George Lynn (astronomer)

Last updated
George, The Elder Lynn
Born1676
Died1742

George Lynn, the Elder (born 1676 died 1742) was an English astronomer and antiquary, born at Southwick House, near Oundle, Northamptonshire

Contents

Life

He was son of George Lynn (d. 1681, aged 34), lord of the manor of Southwick, by his wife, Mary, eldest daughter of Walter Johnston of Spalding. His youngest brother Walter Lynn was a medical writer and inventor. Lynn made observations of the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites at Southwick, 1724–6 and 1730–5, with a thirteen-foot telescope, and laid his results before the Royal Society, [1] as well as an account of the aurora borealis of 8 October 1726. [2] In 1727 he proposed to the society "A Method of Determining Longitude from Falling Stars", [3] which was revived later by Benzenberg. Meteorological registers kept by him over fourteen years were communicated to the same Royal Society in 1740. [4] His observation of twenty-one sunspots on 21 July 1736 obtained no public record. [5] He became in 1719 a member of the Spalding Society, to which he presented an extensive table of logarithms compiled by himself, and he joined William Stukeley in founding The Brazen-Nose Society at Stamford, Lincolnshire in 1736. About the same time he discovered at Cotterstock, within a mile of his home, the tessellated pavement of a Roman villa, and his drawing of it was engraved by George Vertue for the Society of Antiquaries.

Family

By his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Humfrey Bellamy of London, he had two daughters and a son, George, who shared his antiquarian tastes, and has sometimes been confused with him.

George Lynn the younger (1707–1758) was a barrister of the Inner Temple, and joined the Spalding Society in 1723 and the Society of Antiquaries in 1726. He married, in August 1734, a daughter of Sir Edward Bellamy, lord mayor of London in 1735. [6] and through her became possessed of the manor of Frinton in Essex. He died on 16 May 1758, and was succeeded in the lordship of Southwick by a distant relative, who took the name of Lynn, and the estate, owned by the family since 1486, passed by marriage to Mr. George Capron in 1841. On his death, in 1758, a handsome monument by Roubiliac was erected to him in the parish church of Southwick. [DNB 1] [DNB 2] [DNB 3] [DNB 4] [DNB 5] [DNB 6] [DNB 7] [DNB 8] [7]

Related Research Articles

William Stukeley English antiquarian

William Stukeley was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury in Wiltshire. He published over twenty books on archaeology and other subjects during his lifetime.

Southwick, Northamptonshire Human settlement in England

Southwick is a small village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the town of Oundle and is set in a valley of the river Nene. The village lies in the North Northamptonshire. Before local government changes in 2021 it fell within the Non-Metropolitan District of East Northamptonshire, which lay within the East Midlands region. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 180 people, increasing marginally to 181 at the 2011 Census.

Sir Joseph Ayloffe, 6th Baronet FRS, FSA was an English antiquary.

Andrew Michael Ramsay, commonly called the Chevalier Ramsay, was a Scottish-born writer who lived most of his adult life in France. He was a Baronet in the Jacobite Peerage.

Francis Peck (1692–1743) was an English priest of the Church of England and antiquary, best known for his Desiderata Curiosa (1732–1735).

James Parsons (physician)

James Parsons FRS was an English physician, antiquary and author.

The Spalding Gentlemen's Society is a learned society based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England, concerned with cultural, scientific and antiquarian subjects. It is Britain's oldest such provincial body, founded in 1710 by Maurice Johnson (1688–1755) of Ayscoughfee Hall. Membership is open to anyone aged 18 or over: the term "gentlemen" in the title is historical – there is no discrimination between men and women. Its Grade II listed museum in Broad Street, Spalding, was designed by Joseph Boothroyd Corby and opened in 1911; additions to the building ensued in 1925 and 1960. The carved outside panels were by Jules Tuerlinckx of Malines, a Belgian refugee in the First World War.

Samuel Pegge

Samuel Pegge the elder was an English antiquary and clergyman.

Francis Drake (antiquary)

Francis Drake was an English antiquary and surgeon, best known as the author of an influential history of York, which he entitled Eboracum after the Roman name for the city.

Alexander Gordon was a Scottish antiquary and singer. His survey of Roman sites, the Itinerarium Septentrionale, was considered an essential reference by all Roman antiquaries of his time.

Thomas Madox was a legal antiquary and historian, known for his publication and discussion of medieval records and charters; and in particular for his History of the Exchequer, tracing the administration and records of that branch of the state from the Norman Conquest to the time of Edward II. It became a standard work for the study of English medieval history. He held the office of historiographer royal from 1708 until his death.

Robert Stephens (1665–1732), who was appointed historiographer royal in 1727, was a public servant and historian. He was the first to publish much of Francis Bacon's private correspondence.

Joseph Sparke or Sparkes (1683–1740) was an English antiquary, editor of some significant chronicles.

William Bray (1736–1832) was an English antiquary, best known as co-author of a county history of Surrey.

John Bridges (1666–1724) was an English lawyer, antiquarian and topographer.

John Ward (academic)

John Ward (1679?–1758) was an English teacher, supporter of learned societies, and biographer, remembered for his work on the Gresham College professors, of which he was one.

Samuel Gale (1682–1754) was an English antiquary, a founder of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

William Becket

William Becket (1684–1738) was an English surgeon and antiquary.

William Richardson (antiquary)

William Richardson (1698–1775) was an English academic and antiquary, Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1736.

George Portwood

George Portwood was a carpenter and architect who worked in Stamford.He was Chamberlain of Stamford in 1736 and Mayor of Stamford.

References

  1. Philosophical Transactions. xxxiv. 66, xxxix. 196.
  2. ibid. xxxiv. 253.
  3. ibid. xxxv. 351.
  4. ibid. xl. 686.
  5. Stukeley, Memoirs, i. 432.
  6. Gentleman's Magazine. 1735, 451.
  7. PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Agnes Mary Clerke (Signing as A. M. C. in the DNB ) (1893). "Lynn, George (DNB00)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography . 34. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 0.

DNB references

These references are found in the DNB article referred to above.

  1. Memoirs of William Stukeley, MD (Surtees Society), 1882, i. 427, iii. 38, 49
  2. Bridges's History of Northamptonshire (Whalley), ii. 469, 472
  3. Nichols's Literary Anecdotes vi. 72, 116
  4. Reliquiae Galleanæ, pages 57, 64
  5. Wolf's Geschichte der Astronomie, page 699
  6. Whellan's Hist. and Gazetteer of Northamptonshire, 1849, page 743
  7. Watt's Bibl. British
  8. The Genealogist, i. 353–4.