Person Brinkley; John (1763 - 1835); Bishop of Cloyne; astronomer Brinkley John astronomer 1763 - 1835 British Male Woodbridge, Suffolk, England 1763 Leeson Street, Dublin, Ireland 14 September 1835 Burial: The chapel of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Clergyman, Church of Ireland Astronomy Mathematics Education: BA (1788, Senior Wrangler and 1st Smith's prizeman) MA (1791); DD (1806) Caius College, Cambridge; Doctor of Divinity, Univesity of Dublin (1806) Career: Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (1789-1790); worked at Greenwich Observatory under Nevil Maskelyne; chosen by Provost Hely Hutchinson on advice of Maskelyne as Andrew's Professor of Astronomy, Dublin University (1790-1827); ordained priest in the Church of England (1791); first Astronomer Royal of Ireland ( 1792); Archdeacon of Clogher (1808); awarded Cunningham Medal of the Royal Irish Academy (1818); became an authority on ecclesiatical law and was made Bishop of Cloyne (1826-1835); interested in refraction of atmosphere, measuring constants of aberration and nutation due to the motion of the earth; attempted to determine the trigonometrical parallax of bright stars leading to controversy with John Pond, FRS; was one of the first to use least-squares methods to interpret observational readings in practical astronomy; promoted 'continental' notation into calculus in Ireland and England Memberships: MRIA, President 1822-1835; FRAS, President 1831-1834 Married Esther Weld (1792) daughter of Matthew Weld of Dublin Medals and prizes: Copley Medal 1824 Fellow 17/03/1803 Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; Irish Innovators Obituaries: Proc Roy Soc 1834-1835 No 22 pp 354-355 References: Maurice Crosland, 'Explicit Qualifications as a Criterion for Membership of the Royal Society: A Historical Review' in NR 1982-83 vol 37 pp 167-187 M Croarken, 'Astronomical labourers: Maskelyne's assistants at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1765 - 1811' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 285 - 298 Notes: Venn gives year of birth as 1766. Baptised 31 Jan 1767 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 1763 - 14 Sep 1835 NA8145 21/11/2001 Andyg pmab 28/03/2023 RS_NET\JonathanB Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/13089468 13089468 41de537d-0e9f-4e3c-a25b-5182397d8184