George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield
George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield FRS ( * ca 1697, † March 17, 1764 in Shirburn Castle, Oxfordshire ) was a British politician and astronomer. He was from 1752 until his death president of the Royal Society.
Life
Parker was the son of Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, and his wife Janet Carrier. His father was Lord Chancellor, but was discontinued in 1725 because of corruption and sentenced to a heavy fine.
George Parker began studying law in 1715 at Clare College and Corpus Christi College at Cambridge University in 1718 and received a master's degree. 1720, he took a trip to Italy.
After his father had been raised in 1721 to the Earl of Macclesfield, Parker led the courtesy title Viscount Parker. In 1732 he inherited the title when his father died.
Parker was indeed 1722-1727 Member of the House of Commons for the electoral district of Wallingford, but his main interest was in astronomy. He received mathematical teaching of Abraham de Moivre and William Jones. The latter also lived at times with him in Shirburn Castle and became friendly with him. Parker stood up for him after Jones had lost all his capital in a bank failure. On October 25, 1722, Parker was elected on the proposal of Jones as a member of the Royal Society.
1739 Parker taught with the help of James Bradley in Shirburn Castle a astronomical observatory a.
Parker sat down for the calendar reform, the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in the United Kingdom, and held to a 1750 speech to the House of Lords, which also appeared in print. The reform was implemented in 1752.
From 1719 until shortly before his death, Parker held the position of Teller of the Exchequer. Since 1750, he was an honorary vice-president of the Foundling Hospital, a London orphanage. 1759, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws ( LLD), the University of Oxford. He died on 17 March 1764 in Shirburn Castle and was buried there.
Parker had a valuable scientific library in Shirburn Castle was available until 2004 and was then auctioned in several parts.
Works
- The Earl of Macclesfield 's Speech in the House of Peers, ... March 18, 1750, at the second reading of the Bill for regulating the marketing commencement of the year, London 1751st
- Remarks upon the solar and the lunar years, the cycle of 19 years, Commonly called the golden number, the epact, and a method of finding the time of Easter, as it is now -observed in most parts of Europe / Being part of a letter from the Right Honourable George Earl of Macclesfield to Martin Folkes, President of the Royal Society, and by him Communicated to the same, 10 May 1750, London, 1751st