Astronomical Notebook 1764-1799

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Astronomical Notebook 1764-1799

http://www.amphilsoc.org/mole/view?docId=ead/Mss.522.D75-ead.xml

The amateur astronomer and scientific instrument maker John Dovaston was born into a long-established Shropshire family on April 25, 1740, the son of John Dovaston and Margaret (Rogers). While still in his twenties, Dovaston used the proceeds from his sugar plantations in Jamaica to build "The Nursery," an estate near West Felton, near Shrewsbury, where he lived until his death on April 4, 1808. Dovaston's astronomical notebook contains observations on the transits of Venus and Mercury, 1761-1799; the eclipse of the moon, July 1776; and the comet of August 1797; as well as more general notes on stellar positions, astronomical instruments, calendars, and the measurement of latitude and longitude. The volume is illustrated, and includes copies of two letters received from his fellow amateur astronomer, Waldron Hill. Dovaston's interest in astrology is suggested by his detailed notes on casting a horoscope ("The Manner of Erecting a scheme or figure of the Heavens"), as well as by the presence of nativities for his son (1782) and for William Dovaston (1765).

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American Philosophical Society

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SNAC Resource ID: 6631060

Related Entities

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Dovaston, John Freeman Milward, 1782-1854

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fb573f (person)

The amateur astronomer and scientific instrument maker John Dovaston was born into a long-established Shropshire family on April 25, 1740, the son of John Dovaston and Margaret (Rogers). While still in his twenties, Dovaston used the proceeds from his sugar plantations in Jamaica to build "The Nursery," an estate near West Felton, near Shrewsbury, where he lived until his death on April 4, 1808. He left a son John Freeman Millward Dovaston. His wife Ann (Hoper) had died in the previ...

Hill, Waldron

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zb220j (person)