Sir Paul Neile FRS (1613 – February 1686) was an English astronomer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640 and from 1673 to 1677. Neile was born at Westminster, the son of

Richard Neile Richard Neile (or Neale; 1562 – 31 October 1640) was an English churchman, bishop successively of six English dioceses, more than any other man, including the Archdiocese of York from 1631 until his death. He was involved in the last burning ...

, later Archbishop of York. He was admitted at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

on 20 May 1627 aged 14 and was awarded BA in 1631. He was one of the ushers of the Privy Chamber to King Charles I,C A Ronan and Sir Harold Hartley ''Sir Paul Neile'' Notes and Records of the Royal Society Vol 15, July 1960
/ref> and was knighted on 27 May 1633 when he was of Hutton Bonville York. In April 1640, Neile was elected Member of Parliament for Ripon in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. During the interregnum he was living at

White Waltham White Waltham is a village and civil parish, west of Maidenhead, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is crossed briefly by the M4 motorway, which along with the Great Western Main Line and all other roa ...

, Berkshire where he studied astronomy and built telescopes. Sir Christopher Wren was using Neile's telescope at White Waltham in 1655 and in 1658 Neile gave a 35-foot telescope to Gresham College. He was one of the twelve founder members of the Royal Society and in 1661 the Society "desired him to continue his employment of the artificer for making glasses for perspectives". In 1673 Neile was elected MP for

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

together with his business partner Henry Savile. However his election was unpopular and contested and he was unable to take his seat properly in the next four years. The election was eventually declared void on 21 Mar 1677. Neile died at the age of 73. Neile married Elizabeth Clarke, daughter of Gabriel Clarke, D.D., Archdeacon of Durham. Their son William Neile was a mathematician and astronomer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neile, Paul 1613 births 1686 deaths People from Ripon People from Westminster Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge 17th-century English astronomers Founder Fellows of the Royal Society English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1661–1679