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

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

Life

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

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, 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, the family estate in Shuckburgh,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. In 1774, Shuckburgh was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

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 Bicameralism, 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 ...

as a Member of Parliament for

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

. Shuckburgh died on 11 August 1804 in Lower Shuckburgh,

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 (; ; , ) is a book with tables that gives the trajectory of naturally occurring astronomical objects and artificial satellites in the sky, i.e., the position (and possibly velocity) over tim ...

, 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 Unit of measurement, units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to stan ...

. 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 envi ...

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

thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature (the hotness or coldness of an object) or temperature gradient (the rates of change of temperature in space). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb ...

s. The Shuckburgh scale was a standard

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...

constructed for him by

Edward Troughton Edward Troughton (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 children to Francis ...

, 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, as well as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1826 to 1828 and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. His many achievements inc ...

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: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

, Shuckburgh was a pioneer in the collation of

price index A price index (''plural'': "price indices" or "price indexes") is a normalized average (typically a weighted average) of price relatives for a given class of goods or services in a specific region over a defined time period. It is a statistic ...

es. He became a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows 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 the most prestigious award of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, conferred "for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science". The award alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the bio ...

, 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