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Authorised form of nameMerrifield; Charles Watkins (1827 - 1884); mathematician
Dates1827 - 1884
NationalityBritish
Place of birthNelson Square, Southwark, London, England
Date of birth20 October 1827
Place of death45 Church Road, Hove, Brighton, Sussex, England
Date of death01 January 1884
OccupationBarrister
Research fieldMathematics
Hydraulics
Naval architecture
ActivityCareer:
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 categoryFellow
Date of election04/06/1863
Age at election36
ProposerJames 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]
RelationshipsParents: 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).
PublishedWorksRCN 55270
RCN 25814
RCN 55271
RCN 55272
OtherInfoRemembered for his skill in mathematical arithmetic; methods of interpolation; and general tabular work.
Royal Society Obituary or MemoirClick to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices)
SourceSources:
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 Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/89193267
CodeNA729
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
EC/1863/08Merrifield, Charles Watkins: certificate of election to the Royal Society
RR/4/184Referee's report by Bartholomew Price, on a paper 'On a new method of approximation applicable to elliptic and ultra-elliptic functions' by Charles Watkins Merrifield30 August 1860
RR/7/321Referee's report by Charles Watkins Merrifield, on a paper 'On the calculus of factorials' by H F C Logan21 June 1874
RR/4/183Referee's report by Arthur Cayley, on a paper 'On the comparison of hyperbolic arcs' by Charles Watkins Merrifield4 May 1859
RR/8/223Referee's report by Charles Watkins Merrifield, on a paper 'English reproduction table' by William Farr25 February 1880
RR/4/186Referee'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 Merrifield7 June 1862
RR/6/245Referee'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 Reed9 April 1868
RR/8/40Referee'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 Ewing30 April 1877
PT/60/13Paper, 'On a new method of approximation, applicable to elliptic and ultra-elliptic functions' by Charles W [Watkins] Merrifield17 March 1860
RR/4/187Referee'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 Merrifield5 July 1862
RR/4/185Referee's report by Arthur Cayley, on a paper 'On a new method of approximation applicable to elliptic and ultra-elliptic functions' by Charles Watkins Merrifield27 July 1860
PT/65/2Paper, 'On a new method of approximation applicable to elliptic and ultra-elliptic functions (second memoir)' by Charles W [Watkins] MerrifieldMarch 1862
MC/8/35Letter from C W [Charles Watkins] Merrifield, Honorary Secretary of the Institution of Naval Architects, South Kensington Museum, to the Secretary of the Royal Society6 April 1867
MC/8/373Letter 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/9/58Copy letter from H A Severn, Union Bank of Australia, Melbourne, to C W [Charles Watkins] Merrifield27 February 1870
MC/9/57Letter from Charles W [Watkins] Merrifield, Institution of Naval Architects, 9 Adelphi Terrace, London, to General Sir E [Edward] Sabine, President of the Royal Society22 April 1870
MC/9/62Letter from Warren de la Rue, The Observatory, Cranford, Middlesex, to Sir Edward [Sabine], [President of the Royal Society]26 April 1870
MC/9/432Letter from C W [Charles Watkins] Merrifield, Royal School of Naval Architects, to the Secretary of the Royal Society12 November 1872
MC/9Volume 9 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1870-June 1873
RR/4/182Referee's report by Bartholomew Price, on a paper 'On the comparison of hyperbolic arcs' by Charles Watkins Merrifield9 July 1859
MC/8Volume 8 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1867-1869
PP/1/3Paper, 'The sums of the series of the reciprocals of the prime numbers and of their powers' by C W [Charles Watkins] Merrifield1881
RR/6/182Referee'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 Merrifield1 June 1868
RR/6/17Referee'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 Merrifield19 May 1868
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