Person Bowdoin; James (1726 - 1790) Bowdoin James 1726 - 1790 American Male Boston, Massachusetts [now United States of America, North and Central America] 07 August 1726 17260807 Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, North and Central America 06 November 1790 17901106 Burial: Granary burying ground, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, North and Central America

Merchant; politician Electricity Astronomy Education: South Grammar School (now Boston Latin School); Harvard (1745); Edinburgh, LLD Career: Member of the Massachusetts General Court (1753-1756); Councillor (1756); supported an expedition to Newfoundland to observe the transit of Venus across the sun (1761); President of the Massachusetts Council (1775-1777); Fellow of Harvard University (1779); first President of the Massachusetts Bank (1784); Governor of Massachusettts (1785-1786); advocate of American independence involved in drafting the consitituion of Massachusetts; corresponded with Benjamin Franklin and collaborated with him on his pioneering work in electricity, Franklin also communicated letters from Bowdoin to the Royal Society Memberships: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (co- founder and first President); FRSE; Massachusetts Humane Society (first President 1786) Fellow 03/04/1788 61 The first Fellow to be elected from the newly independent America, he was accordingly listed on the 'foreign list' as was the convention before the formal institution of the classification 'Foreign Member of the Royal Society' Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DAB; Wikipedia International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 7 Aug 1726 - 6 Nov 1790 NA2772 21/11/2001 Andyg pmab 28/03/2023 RS_NET\JonathanB Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/47563076 75167fcd-ea50-4811-8a42-e7212df34b7b