Royal Society - Council Minutes of the Royal Society 6

Sir John Hoskyns, 2nd Baronet FRS (23 July 1634 – 12 September 1705) was an English baronet. He was one of the founders 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 ...

and served as its president from 1682 to 1683. Between 1685 and 1687 he also represented

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

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 ...

Life

He was the eldest son of

Sir Bennet Hoskyns, 1st Baronet Sir Bennet Hoskyns, 1st Baronet (1609–1680) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1659. Hoskyns was the son of John Hoskyns of Hereford and his wife Benedicta Moyle, daughter of Robert Moyle of ...

, of Harewood and Morehampton Park,

, and grandson of Serjeant John Hoskins, born in Herefordshire on 23 July 1634. He was educated in the rudiments of Latin by his mother, Anne, daughter of Sir John Bingley of Temple Combe,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, and was later sent to

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

under Richard Busby. Sir John married Jane, eldest daughter of Sir Gabriel Lowe of Newark, Gloucestershire by Ann Hungerford of South Marston. They lived at Harewood End, as did Jane continue in widowhood until 1724 when she died, and was buried in the church there. They left a large family. Of these Sir Bennet Hoskyns succeeded as 3rd baronet. His brother Sir Hungerford was the 4th baronet married to Mary, daughter of the Lord Chandos. Younger brother John was MA and Rector of Peterstow. Hoskyns was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, and although he may have practised, acquired a reputation as a lawyer, and was made a

master in chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of eq ...

bench. In 1680 he succeeded his father in the baronetcy (having been knighted previously), and five years later was chosen Member of Parliament for

; but was not active in politics. Hoskyns was elected President of the Royal Society in 1682, in succession to his friend

Sir Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was acc ...

. His friends included

Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford, PC, KC (22 October 1637 – 5 September 1685) was the third son of Dudley North, 4th Baron North, and his wife Anne Montagu, daughter of Sir Charles Montagu of Boughton House and Mary Whitmore. He was crea ...

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diary, diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's Diary, ...

, and

John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He was a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded (often for the first time) numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England ...

. Sir John was elected to parliament called on the death of Charles II for Herefordshire. He resigned the chair the following year, but from 1685 to 1687 was secretary. He died on 12 September 1705, and was buried at Harewood, Herefordshire.

Family

Hoskyns married Jane, daughter of Sir Gabriel Low, and his two sons, Bennet and Hungerford (d. 1766), were third and fourth baronets successively.

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* 1634 births 1705 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1685–1687 Presidents of the Royal Society Original fellows of the Royal Society {{1685-England-MP-stub

Life

Family

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