Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
If you would like to write a summary for this topic, email phil [at] gyford [dot] com
Wikipedia
Seth Ward (1617 – 6 January 1689) was an English mathematician, astronomer, and bishop.
[edit] Early life
He was born in Hertfordshire, and educated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1636 and M.A. in 1640, becoming a Fellow in that year.[1][2] In 1643 he was chosen university mathematical lecturer, but he was deprived of his fellowship next year for opposing the Solemn League and Covenant (with Isaac Barrow, John Barwick and Peter Gunning).[2]
[edit] Academic
In the 1640s, he took instruction in mathematics from William Oughtred, and stayed with relations of Samuel Ward.[2][3]
In 1649 he became Savilian professor of astronomy at Oxford University, and gained a high reputation by his theory of planetary motion. It was propounded in the works entitled In Ismaelis Bullialdi astro-nomiae philolaicae fundamenta inquisitio brevis (Oxford, 1653), against the cosmology of Ismael Boulliau, and Astronomia geometrica (London, 1656) on the system of Kepler.[4] About this time he was engaged in a philosophical controversy with Thomas Hobbes, in fact a small part of the debate with John Webster launched by the Vindiciae academiarum he wrote with John Wilkins which also incorporated an attack on William Dell.[5]
He was one of the original members of the Royal Society of London. In 1659 he was appointed President of Trinity College, Oxford, but not having the statutory qualifications he resigned in 1660.
[edit] Churchman
King Charles II appointed him to the livings of St Lawrence Jewry in London, and Uplowman, Devonshire, in 1661. He also became dean of Exeter Cathedral (1661) and rector of St Breock, Cornwall in 1662. In the latter year he was consecrated Bishop of Exeter, and in 1667 he was translated to the see of Salisbury. The office of Chancellor of the Order of the Garter was conferred on him in 1671.
In his diocese he showed great severity to nonconformists, and rigidly enforced the act prohibiting conventicles. He spent a great deal of money on the restoration of the cathedrals of Worcester and Salisbury. He died at Knightsbridge on 6 January 1689.
[edit] References
- ^ Venn, J.; Venn, J. A., eds. (1922–1958). "Ward, Seth". Alumni Cantabrigienses (10 vols) (online ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ a b c Galileo project page
- ^ http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/oughtred.html
- ^ http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/rhatch/pages/11-ResearchProjects/boulliau/06rp-b-a-bio.htm
- ^ Allen G. Debus, Science and Education in the Seventeenth Century: The Webster-Ward Debate (1970).
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ward, Seth". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
[edit] External links
- "Ward, Seth". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- Archival material relating to Seth Ward (bishop of Salisbury) listed at the UK National Register of Archives
- Works by or about Seth Ward (bishop of Salisbury) in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Hawes | President of Trinity College, Oxford 1659–1660 | Succeeded by Hannibal Potter |
| Church of England titles | ||
| Preceded by William Peterson | Dean of Exeter 1661–1662 | Succeeded by Edward Younge |
| Preceded by John Gauden | Bishop of Exeter 1662–1667 | Succeeded by Anthony Sparrow |
| Preceded by Alexander Hyde | Bishop of Salisbury 1667–1689 | Succeeded by Gilbert Burnet |
| ||||||||||||||||
.jpg)