Lockyer, J. Norman

Epithet: KCB, astronomer

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000386.0x00021d

(Joseph) Norman Lockyer was born in May 1836 in Rugby. On completing his education, he became a clerk in the War Office at the age of twenty-one. Developing a keen interest in science, in particular astronomy, he presented his first scientific paper to the Royal Astronomical Society in 1863. During the 1860s, Lockyer turned his attention to spectroscopy, discovering the theoretical existence of the previously unrecognised element helium and coining the name 'chromosphere' to describe the outer layers of the solar atmosphere. In 1869, he founded and became editor of the scientific journal Nature .

Between 1870 and 1875, Lockyer served as secretary to the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science, which recommended the establishment of an observatory of solar physics at South Kensington. In 1875, Lockyer was transferred from the War Office to the Science and Art Department at South Kensington. On the foundation of the Royal College of Science at South Kensington in 1890, Lockyer was appointed director of the new solar physics laboratory and professor of astronomical physics, a post he held until 1913. Retiring to Devon, he established a solar observatory at Sidmouth, now known as the Norman Lockyer Observatory. He received many honours throughout his career, including the Janssen medal of the Paris Academy of Sciences and the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society he was knighted in 1897. He died in August 1920.

From the guide to the Joseph Norman Lockyer collection, 1875, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)

Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer (1836-1920), astronomer, was born in Rugby in 1836, the only son of a surgeon-apothecary, Joseph Hooley Lockyer. He was educated privately in England and he also studied languages on the Continent. At the age of twenty-one became a clerk in the War Office, and married Winifred James in the following year. He developed interests in astronomy and journalism, and in 1863 began to give scientific papers to the Royal Astronomical Society. He proceeded to push back the frontiers of spectroscopy and science, discovering the theoretical existence of helium (a chemical not then known on Earth), and was awarded a medal by the French Academy of Sciences in the same year for developing a new technique to observe solar prominences at times other than eclipses.

In 1869 Lockyer founded the journal Nature, which he edited until a few months before his death, and which remains to this day a major resource for international scientific knowledge. In 1870 he was appointed secretary to the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction, which over the next five years reported on scientific education and resulted in the government setting up a laboratory of solar physics at South Kensington. To further this work Lockyer was transferred from the War Office to the Science and Art Department at South Kensington in 1875. Here he organised an international exhibition of scientific apparatus, as well as establishing the loan collection which eventually formed the nucleus of the collections of the Science Museum.

Throughout this period, Lockyer continued to be active in astronomical observations and in spectroscopic studies in the laboratory of the College of Chemistry; he also wrote several books on astronomy and spectral analysis. Lockyer also studied the correlations between solar activity and weather, and developed interests in meteorology. In 1878 he was given charge of the solar-physics work then being carried out at South Kensington, being made Director of the Solar Physics Laboratory. Lockyer also became a lecturer in the Normal School Science in 1881, and became the first professor of astronomical physics in 1887, a post which he held until 1901. (In 1890 the School was renamed the Royal College of Science, which later became part of the Imperial College of Science and Technology). Lockyer continued his work as Director of the Solar Physics Laboratory until 1913 when the laboratory moved to Cambridge, with the original laboratory site being used in part in the building of the Science Museum. At that point, he moved to Devon with his wife where they had built a retirement home at Sidmouth. On the suggestion of Francis McLean, the son of the astronomer and philanthropist Frank McLean, Lockyer established a solar observatory at Sidmouth. This observatory was set up for astrophysical observations, and was called the Hill Observatory (renamed the Norman Lockyer Observatory in 1921), which is still in existence today. Lockyer died in Salcombe Regis, Devon, in August 1920.

From the guide to the Letters to Sir Norman Lockyer, 1869-1919, 1869-1919, (University of Exeter)

Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer (1836-1920), astronomer, was born in Rugby in 1836, the only son of a surgeon-apothecary, Joseph Hooley Lockyer. He was educated privately in England and he also studied languages on the Continent. At the age of twenty-one became a clerk in the War Office, and married Winifred James in the following year. He developed interests in astronomy and journalism, and in 1863 began to give scientific papers to the Royal Astronomical Society. He proceeded to push back the frontiers of spectroscopy and science, discovering the theoretical existence of helium (a chemical not then known on Earth), and was awarded a medal by the French Academy of Sciences in the same year for developing a new technique to observe solar prominences at times other than eclipses.

In 1869 Lockyer founded the journal Nature, which he edited until a few months before his death, and which remains to this day a major resource for international scientific knowledge. In 1870 he was appointed secretary to the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction, which over the next five years reported on scientific education and resulted in the government setting up a laboratory of solar physics at South Kensington. To further this work Lockyer was transferred from the War Office to the Science and Art Department at South Kensington in 1875. Here he organised an international exhibition of scientific apparatus, as well as establishing the loan collection which eventually formed the nucleus of the collections of the Science Museum.

Throughout this period, Lockyer continued to be active in astronomical observations and in spectroscopic studies in the laboratory of the College of Chemistry; he also wrote several books on astronomy and spectral analysis. Lockyer also studied the correlations between solar activity and weather, and developed interests in meteorology. In 1878 he was given charge of the solar-physics work then being carried out at South Kensington, being made Director of the Solar Physics Laboratory. Lockyer also became a lecturer in the Normal School Science in 1881, and became the first professor of astronomical physics in 1887, a post which he held until 1901. (In 1890 the School was renamed the Royal College of Science, which later became part of the Imperial College of Science and Technology). Lockyer continued his work as Director of the Solar Physics Laboratory until 1913 when the laboratory moved to Cambridge, with the original laboratory site being used in part in the building of the Science Museum. At that point, he moved to Devon with his wife where they had built a retirement home at Sidmouth. On the suggestion of Francis McLean, the son of the astronomer and philanthropist Frank McLean, Lockyer established a solar observatory at Sidmouth. This observatory was set up for astrophysical observations, and was called the Hill Observatory (renamed the Norman Lockyer Observatory in 1921), which is still in existence today. Lockyer died in Salcombe Regis, Devon, in August 1920.

The Royal Astronomical Society has its origins in the foundation of the Astronomical Society of London (1820). A Royal Charter was signed by William IV in 1831, when the Society assumed its present name. This Charter outlined the Society's aims as 'the encouragement and promotion of astronomy'. It now occupies the position of the UK's leading body covering astrophysics, solid-earth geophysics, solar-terrestrial physics and planetary sciences. It is active in publishing, arranges regular meetings, awards grants for research and study, arranges educational activities, and runs a large Library and Archive which has been built up over many years. The Society has run lectures in honour of Sir Norman Lockyer since 1994. Since 1874, the Society has been based at Burlington House in Piccadilly, London.

From the guide to the Papers of Norman Lockyer (Royal Astronomical Society), c1876-c1969, (University of Exeter)