| Authorised form of name | Reading; Sir; Robert (c 1640 - 1689); 1st and Last Bt; politician |
| Other forms of surname | Reding |
| Redding |
| Dates | c 1640 - 1689 |
| Nationality | British |
| Date of birth | c 1640 |
| Date of death | March 1689 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
Newark, Nottinghamshire, England, Europe (25 March 1689) |
| Occupation | politician |
| Activity | Education:
Christ Church, Oxford; BA (1658); Inner Temple (admitted 1659)
Career:
MP in the Irish Parliament for Ratoath (1662-1666); attainted by the Irish Parliament of James II (1689)
Honours:
Bt 1675
Memberships:
Dublin Philosophical Society |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 02/11/1671 |
| Proposer | William Brouncker |
| RSActivity | Royal Society roles:
Council 1683-1684 |
| Other Royal Society activity | Read a paper before the Society on pearl-fishing near Ireland (1688) |
| Relationships | Parents: John Reading, London.
Spouse: (c. 1662) Jane Coote, Dowager Countess of Mountrath and widow of Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Mountrath, daughter of Sir Robert Hannay.
Children: Elizabeth, married James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn. |
| OtherInfo | Reading is most well-known for building six privately owned lighthouses around the coast of Ireland under letter patents granted by Charles II. These include some built at Howth Head, the Old Head of Kinsale, Hook Head, County Louth, Charles Fort, Isle of Magee near Carlingford. The lighthouses were compulsorily transferred into public ownership in 1704.
Reading has been frequently mentioned in the diary of Robert Hooke. |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; Hunter; GEC Baronetage; Foster
References:
Hoppen, K T. 1965. 'The Royal Society and Ireland. II', in Notes and Records, vol. 20, pp. 78-99 |
| Code | NA5739 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| MS/390/70 | Bond of Sir Robert Reading to the Treasurer of the Royal Society | 18 November 1675 |
| EL/R1/47 | Letter, from Robert Reading [to the Royal Society] | 13 October 1688 |