| Authorised form of name | Parker; George (c 1697 - 1764); 2nd Earl of Macclesfield; astronomer and politician |
| Dates | c 1697 - 1764 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of death | Shirburn Castle, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe |
| Date of death | 17 March 1764 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
Shirburn, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Research field | Astronomy |
| Activity | Education:
Studied mathematics with Abraham de Moivre (FRS 1697) and William Jones (FRS 1711); Inner Temple (admitted 1706); Clare College, Cambridge (admitted 1715); Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; MA (fil nob 1718); Oxford (DCL 1759)
Career:
Teller of the Exchequer (1719-1764); travelled to Italy (1720); MP for Wallingford (1722-1727); with James Bradley (FRS 1718) built an observatory at Shirburn Castle (c1739); was instrumental in securing the change of calendar from old style to new (1752); Vice President of the Foundling Hospital; High Steward of Henley-on-Thames
Memberships:
FSA (1752)
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 25/10/1722 |
| Proposer | William Jones |
| RSActivity | Royal Society roles:
Council 1723-1724; 1731; PRS 1752-1764 |
| Relationships | Parents: Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, and Janet Carrier; succeeded his father (1732); titled Viscount Parker (1721-1732)
Married: 1) Mary Lane; Dorothy Nesbitt
Children: Thomas Parker, 3rd Earl of Macclesfield; George Lane Parker |
| PublishedWorks | RCN: 58276 |
| OtherInfo | The collection which Parker amassed during his life form one of the most important collections of English mathematical manuscripts from the 17th century and include some of Sir Isaac Newton's (FRS 1672) correspondence. Parker is also credited with securing the post of astronomer royal for his friend and occasional assistant, James Bradley (FRS 1718). He is most well-remembered for being instrumental in securing the calendar reform of 1752. |
| Related images | Discover a selection of related images in our picture library |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; GEC; Venn; Sedgwick; ODNB
References:
David Philip Miller, 'The "Hardwicke Circle": the Whig Supremacy and its Demise in the 18th-Century Royal Society' in NR 1998 vol 52 pp 73-91, plate
William S Pierpoint, 'Edward Stone (1702-1768) and Edmund Stone (1700-1768): Confused Identities Resolved' in NR 1997 vol 51 pp 211-217
Richard Sorrenson, 'Towards a History of the Royal Society in the Eighteenth Century' in NR 1996 vol 50 pp 29-46, plate
A E Gunther, 'The Royal Society and the Foundation of the British Museum, 1753-1781' in NR 1978-9 vol 33 pp 207-216
M Crosland, 'Relationships between the Royal Society and the Academie des Sciences in the late eighteenth century' in NR 2005 vol 59 pp 25-34
P Quarrie 'The Scientific library of the earls of Macclesfield' in NR 2006 vol 60 pp 5-25
Gentleman's Magazine 1764, p147 (obituary)
London Magazine 1764, p163 (obituary) |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/47163247 |
| Code | NA7562 |
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| MM/4/16 | Presidential address from by George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, President, Royal Society | 1754 |
| AB/1/2/1/24 | Order of Council to Mr Peter Davall to pay Mr Robert Waddington or the bearer the sum of £35 out of the money belonging to the Royal Society in his hands | 20 November 1760 |
| AB/1/2/1/5 | Mr Davis Account | 1754 |
| MM/10/109 | Copy Letter from George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield and President of the Royal Society to the Duke of Newcastle | 5 July 1760 |
| L&P/3/284 | Letter, 'An answer to Philip Miller's letter read on December 15' from John Ellis to George Parker | 19 January 1758 |
| DM/1/111 | Appointment of Davis & Reymers as the Royal Society's booksellers and printers | 12 December 1755 |
| MM/10/108 | Memorandum by the Royal Society to the Lords of the Treasury | 5 July 1760 |
| L&P/3/206 | Letter, 'Of Carlsbad waters' from Jeremiah Milles to George Parker | 19 January 1757 |
| NLB/13/420 | Copy letter from Theodore E James, to W Crouch, Grafton House, Wanstead | 27 August 1896 |
| L&P/4/166 | Letter, 'On his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society' from Michel Adanson to George Parker | 17 June 1763 |
| L&P/2/530 | Letter, 'Of preventing the venereal disease' from Frank Nicholls to George Parker | 2 November 1754 |
| L&P/4/25 | Letter, 'A discovery in magnetism' from Abraham Mason to George Parker | 1760 |
| L&P/4/214 | Letter, 'Of the gout' from Josephus de Brodo to George Parker | 2 February 1764 |
| L&P/3/179 | Letter, 'Of the use of the Downs' from C H van der A to George Parker | 24 May 1756 |
| L&P/2/404 | Letter, 'Account of Weidler's book 'De ortu astronomie'' from William Stukeley to George Parker | 18 January 1753 |
| L&P/4/127 | Letter, 'Of books presented' from Sauveur Francois Morand to George Parker | 3 July 1762 |
| L&P/2/488 | Letter, 'Of Mr Taylor's map of co. Hereford' from Edward Harley to George Parker | 18 March 1754 |
| L&P/3/98 | Letter, 'Of a fossil fish from Antigua' from Arthur Pond to George Parker | 5 February 1756 |
| L&P/4/136 | Letter, 'Of two celts from a bog near Castle Jane' from Richard Pococke to George Parker | 15 December 1762 |
| L&P/3/191 | Letter, 'Of preparing and decyphering the Herculaneum papyri' from unknown author to George Parker | 1756 |
| L&P/4/132 | Letter, 'Dedicates his latest book to the Royal Society' from Rudolf Erich Raspe to George Parker | 20 September 1763 |
| L&P/3/190 | Letter, 'Of his published papers on the Malvern waters' from J Wall to George Parker | 24 October 1756 |
| L&P/3/127 | Letter, 'Of the earthquake in Holland on Feb 18' from Robert Dingley to George Parker | 8 March 1756 |
| L&P/3/193 | Letter, 'Account of some of the more rare plants observed in Leicestershire' from Richard Pulteney to George Parker | 27 November 1756 |
| L&P/3/234 | Letter, 'Of cements' from John Smeaton to George Parker | 3 April 1757 |
| L&P/2/527 | Letter, 'Of his eclipse machine and an error in his description thereof' from James Ferguson to George Parker | 8 July 1754 |
| L&P/4/167 | Letter, 'Sending a treatise by Delius 'De ovis muliebribus'' from Hill to George Parker | 6 November 1763 |
| L&P/3/311 | Letter, 'The Commons committee enquiring into the state of the weights and measures of the Kingdom would require the measures of extension of the Royal Society' from John Carysfort to George Parker | 19 April 1758 |
| L&P/3/100 | Letter, 'Of the case of a man who died after swallowing molten lead at the Eddystone fire' from Edward Spry to George Parker | 19 December 1755 |
| L&P/3/243/1 | Letter, 'On vegetable impressions in the coal seams' from Emanuel Mendes da Costa to George Parker | 27 April 1757 |
| L&P/4/138 | Letter, 'Withdrawing from the Fellowship on election as Clerk' from Emanuel Mendez Da Costa to George Parker | 10 February 1763 |
| L&P/4/135 | Letter, 'Remarkable decrease of the river Eden' from William Milbourne to George Parker | 4 December 1762 |
| L&P/3/271 | Letter, 'Of toxicodendron; in reference to the letter from Ellis to P C Webb criticised in his former paper' from Philip Miller to George Parker | 13 December 1757 |
| L&P/3/408 | Letter, 'Of the comet' from Mark Day to George Parker | 10 January 1760 |
| L&P/4/258 | Paper, 'Concerning the axial motion of the Moon' from James Ferguson to George Parker | 18 April 1765 |
| L&P/3/144 | Letter, 'Of the earthquake at Horseholes, 8 miles from Whittingham' from John Twentyman to George Parker | 19 March 1756 |
| L&P/3/143 | Letter, 'Request for a new Transit book' from Nathaniel Bliss to George Parker, President of the Royal Society | 23 March 1756 |
| L&P/4/117 | Letter, 'On antique sculptures' from Edward Wortley Montagu to George Parker | 24 April 1762 |
| L&P/4/86 | Letter, 'Concerning the post-mortem examination of the body of the late King' from Frank Nicholls to George Parker | 20 October 1761 |
| L&P/3/212 | Letter, 'Of the Dudley fossil' from Richard Ossory to George Parker | 27 January 1757 |
| L&P/3/403 | Paper, 'Address on presenting the Copley Medal to John Smeaton FRS' by George Parker | 30 November 1759 |
| L&P/3/244 | Letter, 'Of one of the carved wooden images found hidden in a cavern in Jamaica and shown to the Royal Society on May 5' from James Theobald to George Parker | 8 May 1757 |
| MM/3/10 | Letter from James Parsons, London, to George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, President, Royal Society | 28 December 1761 |
| MM/4/20 | Draft of a speech by George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, President, Royal Society, on the award of the Copley Medal to John Dollond | 1758 |
| IM/003427 | Parker, George, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield | 1754 |
| IM/003426 | Parker, George, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield | nd |
| P/0083 | Portrait of Parker, George; 2nd Earl of Macclesfield | |
| L&P/2/459 | Letter, 'Of a green vegetable slime after floods' from Georg Matthias Bose to George Parker | 1753 |
| L&P/3/250 | Letter, 'On Dr Job Baster's 'Observationes de Corallinis'' from John Ellis to George Parker | 9 June 1757 |
| L&P/3/6 | Letter, 'On the advantage of taking the mean of a number of observations in practical astronomy' from Thomas Simpson to George Parker | 1755 |
| L&P/3/101 | Letter, 'Of the case of a man who died after swallowing molten lead at the Eddystone fire' from Edward Spry to George Parker | 30 January 1756 |
| L&P/3/289 | Letter, 'Of the inoculation of horned cattle against the distemper' from Daniel Peter Layard to George Parker | 26 November 1757 |
| L&P/4/174 | Letter, 'A medical case' from Josiah Colebrooke to George Parker | 23 November 1763 |
| L&P/4/126 | Letter, 'Concerning the death of Dr Bradley on 13 July 1762' from Daniel Lysons to George Parker | 24 November 1762 |
| L&P/4/226 | Letter, 'Of protection from lightning' from William Watson to George Parker | 26 June 1764 |
| L&P/4/161 | Letter, 'Of willow-bark in ague' from Edward Stone to George Parker | 25 April 1763 |
| L&P/3/364 | Letter, 'Of meteorological observations by Richard Brooke in Maryland' from Henry Baker to George Parker | 1759 |
| L&P/2/449 | Letter, 'Concerning a paper by Servington Savery as to his invention of a new micrometer' from James Short to George Parker | 10 May 1753 |
| L&P/4/169 | Letter, 'Eclipse of the Sun 1 April 1764' from James Ferguson to George Parker | 16 November 1763 |
| L&P/4/264 | Letter, 'Of a sondiell' from Charles Webb to George Parker | 20 April 1765 |