Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill (29130440591)

Sir William Peck

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

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 ...

(3 January 1862, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire – 7 March 1925, Edinburgh) was a Scottish astronomer and scientific instrument maker.

Life

He was born in Castle Douglas in Kirkcudbrightshire on 3 January 1862, the son of William Peck. His family moved to Edinburgh in his youth and here he worked in a glue factory in the Gorgie district for Robert Cox. Cox asked him to run a private observatory. From 1883, despite a lack of formal university training, he began lecturing in Astronomy. He was the director of the Edinburgh City Observatory from 1889 until his death. In the same year he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were Robert Cox, Sir Arthur Mitchell, Alexander Buchan and the 8th Duke of Argyll. From 1893 to 1896 he was involved in the relocation of the Edinburgh Observatory from Calton Hill to

Blackford Hill Blackford Hill is a hill in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It is in the area of Blackford, between Morningside, and the Braid Hills. Together with the Hermitage of Braid, it comprises the Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill Loca ...

. In 1898 he founded the Madelvic Motor Carriage Company, one of the world's first factories making electric cars, at the Madelvic Works at Granton, Edinburgh. He continued to live at Observatory House on Calton Hill in Edinburgh even after the observatory moved to Blackford Hill.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1911 He also belonged to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret occult society founded in the late 1800s. Among the members of the Golden Dawn, there was irish poet William B Yates, actress Florence Farr, Oscar Wilde's wife Cobstance Mary, Bram Stocker and obviously Aleister Crowley. He was knighted by King George V in 1917. He died at his home in Inverleith Row in Edinburgh on 7 March 1925. He is buried in

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around of land on a slightly sloping si ...

in the upper section, on the north side of the main east-west path.

Family

In 1889 he married Christina Thomson (1865-1922).

Works

* ''The handy star map'' (1880) * ''The constellations and how to find them'' (1887) * ''Popular Handbook and Atlas of Astronomy'' (1890) * ''The observer's atlas of the heavens'' (1898) * ''The Southern Hemisphere constellations and how to find them'' (1911) * ''An Introduction to the Celestial Sphere. Volume I The Topography and Mythology of the Star Groups'' (1919)

References

1862 births 1925 deaths Scottish astronomers British scientific instrument makers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor People from Castle Douglas Scottish science writers Burials at Warriston Cemetery {{UK-astronomer-stub