14 Facts About Edwin Dunkin

Edwin Dunkin FRS, FRAS was a British astronomer and the president of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Institution of Cornwall.

Edwin Dunkin was born 19 August 1821, the son of William Dunkin and Mary Elizabeth, the daughter of David Wise, a Redruth surgeon.

Edwin Dunkin was the third son of a family of four brothers and a sister.

Edwin Dunkin's father worked as a computer for The Nautical Almanac in Truro, Cornwall.

Edwin Dunkin returned to London to seek work, and, on the recommendation of Davies Gilbert and Lieutenant Stratford, was employed at the Royal Greenwich Observatory as a computer.

George Airy, the astronomer royal, was impressed by him, and in 1840 Dunkin was promoted to a post in the new magnetic and meteorological department, becoming a permanent member of the observatory's staff in 1845.

Edwin Dunkin married in 1838 Maria Hadlow of Peckham, a stockbroker's daughter.

Edwin Dunkin always maintained his Cornish connections, naming his villa in Blackheath "Kenwyn", after the village near Truro.

Edwin Dunkin died at Brook Hospital in Kidbrook on 26 November 1898 after a short illness.

Edwin Dunkin was survived by one son, Edwin Hadlow Wise Dunkin, author of The Monumental Brasses of Cornwall with Descriptive, Genealogical and Heraldic Notes, 1882; and of The Church Bells of Cornwall, 1878.

In 1881, on Airy's retirement, Edwin Dunkin was promoted to chief assistant, or Deputy Astronomer Royal, holding that post until he retired in 1884.

Edwin Dunkin was delighted to be elected to the RAS Dining Club in 1868, becoming its president in 1880.

Edwin Dunkin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1876 and later served on the Council of the Royal Society.

Edwin Dunkin was President of the Royal Institution of Cornwall in 1890 and 1891.