Person Herschel; Sir; William (1738 - 1822); astronomer Herschel William Sir astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm 1738 - 1822 Male Hanover, Germany 15 November 1738 Observatory House, Slough, Buckinghamshire 25 August 1822 Burial: Under the tower, Church of St Laurence, Upton, Buckinghamshire

River Street, Bath (1772) 19 New King Street, Bath (1772-1782) Clay Hall, Datchet (1782) Observatory House, Slough

Astronomy Education: Hon LLD (1786, Edinburgh) Career: Oboist in the Hanoverian Foot Guards (from age 14); left Regiment and went to England (1757); music copyist, London; Director of Public Concerts, Leeds (1762); gave private music lessons; Organist for the new town organ, Halifax, but resigned shortly after (1766); Organist, Octagon Chapel, Bath (1766); began making astronomical obervations (1777); discovered the planet Uranus (13 March 1781); also discovered two of Uranus' moons, Titania and Oberon, and two of Saturn's moons; uniquely appointed King's Astronomer by George III; discovered infra-red heat; window commemorating him in Upton Church (unveiled 24 February 2001) Honours: Kt 1816 Memberships: Bath Philosophical Society (1779); FRAS (President 1821) Second son of Isaac and Anna Ilse Moritzen; married (1788) Mary Pitt, widow (at Upton Church, Buckinghamshire); father of Sir John Frederick William Herschel (FRS 1813); grandfather of Alexander Stewart Herschel (FRS 1884) and of John Herschel (FRS 1871) Medals and prizes: Copley Medal 1781 Fellow 06/12/1781 Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB References: John Thomas, 'Josiah Wedgwood's Portrait Medallions of Fellows of the Royal Society' in NR 1963 vol 18 pp 45-53, plate John R Levene, 'Nevil Maskelyne, FRS, and the Discovery of Night Myopia' in NR 1965 vol 20 pp 100-108 Averil M Lysaght, 'Joseph Banks at Skara Brae and Stennis, Orkney, 1772' in NR 1973-4 vol 28 pp 221-234 Sir Bernard Lovell, 'Herschel's Work on the Structure of the Universe' in NR 1978-9 vol 33 pp 57-75 R V Jones, 'Through Music to the Stars. William Herschel, 1738-1822' in NR 1978-9 vol 33 pp 37-56, plate 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 A A Mills and R Hall, 'The Production of a Plane Surface. As Illustrated by Specula From Some Early Newtonian Telescopes' in NR 1982-83 vol 37 pp 147-166 Margaret Bullard, 'My Small Newtonian Sweeper - Where is it Now?' in NR 1988 vol 42 pp 139-148 M V Wilkes, 'Charles Babbage and his world' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 353-365 W P Griffith and P J T Morris, 'Charles Hatchett FRS (1765 - 1847), chemist and discoverer of niobium' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 299 - 316 M Bailey Ogilvie, 'In her place. Pandora's breeches: women, science and power in the enlightenment, by P Fara' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 314-315 A Chapman, 'Sir William and Miss Caroline Herschel. 'The Herschel partnership, as viewed by Caroline' and 'Caroline Herschel's autobiographies' by M Hoskin' in NR 2005 vol 59 pp 91-92 Emily Winterburn, 'Philomaths, Herschel, and the Myth of Self-taught Man' in NR 2014, vol 68, no. 3, pp 207-225 ©The Royal Society 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 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/image-rs-1748 15 Nov 1738 - 25 Aug 1822 NA8060 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 28/03/2023 RS_NET\JonathanB Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/19885773 ec7c4367-01dc-4751-8e07-54cbd6539c6c