| Authorised form of name | Maclear; Sir; Thomas (1794 - 1879) |
| Dates | 1794 - 1879 |
| Nationality | Irish |
| British |
| South African |
| Place of birth | Newtownstewart, County Tyrone [now in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom] |
| Date of birth | 17 March 1794 |
| Place of death | Mowbray, near Cape Town, South Africa, Africa |
| Date of death | 14 July 1879 |
| Dates and places | Burial:
The grounds of the Royal Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa |
| Occupation | Physician; astronomer |
| Research field | Astronomy |
| Activity | Education:
Medicine at Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals, London
Career:
Bedford Infirmary (1815); practised medicine at Biggleswade, Bedfordshire where he set up a small observatory (1823); appointed Her Majesty's Astronomer at the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope (1833-1870); observed alpha and beta Centauri and confirmed the parallax measured by Thomas Henderson; re-measured and extended the meridian arc of Lacaille which laid the foundation for the mapping of Africa; awarded Lalande Prize (1867); helped establish lighthouses and the transmission of time signals to Port Elizabeth and Simon's Town; friend of Livingstone and Stanley; also collected meteorological, magnetic and tide data; retired to Mowbray near Cape Town (1870); lost his sight (1876); a lunar crater bears his name as does a town in South Africa
Memberships:
FRCS (1815); FRAS
Honours:
Kt 1860
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 08/12/1831 |
| Age at election | 37 |
| Royal Society activity | Medals and prizes:
Royal Medal 1869 |
| Relationships | Eldest son of Rev James Thomas Maclear; married (1825) Mary Pearse of Bedford |
| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; Irish Innovators; Wikipedia
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc 1879 vol 29 pp xviii-xix |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/59124200 |
| Royal Society code | NA7105 |
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| EC/1831/26 | Maclear, Sir Thomas: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| MS/426/181 | Copy letter from C R [Charles Richard] Weld, the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to John [Heywood] Hawkins Esq | 10 January 1846 |
| PT/23/3 | Paper, 'Further particulars of the fall of the Cold Bokkeveld meteorite' by Thomas Maclear in a letter to Sir John [Frederick William] Herschel | 20 November 1839 |
| MC/4/79 | Letter from Thomas Maclear, Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, to the Secretary of the Royal Society | 17 July 1845 |
| MS/426/163 | Copy letter from C R [Charles Richard] Weld, the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to T [Thomas] Maclear Esq | 25 November 1845 |
| PT/22/7 | Paper, 'An account of the fall of a meteoric stone, in the Cold Bokkeveld, Cape of Good Hope' by Thos [Thomas] Maclear in a letter to Sir John F W [Frederick William] Herschel | 24 November 1838 |
| MC/4 | Volume 4 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1844-1850 |
| MC/6 | Volume 6 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1859-1863 |
| MC/6/345 | Letter from Thos [Thomas] Maclear, Cape of Good Hope, Royal Observatory, to the Secretary of the Royal Society, London | 24 September 1863 |
| MS/257/3/97 | Letter from Thomas Maclear, [Royal] Observatory, [Cape] of Good Hope to Edward Sabine | 3 August 1857 |
| MC/9/11 | Letter from Thos [Thomas] Maclear to Sir Edward [Sabine], [President of the Royal Society] | 18 January 1870 |
| MC/9/12 | Letter from Thos [Thomas] Maclear, Cape of Good Hope, Royal Observatory to Sir Edward Sabine, President of the Royal Society | 18 January 1870 |
| AP/20/11 | Unpublished observations, 'Copy of a meteorological journal kept at the Royal Observatory Cape of Good Hope from the 1st June to 31st December 1834' by T [Thomas] Maclear | 1835 |
| MC/9 | Volume 9 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1870-June 1873 |
| MS/257/3/99 | Letter from Thomas Maclear, 33 Spring Gardens | 2 July 1859 |
| MC/11/417 | Copy letter from G G [George Gabriel] Stokes, Secretary of the Royal Society, Observatory Armagh, to The Hon R H [Robert Henry] Meade, Assistant UnderSecretary of State for the Colonies | 9 September 1879 |
| MC/11/430 | Letter from Edwin Dunkin, Kenwyn, Kidbrooke Park Road, Blackheath, to W [William] Spottiswoode, President of the Royal Society | 1 November 1879 |
| MC/11 | Volume 11 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1877-1879 |
| MS/257/3/96 | Letter from Thomas Maclear, [Royal] Observatory, [Cape] of Good Hope to Edward Sabine | 5 January 1855 |
| MS/257/3/98 | Letter from Thomas Maclear, [Royal] Observatory, [Cape] of Good Hope to Edward Sabine | 17 June 1858 |
| MS/257/3/95 | Letter from Thomas Maclear, [Royal] Observatory, [Cape] of Good Hope to Edward Sabine | 26 September 1854 |
| MS/257/3/94 | Letter from Thomas Maclear, [Royal] Observatory, [Cape] of Good Hope to Edward Sabine | 18 November 1853 |