Sir George Augustus William Shuckburgh-Evelyn, 6th Baronet (23 August 1751 – 11 August 1804) was a British

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

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 ...

Life

George Shuckburgh was born on 23 August 1751, the son of Richard Shuckburgh of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, from which he earned a bachelor's degree in 1772. He became a baronet in 1773, on the death of his uncle, and (after returning from his postgraduate travels to Europe) moved to

Shuckburgh Hall Shuckburgh Hall is a privately owned country house mansion at Lower Shuckburgh, Warwickshire, near to Daventry in Northamptonshire. The estate has been the home of the Shuckburgh family since the 12th century. The house, which was granted Grade ...

, the family estate in Shuckburgh,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. In 1774, Shuckburgh was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. He served in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

from 1780 until his death in 1804. In 1782, he was married to Sarah Johanna Darker, daughter of

John Darker John Darker (c. 1722 – 8 February 1784) was a British merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1776 and 1784. Darker was the son of John Darker and was born at Stoughton, Leicestershire. His father was in business as a h ...

. His second marriage on 6 October 1785 was to Julia Annabella Evelyn, the daughter of James Evelyn of Felbridge; when his father-in-law died in 1793, Shuckburgh added Evelyn to his own surname. Their daughter, Julia Evelyn Medley Shuckburgh, married

Charles Jenkinson, 3rd Earl of Liverpool Charles Cecil Cope Jenkinson, 3rd Earl of Liverpool (29 May 1784 – 3 October 1851), styled The Honourable Charles Jenkinson between 1786 and 1828, was a British politician. Background Liverpool was the son of Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of L ...

. Shuckburgh died on 11 August 1804 in

Lower Shuckburgh Lower Shuckburgh is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Upper and Lower Shuckburgh, (which in the 2001 census had a population of 82) in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in eastern Warwickshire, England. In 1961 the parish ...

Scientific contributions

Sidereal Clock made for Sir George Augustus William Shuckburgh

He made a series of astronomical observations and an

ephemeris In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (pl. ephemerides; ) is a book with tables that gives the trajectory of naturally occurring astronomical objects as well as artificial satellites in the sky, i.e., the position (and possibly vel ...

, which he published in twelve volumes between 1774 and 1797. In 1791 the

Shuckburgh telescope The Shuckburgh telescope or Shuckburgh equatorial refracting telescope was a diameter aperture telescope on an equatorial mount completed in 1791 for Sir George Shuckburgh (1751–1804) in Warwickshire, England, and built by British instrument ...

was installed at his private observatory in

, England. Included among his observations were measurements of lunar surface features. The crater Shuckburgh on the Moon is named after him. Shuckburgh also contributed to

metrology Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in Fran ...

. He performed a series of observations on the change in the

boiling point The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor. The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding envir ...

of water at different pressures, and pointed out the need for controlling for this effect when calibrating

thermometer A thermometer is a device that temperature measurement, measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a merc ...

s. The Shuckburgh scale was a standard

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...

constructed for him by

Edward Troughton Edward Troughton FRS FRSE FAS (October 1753 – 12 June 1835) was a British instrument maker who was notable for making telescopes and other astronomical instruments. Life Troughton was born at Corney, Cumberland, the youngest of six child ...

, whose company later made the Victorian standard yard of 1855; the Shuckburgh scale was used by

George Biddell Airy Sir George Biddell Airy (; 27 July 18012 January 1892) was an English mathematician and astronomer, and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. His many achievements include work on planetary orbits, measuring the mean density of the E ...

in his measurements of the earth's shape, and in setting standards for many years by the British government. In

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

, Shuckburgh was a pioneer in the collation of price indexes. He became 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 1774. In 1798, he was co-winner of the

Copley Medal The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society, for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science". It alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the biological sciences. Given every year, the medal is t ...

, the highest award of the Society.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shuckburgh-Evelyn, George, 6th Baronet 1751 births 1804 deaths People from Warwickshire People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of England 18th-century British astronomers 18th-century English mathematicians Recipients of the Copley Medal Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 Fellows of the Royal Society