In 1837 Admiral Shirreff procured him the post of second assistant at the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, and after due preparation he entered upon his duties in October 1839. For six years he was engaged chiefly on the remeasurement of Lacaille's arc, and sometimes passed three months without shelter even by night. His health, impaired by hardships, was recruited by a trip to England in 1846, and on his return in December 1847 he engaged, as first assistant, in the ordinary work of the observatory. His next voyage home was for the purpose of fetching the new transit-circle, erected by him at the Cape in 1855 with the aid of

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

labour. His observations of the

great comet A great comet is a comet that becomes exceptionally bright. There is no official definition; often the term is attached to comets such as Halley's Comet, which during certain appearances are bright enough to be noticed by casual observers who ar ...

of December 1844, and of the

transit of Mercury frameless, upright=0.5 A transit of Mercury across the Sun takes place when the planet Mercury passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet. During a transit, Mercury appears as a tiny black dot moving across the Sun as the planet obs ...

on 4 November 1868, were communicated to the

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

, of which body he was elected a member on 10 March 1871. From a chest disorder, contracted through assiduity in cometary observations, he sought relief at Natal in 1866, in England in 1867, but was attacked in 1870 with debilitating effect by

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...

, of which two of his children had just died. He retired from the observatory, and died at

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footba ...

, near Cape Town, on 30 April 1873.Clerke 1893, p. 46.

Personal

He married in 1863 Caroline, second daughter of Sir Thomas Maclear. The value for three years of a small pension, granted to him from the civil list on the eve of his death, was paid to her by

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

's orders.

Appraisal

According to

Agnes Mary Clerke Agnes Mary Clerke (10 February 1842 – 20 January 1907) was an Irish astronomer and writer, mainly in the field of astronomy. She was born in Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland, and died in London.For details of the life and work of Agnes Clerk, ...

, writing in the ''Dictionary of National Biography'', "Mann's character and abilities were superior to his opportunities. He was a good mathematician and mechanician". Mann's fellow-assistant, Professor

Piazzi Smyth Charles Piazzi Smyth (3 January 1819 – 21 February 1900) was an Italian-born British astronomer who was Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1846 to 1888; he is known for many innovations in astronomy and, along with his wife Jessica Duncan ...

, once wrote of his "splendid intellectual parts and excellent dispositions".Qtd. in Clerke 1893, p. 46.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * Attribution: * {{Authority control 1817 births British astronomers Cape Colony scientists 1873 deaths