| Authorised form of name | Lardner; Dionysius (1793 - 1859); scientific writer |
| Dates | 1793 - 1859 |
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland |
| Date of birth | 03 April 1793 |
| Place of death | Naples, Italy |
| Date of death | 29 April 1859 |
| Occupation | Clergyman |
| Research field | Mathematics |
| Astronomy |
| Activity | Education:
Trinity College, Dublin. BA (1817); MA (1819); LLB; LLD (1827)
Career:
Began training for the law, but gave it up; gave a series of lectures on the steam engine, to the Dublin Royal Society; took holy orders probably with a view to becoming a Fellow of Trinity College but was never appointed; undertook literary and scientific work; gold medallist of the Royal Dublin Society (1826); moved to London under the patronage of Lord Brougham (1828); first Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy, London University (1828-1833); resigned from professorship to concentrate on publication of the 'Cabinet cyclopaedia' (1829); eloped with the wife of Captain Richard Heaviside (1840) whose marriage was dissolved by Act of Parliament (1845), during which period Lardner gave a lecture tour in the United States; settled in Paris (1845); wrote on railways and astronomy
Memberships:
FRSE; FRAS; FLS; FZS; FCPS (Honorary); Statistical Society of Paris; MRIA; Fellow of the Society for Promoting Useful Arts in Scotland |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 28/02/1828 |
| Relationships | Son of a Clare solicitor, William O'Brien Lardner; married: 1) (1815) Cecilia Flood (died 1862) granddaughter of the Irish parliamentarian Henry Flood, with whom he had three children, they separated (1820) and divorced (1849); 2) Mary, divorced wife of Captain Heaviside (?1849); father of Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot (b 1820) who became known as Dion Boucicault, playwright and author of 'The Shaughran' |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Irish Innovators
References:
W Johnson, 'Contributors to Improving the Teaching of Calculus in Early 19th-Century England' in NR 1995 vol 49 pp 93-103
R A Buchanan, 'Science and Engineering: A Case Study in British Experience in the Mid-Nineteenth Century' in NR 1977-8 vol 32 pp 215-223
G Ferrari and A McConnell, 'Robert Mallet and the 'Great Neapolitan earthquake' of 1857 in NR 2005 vol 59 pp 45-64
Notes:
Certificate headed: 'residence [in ink] Jermyn St [in pencil]'; part of certificate missing; parts of Citation deliberately obscured |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/56680641 |
| Code | NA3370 |
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| EC/1828/08 | Lardner, Dionysius: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| MC/1/355 | Letter from Dionysius Lardner, 122 Regent Street, to Dr. [Peter Mark] Roget, Secretary of the Royal Society | 16 December 1831 |
| IM/002632 | Lardner, Dionysius | nd |
| RR/1/137 | Referee's report by William Hasledine Pepys, on a paper 'On certain properties of vapour' by Dionysius Lardner | [c.1832] |
| MC/1 | Volume 1 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1800-1831 |
| AP/15/22 | Unpublished paper, 'On certain properties of vapor' by Dionysius Lardner | [1832] |
| AP/20/9 | Unpublished paper, regarding railways by D [Dionysius] Lardner | 1836 |
| RR/1/138 | Referee's report by James Cumming, on a paper 'On certain properties of vapour' by Dionysius Lardner | [c.1832] |
| HS/11/112 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at 33 Percy St., Bedford Square | 18 February 1829 |
| HS/11/122 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at 122 Regent St. | 5 April 1832 |
| HS/11/110 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at 33 Percy St., Bedford Square | 30 December 1828 |
| HS/11/108 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at 33 Percy St., Bedford Square | 28 July 1828 |
| HS/11/106 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at 33 Percy St., Bedford Square | 18 July 1828 |
| HS/25/1/4 | Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at Slough | 27 June 1830 |
| HS/25/1/27 | Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at Slough | 2 March 1831 |
| HS/25/1/21 | Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at Slough | 21 February 1831 |
| HS/11/116 | Draft letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at Slough | 1 February 1830 |
| HS/11/109 | Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at Slough | 1 August 1828 |
| HS/21/40 | Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at 12 Charlotte St. | 28 February 1829 |
| HS/11/107 | Draft letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at Isle of Wight | 25 July 1828 |
| HS/11/111 | Draft letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at Slough | 16 February 1829 |
| HS/11/113 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at 33 Percy St., Bedford Square | 19 February 1829 |
| HS/11/114 | Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at 12 Charlotte St. | 28 February 1829 |
| HS/11/115 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at Royal Chambers, St. James | 19 January 1830 |
| HS/11/117 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at 122 Regent St. | 21 September 1830 |
| HS/11/119 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at 122 Regent St. | 2 October 1830 |
| HS/11/120 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at 122 Regent St. | 6 December 1830 |
| HS/11/121 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at 122 Regent St. | 24 February 1831 |
| HS/11/123 | Letter, from Dionysius Lardner to Sir John Herschel, dated at Great Queen St. | 3 October 1837 |
| HS/11/124 | Draft letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at Feldhausen | 28 February 1838 |
| HS/21/23 | Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at Isle of Wight | 25 July 1828 |
| MS/957/17 | Letter from Dionysius Lardner, Trinity College, Dublin, to 'Dear Sir' [Henry Kater] | 15 February [1827] |
| HS/11/118 | Draft letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner | September 1830 |
| HS/25/1/2 | Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to Dionysius Lardner, dated at Slough | 22 May 1830 |