| Authorised form of name | Merrifield; Charles Watkins (1827 - 1884); mathematician |
| Dates | 1827 - 1884 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Nelson Square, Southwark, London, England |
| Date of birth | 20 October 1827 |
| Place of death | 45 Church Road, Hove, Brighton, Sussex, England |
| Date of death | 01 January 1884 |
| Occupation | Barrister |
| Research field | Mathematics |
| Hydraulics |
| Naval architecture |
| Activity | Career:
Entered the Education Department, Whitehall (1847); Examiner, Department of Public Education (c.1849-1884); Vice-Principal, Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, South Kensington (1867-1873); recovered from an attack of apoplwxy (1882); died of apoplexy (1884).
Memberships:
FMS (1866, President 1878-1880)
London Mathematical Society (VP 1876–8; President 1878–80) |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 04/06/1863 |
| Age at election | 36 |
| Proposer | James Joseph Sylvester |
| James Glaisher |
| James Booth |
| Henry Mosely |
| Edward William Brayley |
| William Henry Smyth |
| John Lee |
| Joseph Ellison Portlock |
| 8th Duke of Devonshire [Spencer Compton Cavendish] |
| 2nd Earl Granville [Granville George Leveson-Gower] |
| 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne [Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice] |
| Relationships | Parents: John Merrifield (1788/9–1877), barrister, formerly of Tavistock, Devon, and Mary Philadelphia, née Watkins (1804–1889), writer on art and literature.
Siblings: Frederick Merrifield (1831–1924).
Spouse: Elizabeth Ellen, daughter of John Nicholls of Trekenning, St Columb (she died 1869), (12 October 1858). |
| Published works | RCN 55270
RCN 25814
RCN 55271
RCN 55272 |
| General context | Remembered for his skill in mathematical arithmetic; methods of interpolation; and general tabular work. |
| Royal Society Obituary or Memoir | Click to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices) |
| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc 1883-1884 vol 36 pp i-iii
Notes:
DNB says that some sources indicate he was born in Brighton. |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/89193267 |
| Royal Society code | NA729 |
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| EC/1863/08 | Merrifield, Charles Watkins: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| RR/4/184 | Referee's report by Bartholomew Price, on a paper 'On a new method of approximation applicable to elliptic and ultra-elliptic functions' by Charles Watkins Merrifield | 30 August 1860 |
| RR/7/321 | Referee's report by Charles Watkins Merrifield, on a paper 'On the calculus of factorials' by H F C Logan | 21 June 1874 |
| RR/4/183 | Referee's report by Arthur Cayley, on a paper 'On the comparison of hyperbolic arcs' by Charles Watkins Merrifield | 4 May 1859 |
| RR/8/223 | Referee's report by Charles Watkins Merrifield, on a paper 'English reproduction table' by William Farr | 25 February 1880 |
| RR/4/186 | Referee's report by Arthur Cayley, on a paper 'On a new method of approximation applicable to elliptic and ultra-elliptic functions - Second memoir' by Charles Watkins Merrifield | 7 June 1862 |
| RR/6/245 | Referee's report by Charles Watkins Merrifield, on a paper 'On the relation of form and dimensions to weight of material in the construction of iron-clad ships' by Edward James Reed | 9 April 1868 |
| RR/8/40 | Referee's report by Charles Watkins Merrifield, on a paper 'On friction between surfaces moving at low speeds' by Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin and James Alfred Ewing | 30 April 1877 |
| PT/60/13 | Paper, 'On a new method of approximation, applicable to elliptic and ultra-elliptic functions' by Charles W [Watkins] Merrifield | 17 March 1860 |
| RR/4/187 | Referee's report by Thomas Archer Hirst , on a paper 'On a new method of approximation applicable to elliptic and ultra-elliptic functions - Second memoir' by Charles Watkins Merrifield | 5 July 1862 |
| RR/4/185 | Referee's report by Arthur Cayley, on a paper 'On a new method of approximation applicable to elliptic and ultra-elliptic functions' by Charles Watkins Merrifield | 27 July 1860 |
| PT/65/2 | Paper, 'On a new method of approximation applicable to elliptic and ultra-elliptic functions (second memoir)' by Charles W [Watkins] Merrifield | March 1862 |
| MC/8/35 | Letter from C W [Charles Watkins] Merrifield, Honorary Secretary of the Institution of Naval Architects, South Kensington Museum, to the Secretary of the Royal Society | 6 April 1867 |
| MC/8/373 | Letter from C W [Charles Watkins] Merrifield, Institution of Naval Architects, 9 Adelphi Terrace, London, to Walter White, [Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society] | 2 June 1869 |
| MC/9/58 | Copy letter from H A Severn, Union Bank of Australia, Melbourne, to C W [Charles Watkins] Merrifield | 27 February 1870 |
| MC/9/57 | Letter from Charles W [Watkins] Merrifield, Institution of Naval Architects, 9 Adelphi Terrace, London, to General Sir E [Edward] Sabine, President of the Royal Society | 22 April 1870 |
| MC/9/62 | Letter from Warren de la Rue, The Observatory, Cranford, Middlesex, to Sir Edward [Sabine], [President of the Royal Society] | 26 April 1870 |
| MC/9/432 | Letter from C W [Charles Watkins] Merrifield, Royal School of Naval Architects, to the Secretary of the Royal Society | 12 November 1872 |
| MC/9 | Volume 9 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1870-June 1873 |
| RR/4/182 | Referee's report by Bartholomew Price, on a paper 'On the comparison of hyperbolic arcs' by Charles Watkins Merrifield | 9 July 1859 |
| MC/8 | Volume 8 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1867-1869 |
| PP/1/3 | Paper, 'The sums of the series of the reciprocals of the prime numbers and of their powers' by C W [Charles Watkins] Merrifield | 1881 |
| RR/6/182 | Referee's report by William John Macquorn Rankine, on a paper 'On the law of the resistance of the air to rifled projectiles' by Charles Watkins Merrifield | 1 June 1868 |
| RR/6/17 | Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on three papers 'On the resistance of the air to the motion of elongated projectiles having variously formed heads' by Francis Bashforth, 'On the resistance of the air to rifled projectiles' by J A Longridge and 'On the law of the resistance of the air to rifled projectiles' by Charles Watkins Merrifield | 19 May 1868 |