John Herschel the Younger - Revision history

LesleyMoorman3: formatting fix

2026-03-28T12:35:40Z

formatting fix

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:05, 28 March 2026
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Short description\| English military engineer and astronomer}}		{{Short description\|English military engineer and astronomer (1837–1921)}}
	{{EngvarB\|date=November 2017}}		{{EngvarB\|date=November 2017}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=November 2017}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=November 2017}}
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
			\|honorific_prefix = [[Colonel (United Kingdom)\|Colonel]]
	\|name = John Herschel		\|name = John Herschel
	\|image =		\|honorific_suffix = {{postnom\|country=GB\|size=100\|FRS\|FRAS}}
			\|image = John and William Herschel, late 1850s.jpg
	\|image_size =		\|image_size =
	\|alt =		\|alt =
	\|caption =		\|caption = Herschel (left) with brother [[Sir William Herschel, 2nd Baronet\|William]], late 1850s
	\|birth_date = {{Birth date\|df=yes\|1837\|10\|29}}		\|birth_date = {{Birth date\|df=yes\|1837\|10\|29}}
	\|death_date = {{Death date and age\|df=yes\|1921\|5\|31\|1837\|10\|29}}		\|death_date = {{Death date and age\|df=yes\|1921\|5\|31\|1837\|10\|29}}
Line 34:		Line 36:
	\|module =		\|module =
	}}		}}
	Colonel '''John Herschel''' {{post-nominals\|country=GBR\|FRS\|FRAS\|sep=yes}} (29 October 1837 – 31 May 1921) was an English military engineer, surveyor and [[astronomer]]. He was the son of [[Sir John Herschel, 1st Baronet]], and grandson of [[William Herschel]].<ref>{{cite newspaper The Times \|title=Colonel John Herschel \|department=Obituaries \|date=2 June 1921 \|page=12 \|issue=42736 \|column=E}}</ref>
			[[Colonel (United Kingdom)\|Colonel]] '''John Herschel''' {{post-nominals\|country=GBR\|FRS\|FRAS\|sep=yes}} (29 October 1837 – 31 May 1921) was an English military engineer, surveyor and [[astronomer]]. He was the son of [[Sir John Herschel, 1st Baronet]], and grandson of [[William Herschel]].<ref>{{cite newspaper The Times \|title=Colonel John Herschel \|department=Obituaries \|date=2 June 1921 \|page=12 \|issue=42736 \|column=E}}</ref>

	==Biography==		==Biography==
	Herschel was born in [[Claremont, Cape Town\|Claremont]], a suburb of [[Cape Town]] in the British [[Cape Colony]] of South Africa, the third son and the sixth child (of twelve) of Sir John Herschel and his wife Margaret Brodie (née Stewart). His family had travelled to the Cape in late 1833, so that ~~has~~ father could work on an astronomical survey of the [[Southern Celestial Hemisphere\|southern skies]].<ref>{{cite web \|title=Herschel, Sir John Frederick William, 1792–1871, astronomer \|url=http://www.nahste.ac.uk/isaar/GB_0237_NAHSTE_P0327.html \|work=[[NAHSTE]] project \|publisher=[[University of Edinburgh]] \|url-status=dead \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510211707/http://www.nahste.ac.uk/isaar/GB_0237_NAHSTE_P0327.html \|archivedate=10 May 2007 \|df=dmy-all }}</ref> The family returned to England in 1838, where Herschel was later educated at Clapham Grammar School, and then attended the [[East India Company Military Seminary]] at [[Addiscombe]].<ref name="NMMC">{{cite web \|url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html?_escaped_fragment_=csearch;authority%3Dagent-119558;agentFacetLetter%3DC;browseBy%3Dperson#!csearch;authority=agent-119558 \|title=Colonel John Herschel \|work=National Maritime Museum Collections \|year=2015 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref>		Herschel was born in [[Claremont, Cape Town\|Claremont]], a suburb of [[Cape Town]] in the British [[Cape Colony]] of South Africa, the third son and the sixth child (of twelve) of Sir John Herschel and his wife Margaret Brodie (née Stewart). His family had travelled to the Cape in late 1833, so that his father could work on an astronomical survey of the [[Southern Celestial Hemisphere\|southern skies]].<ref>{{cite web \|title=Herschel, Sir John Frederick William, 1792–1871, astronomer \|url=http://www.nahste.ac.uk/isaar/GB_0237_NAHSTE_P0327.html \|work=[[NAHSTE]] project \|publisher=[[University of Edinburgh]] \|url-status=dead \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510211707/http://www.nahste.ac.uk/isaar/GB_0237_NAHSTE_P0327.html \|archivedate=10 May 2007 \|df=dmy-all }}</ref> The family returned to England in 1838, where Herschel was later educated at Clapham Grammar School, and then attended the [[East India Company Military Seminary]] at [[Addiscombe]].<ref name="NMMC">{{cite web \|url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html?_escaped_fragment_=csearch;authority%3Dagent-119558;agentFacetLetter%3DC;browseBy%3Dperson#!csearch;authority=agent-119558 \|title=Colonel John Herschel \|work=National Maritime Museum Collections \|year=2015 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref>

	Herschel entered the [[East India Company]]'s service as a cadet to serve in the [[Bengal Engineers]], and on 26 December 1856 was made a local and temporary [[Ensign (rank)\|ensign]] while under the command of Colonel Sandham, at the [[Royal School of Military Engineering\|Royal Engineer Establishment]] at [[Chatham, Kent\|Chatham]], for instruction in the art of [[sapping]] and [[Mining (military)\|mining]].<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=26 December 1856 \|issue=21953 \|page=4327 \|nolink=yes}}</ref> He was promoted to the local and temporary rank of lieutenant, while still studying at Chatham on 13 August 1858.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=13 August 1858 \|issue=22173 \|page=3789 \|nolink=yes}}</ref> However, shortly afterwards, on 27 August 1858, with the end of [[company rule in India]], and the assumption of direct administration by the British government, Herschel's regiment was transferred ''en masse'' to the [[Royal Engineers]].<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=29 April 1862 \|issue=22621 \|page=2239 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>		Herschel entered the [[East India Company]]'s service as a cadet to serve in the [[Bengal Engineers]], and on 26 December 1856 was made a local and temporary [[Ensign (rank)\|ensign]] while under the command of Colonel Sandham, at the [[Royal School of Military Engineering\|Royal Engineer Establishment]] at [[Chatham, Kent\|Chatham]], for instruction in the art of [[sapping]] and [[Mining (military)\|mining]].<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=26 December 1856 \|issue=21953 \|page=4327 \|nolink=yes}}</ref> He was promoted to the local and temporary rank of lieutenant, while still studying at Chatham on 13 August 1858.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=13 August 1858 \|issue=22173 \|page=3789 \|nolink=yes}}</ref> However, shortly afterwards, on 27 August 1858, with the end of [[company rule in India]], and the assumption of direct administration by the British government, Herschel's regiment was transferred ''en masse'' to the [[Royal Engineers]].<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=29 April 1862 \|issue=22621 \|page=2239 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>
Line 45:		Line 48:
	Apart from his surveying work he also carried out numerous independent astronomical observations. He made [[Spectroscopy\|spectroscopic]] observations of the [[solar corona\|corona]] of the sun during the [[solar eclipse of August 18, 1868\|total solar eclipse]] of 18 August 1868, and studied the [[Carina Nebula]] in November, being one of the first to observe the sudden brightening of [[Eta Carinae]].<ref name="Shylaja"/> He also conducted a series of experiments with the [[Cavendish experiment\|Cavendish pendulum]] to calculate the density of the Earth.<ref name="NMMC"/>		Apart from his surveying work he also carried out numerous independent astronomical observations. He made [[Spectroscopy\|spectroscopic]] observations of the [[solar corona\|corona]] of the sun during the [[solar eclipse of August 18, 1868\|total solar eclipse]] of 18 August 1868, and studied the [[Carina Nebula]] in November, being one of the first to observe the sudden brightening of [[Eta Carinae]].<ref name="Shylaja"/> He also conducted a series of experiments with the [[Cavendish experiment\|Cavendish pendulum]] to calculate the density of the Earth.<ref name="NMMC"/>

	John Herschel was married to Mary Cornwallis Herschel, whose memoir of John's great aunt [[Caroline Herschel]] was published in 1876.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://archive.org/details/memoircorrespond00hers/page/n7\|title=Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel\|last=Herschel\|first=Mary\|website=Archive.org\|year=1876~~\|url-status=live~~\|archive-url=\|archive-date=}}</ref>		John Herschel was married to Mary Cornwallis Herschel, whose memoir of John's great aunt [[Caroline Herschel]] was published in 1876.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://archive.org/details/memoircorrespond00hers/page/n7\|title=Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel\|last=Herschel\|first=Mary\|website=Archive.org\|year=1876\|archive-url=\|archive-date=}}</ref>

	Herschel returned to England on [[furlough]] in late 1873,<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptName.php?bcode=Hers-JC&pageNumber=0&pageTotal=5&referringPage=0 \|title=Letter from Captain John Herschel \|work=The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot Project \|date=6 December 1873 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref> where he worked on collecting his late father's letters into ~~mid–1874~~.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/name.php?bcode=Hers-JC&pageNo=0 \|title=Letters of Captain John Herschel to William Henry Fox Talbot \|work=The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot Project \|year=2015 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref> He was promoted to major on 10 March 1876.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=23 May 1876 \|issue=24329 \|page=3110 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>		Herschel returned to England on [[furlough]] in late 1873,<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptName.php?bcode=Hers-JC&pageNumber=0&pageTotal=5&referringPage=0 \|title=Letter from Captain John Herschel \|work=The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot Project \|date=6 December 1873 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref> where he worked on collecting his late father's letters into mid-1874.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/name.php?bcode=Hers-JC&pageNo=0 \|title=Letters of Captain John Herschel to William Henry Fox Talbot \|work=The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot Project \|year=2015 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref> He was promoted to major on 10 March 1876.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=23 May 1876 \|issue=24329 \|page=3110 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>

	In April 1882 he arrived in the United States, where he spent a year working with [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] on the construction of pendulums to conduct [[Gravimetry\|gravimetric]] and [[Geodesy\|geodesic]] surveys on behalf of the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]].<ref name="PeirceProject">{{cite web \|url=http://www.iupui.edu/%7Epeirce/writings/v4/v4introx.htm \|title=Introduction to Volume 4 (1879–1884) \|work=Peirce Edition Project: The Writings of Charles S. Peirce \|year=2010 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref>		In April 1882 he arrived in the United States, where he spent a year working with [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] on the construction of pendulums to conduct [[Gravimetry\|gravimetric]] and [[Geodesy\|geodesic]] surveys on behalf of the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]].<ref name="PeirceProject">{{cite web \|url=http://www.iupui.edu/%7Epeirce/writings/v4/v4introx.htm \|title=Introduction to Volume 4 (1879–1884) \|work=Peirce Edition Project: The Writings of Charles S. Peirce \|year=2010 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref>
Line 62:		Line 65:
	[[Category:1921 deaths]]		[[Category:1921 deaths]]
	[[Category:English people of German descent]]		[[Category:English people of German descent]]
	~~[[Category:English people of Czech-Jewish descent]]~~
	[[Category:People from Cape Town]]		[[Category:People from Cape Town]]
	[[Category:~~Alumni~~ of Addiscombe Military Seminary]]		[[Category:Graduates of Addiscombe Military Seminary]]
	[[Category:Bengal Engineers officers]]		[[Category:Bengal Engineers officers]]
	[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]		[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]
	[[Category:~~Fellows~~ of the Royal Society]]		[[Category:British fellows of the Royal Society]]
	[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society]]		[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society]]
	[[Category:Herschel family\|John]]		[[Category:Herschel family\|John]]
	[[Category:Younger sons of baronets]]		[[Category:Younger sons of baronets]]
			[[Category:Cape Colony people]]

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2021-12-31T22:22:40Z

robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:52, 1 January 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Short description\| English military engineer and astronomer}}		{{Short description\| English military engineer and astronomer}}
	{{EngvarB\|date=November ~~2022~~}}		{{EngvarB\|date=November 2017}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=November ~~2022~~}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=November 2017}}
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\|name = John Herschel		\|name = John Herschel
Line 37:		Line 37:

	==Biography==		==Biography==
	Herschel was born in [[Claremont, Cape Town\|Claremont]], a suburb of [[Cape Town]] in the British [[Cape Colony]] of South Africa, the third son and the sixth child (of twelve) of Sir John Herschel and his wife Margaret Brodie (née Stewart). His family had travelled to the Cape in late 1833, so that has father could work on an astronomical survey of the [[Southern Celestial Hemisphere\|southern skies]].<ref>{{cite web \|title=Herschel, Sir John Frederick William, 1792–1871, astronomer \|url=http://www.nahste.ac.uk/isaar/GB_0237_NAHSTE_P0327.html \|work=[[NAHSTE]] project \|publisher=[[University of Edinburgh]] \|url-status=dead \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510211707/http://www.nahste.ac.uk/isaar/GB_0237_NAHSTE_P0327.html \|archivedate=10 May 2007 \|df=dmy-all }}</ref> The family returned to England in 1838, where Herschel was later educated at Clapham Grammar School, and then attended the [[East India Company Military Seminary]] at [[Addiscombe]].<ref name="NMMC">{{cite web \|url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html?_escaped_fragment_=csearch;authority%3Dagent-119558;agentFacetLetter%3DC;browseBy%3Dperson#!csearch;authority=agent-119558 \|title=Colonel John Herschel \|work=National Maritime Museum Collections \|year=2015 \|accessdate=28 December ~~2022~~}}</ref>		Herschel was born in [[Claremont, Cape Town\|Claremont]], a suburb of [[Cape Town]] in the British [[Cape Colony]] of South Africa, the third son and the sixth child (of twelve) of Sir John Herschel and his wife Margaret Brodie (née Stewart). His family had travelled to the Cape in late 1833, so that has father could work on an astronomical survey of the [[Southern Celestial Hemisphere\|southern skies]].<ref>{{cite web \|title=Herschel, Sir John Frederick William, 1792–1871, astronomer \|url=http://www.nahste.ac.uk/isaar/GB_0237_NAHSTE_P0327.html \|work=[[NAHSTE]] project \|publisher=[[University of Edinburgh]] \|url-status=dead \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510211707/http://www.nahste.ac.uk/isaar/GB_0237_NAHSTE_P0327.html \|archivedate=10 May 2007 \|df=dmy-all }}</ref> The family returned to England in 1838, where Herschel was later educated at Clapham Grammar School, and then attended the [[East India Company Military Seminary]] at [[Addiscombe]].<ref name="NMMC">{{cite web \|url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html?_escaped_fragment_=csearch;authority%3Dagent-119558;agentFacetLetter%3DC;browseBy%3Dperson#!csearch;authority=agent-119558 \|title=Colonel John Herschel \|work=National Maritime Museum Collections \|year=2015 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref>

	Herschel entered the [[East India Company]]'s service as a cadet to serve in the [[Bengal Engineers]], and on 26 December 1856 was made a local and temporary [[Ensign (rank)\|ensign]] while under the command of Colonel Sandham, at the [[Royal School of Military Engineering\|Royal Engineer Establishment]] at [[Chatham, Kent\|Chatham]], for instruction in the art of [[sapping]] and [[Mining (military)\|mining]].<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=26 December 1856 \|issue=21953 \|page=4327 \|nolink=yes}}</ref> He was promoted to the local and temporary rank of lieutenant, while still studying at Chatham on 13 August 1858.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=13 August 1858 \|issue=22173 \|page=3789 \|nolink=yes}}</ref> However, shortly afterwards, on 27 August 1858, with the end of [[company rule in India]], and the assumption of direct administration by the British government, Herschel's regiment was transferred ''en masse'' to the [[Royal Engineers]].<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=29 April 1862 \|issue=22621 \|page=2239 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>		Herschel entered the [[East India Company]]'s service as a cadet to serve in the [[Bengal Engineers]], and on 26 December 1856 was made a local and temporary [[Ensign (rank)\|ensign]] while under the command of Colonel Sandham, at the [[Royal School of Military Engineering\|Royal Engineer Establishment]] at [[Chatham, Kent\|Chatham]], for instruction in the art of [[sapping]] and [[Mining (military)\|mining]].<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=26 December 1856 \|issue=21953 \|page=4327 \|nolink=yes}}</ref> He was promoted to the local and temporary rank of lieutenant, while still studying at Chatham on 13 August 1858.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=13 August 1858 \|issue=22173 \|page=3789 \|nolink=yes}}</ref> However, shortly afterwards, on 27 August 1858, with the end of [[company rule in India]], and the assumption of direct administration by the British government, Herschel's regiment was transferred ''en masse'' to the [[Royal Engineers]].<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=29 April 1862 \|issue=22621 \|page=2239 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>

	Herschel travelled out to India, where he joined the [[Great Trigonometrical Survey]] and spent the years 1864–1872 engaged in a survey of various parts of Southern India.<ref name="Shylaja">{{cite journal \|title=John Herschel's astronomical observations from Bangalore \|first=B. S. \|last=Shylaja \|journal=[[Current Science]] \|volume=90 \|number=2 \|date=25 January 2006 \|pages=259–260 \|publisher=Current Science Association \|location=Bangalore \|url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/jan252006/259.pdf \|accessdate=28 December ~~2022~~}}</ref> He married Mary Cornwallis Power (née Lipscomb) in 1867,<ref name="NMMC"/> the daughter of the Reverend F. Lipscomb, Rector of [[Welbury]], Yorkshire, and the widow of D. Power, QC.<ref name="DixPeek">{{cite web \|url= http://peek-01.livejournal.com/97543.html \|title=My Military Research: Colonel John Herschel, Royal Engineers, 1837–1921 (Cape Town) \|first=Ross \|last=Dix-Peek \|work=The Southern African History Musings of Ross Dix-Peek \|year=2015 \|accessdate=28 December ~~2022~~}}</ref> He was promoted to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)\|second captain]] on 10 November 1869.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=9 November 1869 \|issue=23553 \|page=5976 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>		Herschel travelled out to India, where he joined the [[Great Trigonometrical Survey]] and spent the years 1864–1872 engaged in a survey of various parts of Southern India.<ref name="Shylaja">{{cite journal \|title=John Herschel's astronomical observations from Bangalore \|first=B. S. \|last=Shylaja \|journal=[[Current Science]] \|volume=90 \|number=2 \|date=25 January 2006 \|pages=259–260 \|publisher=Current Science Association \|location=Bangalore \|url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/jan252006/259.pdf \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref> He married Mary Cornwallis Power (née Lipscomb) in 1867,<ref name="NMMC"/> the daughter of the Reverend F. Lipscomb, Rector of [[Welbury]], Yorkshire, and the widow of D. Power, QC.<ref name="DixPeek">{{cite web \|url= http://peek-01.livejournal.com/97543.html \|title=My Military Research: Colonel John Herschel, Royal Engineers, 1837–1921 (Cape Town) \|first=Ross \|last=Dix-Peek \|work=The Southern African History Musings of Ross Dix-Peek \|year=2015 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref> He was promoted to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)\|second captain]] on 10 November 1869.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=9 November 1869 \|issue=23553 \|page=5976 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>

	Apart from his surveying work he also carried out numerous independent astronomical observations. He made [[Spectroscopy\|spectroscopic]] observations of the [[solar corona\|corona]] of the sun during the [[solar eclipse of August 18, 1868\|total solar eclipse]] of 18 August 1868, and studied the [[Carina Nebula]] in November, being one of the first to observe the sudden brightening of [[Eta Carinae]].<ref name="Shylaja"/> He also conducted a series of experiments with the [[Cavendish experiment\|Cavendish pendulum]] to calculate the density of the Earth.<ref name="NMMC"/>		Apart from his surveying work he also carried out numerous independent astronomical observations. He made [[Spectroscopy\|spectroscopic]] observations of the [[solar corona\|corona]] of the sun during the [[solar eclipse of August 18, 1868\|total solar eclipse]] of 18 August 1868, and studied the [[Carina Nebula]] in November, being one of the first to observe the sudden brightening of [[Eta Carinae]].<ref name="Shylaja"/> He also conducted a series of experiments with the [[Cavendish experiment\|Cavendish pendulum]] to calculate the density of the Earth.<ref name="NMMC"/>
Line 47:		Line 47:
	John Herschel was married to Mary Cornwallis Herschel, whose memoir of John's great aunt [[Caroline Herschel]] was published in 1876.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://archive.org/details/memoircorrespond00hers/page/n7\|title=Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel\|last=Herschel\|first=Mary\|website=Archive.org\|year=1876\|url-status=live\|archive-url=\|archive-date=}}</ref>		John Herschel was married to Mary Cornwallis Herschel, whose memoir of John's great aunt [[Caroline Herschel]] was published in 1876.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://archive.org/details/memoircorrespond00hers/page/n7\|title=Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel\|last=Herschel\|first=Mary\|website=Archive.org\|year=1876\|url-status=live\|archive-url=\|archive-date=}}</ref>

	Herschel returned to England on [[furlough]] in late 1873,<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptName.php?bcode=Hers-JC&pageNumber=0&pageTotal=5&referringPage=0 \|title=Letter from Captain John Herschel \|work=The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot Project \|date=6 December 1873 \|accessdate=28 December ~~2022~~}}</ref> where he worked on collecting his late father's letters into mid–1874.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/name.php?bcode=Hers-JC&pageNo=0 \|title=Letters of Captain John Herschel to William Henry Fox Talbot \|work=The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot Project \|year=2015 \|accessdate=28 December ~~2022~~}}</ref> He was promoted to major on 10 March 1876.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=23 May 1876 \|issue=24329 \|page=3110 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>		Herschel returned to England on [[furlough]] in late 1873,<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptName.php?bcode=Hers-JC&pageNumber=0&pageTotal=5&referringPage=0 \|title=Letter from Captain John Herschel \|work=The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot Project \|date=6 December 1873 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref> where he worked on collecting his late father's letters into mid–1874.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/name.php?bcode=Hers-JC&pageNo=0 \|title=Letters of Captain John Herschel to William Henry Fox Talbot \|work=The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot Project \|year=2015 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref> He was promoted to major on 10 March 1876.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=23 May 1876 \|issue=24329 \|page=3110 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>

	In April 1882 he arrived in the United States, where he spent a year working with [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] on the construction of pendulums to conduct [[Gravimetry\|gravimetric]] and [[Geodesy\|geodesic]] surveys on behalf of the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]].<ref name="PeirceProject">{{cite web \|url=http://www.iupui.edu/%7Epeirce/writings/v4/v4introx.htm \|title=Introduction to Volume 4 (1879–1884) \|work=Peirce Edition Project: The Writings of Charles S. Peirce \|year=2010 \|accessdate=28 December ~~2022~~}}</ref>		In April 1882 he arrived in the United States, where he spent a year working with [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] on the construction of pendulums to conduct [[Gravimetry\|gravimetric]] and [[Geodesy\|geodesic]] surveys on behalf of the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]].<ref name="PeirceProject">{{cite web \|url=http://www.iupui.edu/%7Epeirce/writings/v4/v4introx.htm \|title=Introduction to Volume 4 (1879–1884) \|work=Peirce Edition Project: The Writings of Charles S. Peirce \|year=2010 \|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref>

	Herschel eventually became the Deputy Superintendent of Trigonometrical Survey,<ref name="NMMC"/> before eventually retiring from the army on 10 March 1886 as a major and [[Brevet (military)\|brevet]] lieutenant-colonel, with the [[honorary rank]] of colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=20 April 1886 \|issue=25579 \|page=1899 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>		Herschel eventually became the Deputy Superintendent of Trigonometrical Survey,<ref name="NMMC"/> before eventually retiring from the army on 10 March 1886 as a major and [[Brevet (military)\|brevet]] lieutenant-colonel, with the [[honorary rank]] of colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette \|date=20 April 1886 \|issue=25579 \|page=1899 \|nolink=yes}}</ref>

Bot: robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2021-12-31T22:22:40Z

robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

New page

{{Short description| English military engineer and astronomer}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name = John Herschel
|image =
|image_size =
|alt =
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1837|10|29}}
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1921|5|31|1837|10|29}}
|birth_place = [[Claremont, Cape Town]], [[Cape Colony]]
|death_place =
|placeofburial =
|placeofburial_label =
|placeofburial_coordinates = 
|allegiance = [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
|branch = [[Bengal Army]]<br/>British Army
|serviceyears = 1856–1886
|rank = [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]]
|servicenumber =
|unit = [[Bengal Engineers]]<br/>[[Royal Engineers]]
|commands =
|battles_label =
|battles =
|awards =
|memorials =
|spouse = {{marriage|Mary Cornwallis Lipscomb|1867|1876|end=died}}
|relations =
|laterwork =
|signature =
|signature_size=
|signature_alt =
|module =
}}
Colonel '''John Herschel''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|FRAS|sep=yes}} (29 October 1837 – 31 May 1921) was an English military engineer, surveyor and [[astronomer]]. He was the son of [[Sir John Herschel, 1st Baronet]], and grandson of [[William Herschel]].<ref>{{cite newspaper The Times |title=Colonel John Herschel |department=Obituaries |date=2 June 1921 |page=12 |issue=42736 |column=E}}</ref>

==Biography==
Herschel was born in [[Claremont, Cape Town|Claremont]], a suburb of [[Cape Town]] in the British [[Cape Colony]] of South Africa, the third son and the sixth child (of twelve) of Sir John Herschel and his wife Margaret Brodie (née Stewart). His family had travelled to the Cape in late 1833, so that has father could work on an astronomical survey of the [[Southern Celestial Hemisphere|southern skies]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Herschel, Sir John Frederick William, 1792–1871, astronomer |url=http://www.nahste.ac.uk/isaar/GB_0237_NAHSTE_P0327.html |work=[[NAHSTE]] project |publisher=[[University of Edinburgh]] |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510211707/http://www.nahste.ac.uk/isaar/GB_0237_NAHSTE_P0327.html |archivedate=10 May 2007 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The family returned to England in 1838, where Herschel was later educated at Clapham Grammar School, and then attended the [[East India Company Military Seminary]] at [[Addiscombe]].<ref name="NMMC">{{cite web |url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html?_escaped_fragment_=csearch;authority%3Dagent-119558;agentFacetLetter%3DC;browseBy%3Dperson#!csearch;authority=agent-119558 |title=Colonel John Herschel |work=National Maritime Museum Collections |year=2015 |accessdate=28 December 2022}}</ref>

Herschel entered the [[East India Company]]'s service as a cadet to serve in the [[Bengal Engineers]], and on 26 December 1856 was made a local and temporary [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] while under the command of Colonel Sandham, at the [[Royal School of Military Engineering|Royal Engineer Establishment]] at [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]], for instruction in the art of [[sapping]] and [[Mining (military)|mining]].<ref>{{London Gazette |date=26 December 1856 |issue=21953 |page=4327 |nolink=yes}}</ref> He was promoted to the local and temporary rank of lieutenant, while still studying at Chatham on 13 August 1858.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=13 August 1858 |issue=22173 |page=3789 |nolink=yes}}</ref> However, shortly afterwards, on 27 August 1858, with the end of [[company rule in India]], and the assumption of direct administration by the British government, Herschel's regiment was transferred ''en masse'' to the [[Royal Engineers]].<ref>{{London Gazette |date=29 April 1862 |issue=22621 |page=2239 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

Herschel travelled out to India, where he joined the [[Great Trigonometrical Survey]] and spent the years 1864–1872 engaged in a survey of various parts of Southern India.<ref name="Shylaja">{{cite journal |title=John Herschel's astronomical observations from Bangalore |first=B. S. |last=Shylaja |journal=[[Current Science]] |volume=90 |number=2 |date=25 January 2006 |pages=259–260 |publisher=Current Science Association |location=Bangalore |url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/jan252006/259.pdf |accessdate=28 December 2022}}</ref> He married Mary Cornwallis Power (née Lipscomb) in 1867,<ref name="NMMC"/> the daughter of the Reverend F. Lipscomb, Rector of [[Welbury]], Yorkshire, and the widow of D. Power, QC.<ref name="DixPeek">{{cite web |url= http://peek-01.livejournal.com/97543.html |title=My Military Research: Colonel John Herschel, Royal Engineers, 1837–1921 (Cape Town) |first=Ross |last=Dix-Peek |work=The Southern African History Musings of Ross Dix-Peek |year=2015 |accessdate=28 December 2022}}</ref> He was promoted to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|second captain]] on 10 November 1869.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=9 November 1869 |issue=23553 |page=5976 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

Apart from his surveying work he also carried out numerous independent astronomical observations. He made [[Spectroscopy|spectroscopic]] observations of the [[solar corona|corona]] of the sun during the [[solar eclipse of August 18, 1868|total solar eclipse]] of 18 August 1868, and studied the [[Carina Nebula]] in November, being one of the first to observe the sudden brightening of [[Eta Carinae]].<ref name="Shylaja"/> He also conducted a series of experiments with the [[Cavendish experiment|Cavendish pendulum]] to calculate the density of the Earth.<ref name="NMMC"/>

John Herschel was married to Mary Cornwallis Herschel, whose memoir of John's great aunt [[Caroline Herschel]] was published in 1876.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/memoircorrespond00hers/page/n7|title=Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel|last=Herschel|first=Mary|website=Archive.org|year=1876|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=}}</ref>

Herschel returned to England on [[furlough]] in late 1873,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptName.php?bcode=Hers-JC&pageNumber=0&pageTotal=5&referringPage=0 |title=Letter from Captain John Herschel |work=The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot Project |date=6 December 1873 |accessdate=28 December 2022}}</ref> where he worked on collecting his late father's letters into mid–1874.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/name.php?bcode=Hers-JC&pageNo=0 |title=Letters of Captain John Herschel to William Henry Fox Talbot |work=The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot Project |year=2015 |accessdate=28 December 2022}}</ref> He was promoted to major on 10 March 1876.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=23 May 1876 |issue=24329 |page=3110 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

In April 1882 he arrived in the United States, where he spent a year working with [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] on the construction of pendulums to conduct [[Gravimetry|gravimetric]] and [[Geodesy|geodesic]] surveys on behalf of the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]].<ref name="PeirceProject">{{cite web |url=http://www.iupui.edu/%7Epeirce/writings/v4/v4introx.htm |title=Introduction to Volume 4 (1879–1884) |work=Peirce Edition Project: The Writings of Charles S. Peirce |year=2010 |accessdate=28 December 2022}}</ref>

Herschel eventually became the Deputy Superintendent of Trigonometrical Survey,<ref name="NMMC"/> before eventually retiring from the army on 10 March 1886 as a major and [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] lieutenant-colonel, with the [[honorary rank]] of colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=20 April 1886 |issue=25579 |page=1899 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

He was elected a fellow of the [[Royal Society]] in 1871 and of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]] in 1872.<ref name="NMMC"/> Herschel died, aged 83, in 1921.<ref name="NMMC"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herschel, John, (younger)}}
[[Category:1837 births]]
[[Category:1921 deaths]]
[[Category:English people of German descent]]
[[Category:English people of Czech-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:People from Cape Town]]
[[Category:Alumni of Addiscombe Military Seminary]]
[[Category:Bengal Engineers officers]]
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society]]
[[Category:Herschel family|John]]
[[Category:Younger sons of baronets]]