Person Michell; John (1724 - 1793) Michell John 1724 - 1793 Male The Rectory, Eakring, Nottinghamshire 25 December 1724 Thornhill, Yorkshire 21 April 1793

Clergyman, Church of England Astronomy Education: Queen's College, Cambridge. BA (4th Wrangler, 1748); Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge (1749); MA (1752); BD (1761) Career: Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge (1749-1764); Lecturer in Hebrew, Arithmetic, Geometry and Greek; Rector of St Botolph's, Colchester, Essex (1760-1763); Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge (1762-1764); Rector of Thornhill, Yorkshire (1767); wrote on artifical magnets, earthquakes, longitude, and fixed stars; invented apparatus for weighing the earth with a torsion balance; made at least one telescope, a large reflector, about 1780, which was purchased by William Herschel; taught Sir William Herschel speculum-grinding. Fellow 12/06/1760 Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; Venn References: Desmond King-Hele, 'The 1997 Wilkins Lecture: Erasmus Darwin, the Lunaticks and Evolution' in NR 1998 vol 52 pp 153-180 John H Appleby, 'Daniel Dumaresq, DD, FRS (1712-1805) as a Promoter of Anglo-Russian Science and Culture' in NR 1990 vol 44 pp 25-50 Mari Williams, 'James Bradley and the Eighteenth Century "Gap" in Attempts to Measure Annual Stellar Parallax' in NR 1982-83 vol 37 pp 83-100 Sir Bernard Lovell, 'Herschel's Work on the Structure of the Universe' in NR 1978-9 vol 33 pp 57-75 Orchiston, Wayne, Whittingham, Ian, Montgomery, Colin 'Michell, Laplace and the origin of the Black Hole concept' in Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 12(2), 90-96 (2009) Notes: Described as 'of Nottinghamshire' when admitted to Queens' College, Cambridge, on 17 Jun 1742 (DNB). 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 First paper published by Royal Society in 1767, relating to distances of stars based upon their parallaxes, and with the true nature of double stars. 1724 - 21 Apr 1793 NA7798 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 28/03/2023 RS_NET\JonathanB Yes b366b391-c733-43df-bf7c-920669c9cfcb