Wanstead should be proud of its connection with former Astronomer Royal James Bradley (1692–1762), says Dr John Fisher in the second of a series of articles celebrating the man who proved the Earth’s motion
In 1711, James Bradley left his home village of Sherborne in Gloucestershire to join his maternal uncle James Pound, the Rector of Wanstead, with the object of being prepared for life as an ordained minister of the Church of England. The same year, Bradley matriculated at Balliol College Oxford as a commoner. He graduated BA in 1714 and MA in 1717.
Before completing his studies at Oxford, Bradley contracted smallpox. He survived, aided by his uncle, who, also having a medical degree and a licence to practice, employed a nurse to ensure round-the-clock care. In 1719, Bradley was ordained as a minister with a small parish in Herefordshire but regularly visited Wanstead.
Bradley’s appointment as Savilian Professor of Astronomy in Oxford in 1721 necessitated his resignation from the Church. As well as his duties in Oxford, he continued working alongside his uncle in Wanstead, observing Jupiter and Saturn and their satellites. His lectures in Oxford, given in Latin, revealed him to be a brilliant teacher of applied mathematics, highlighted by his lecture De cometa, a disquisition on the bright comet of 1723, applying the universal law of gravitation.
In 1722, in Wanstead, James Pound married the wealthy heiress Elizabeth Wymondesold, sister of Matthew, a successful financier who owned a large estate to the east of Wanstead. Late in 1724, Pound suddenly died intestate, leaving Bradley dependent on the goodwill of his new aunt. Their relationship was close, as Elizabeth travelled to Oxford with Bradley when he spent time there and Bradley did not marry until after Elizabeth’s death. Uncertainty about the nature of this relationship may be a reason why Bradley’s private papers were likely destroyed by his executors, which included the Peach family of Chalford, Gloucestershire, into which Bradley married in 1744.
Late in 1727, Bradley suspended a telescope in his aunt’s small house in Wanstead on a site close to the present Co-op. With this telescope, Bradley discovered the aberration of starlight, a deflection in the observed positions of every object in the sky due to the motion of the Earth. Further observations led to the discovery of the nutation of the Earth’s axis. For the first time since precession was discovered by Hipparchus 1,900 years earlier, this discovery allowed astronomers world-wide to calculate “the first point of Aries” with precision and accuracy, a vitally important factor in calculating longitude at sea.
After his appointment in 1742 as Astronomer Royal at Greenwich, where Bradley made far-reaching improvements, he continued his work on nutation in Wanstead. His last recorded observation using the suspended telescope in his late aunt’s small house was September 1747. He no doubt continued social contacts via the Wymondesold family.
For more information on Dr Fisher’s book, The Life and Work of James Bradley, visit wnstd.com/fisher
