George James Symons
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George James Symons FRS (6 August 1838 – 10 March 1900) was a British
meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...
who founded and managed the ''British Rainfall Organisation'', an unusually dense and widely distributed network of rainfall data collection sites throughout the British Isles.


Life

He was the only child of Joseph Symons by his wife, Georgina Moon. He was born at Queen's Row,
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, on 6 August 1838. His education, begun at St. Peter's collegiate school, Eaton Square, was completed under private tuition at Thornton rectory, Leicestershire. He subsequently passed with distinction through the course at the school of mines, Jermyn Street. From boyhood, he made observations on the weather with instruments of his own construction, and at the age of seventeen became a member of the
Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is a long-established institution that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Associate Fellows can be lay enthus ...
. From 1863, he sat on the council, acted as secretary 1873-9 and 1882-99, and was elected president in 1880 and again in 1900. In 1857, he undertook, and continued to discharge until his death, the duties of meteorological reporter to the registrar-general, and was appointed by
Robert FitzRoy Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy and a scientist. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, FitzRoy's second expedition to Tierra de ...
in 1860 to a post in the meteorological department of the board of trade, which he held for three years. He resigned it owing to the growing exigencies of his rainfall observations. The first of a series of thirty-nine annual volumes containing statistics on the subject was published by him in 1860 ; it included records from 168 stations in England and Wales. In 1898, the number of stations had grown to 3,404, of which 436 were in Scotland and 186 in Ireland, and they were manned by an army of over three thousand volunteer observers. This unique organisation was kept by Symons under close personal supervision, and the upshot was the accumulation of a mass of data of standard value, unmatched in any other country. The sanitary importance of water-supply was a determining motive for its collection. Symons began, in 1863, the issue of a monthly rain-circular, which developed in 1866 into the ''Monthly Meteorological Magazine,''''Symons's monthly meteorological magazine''
/ref> still in course of publication. He was a prominent member of various committees appointed by the
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, and as secretary to the conference on lightning rods in 1878 shared largely in the four years' task of compiling its report. Elected in 1878 a
fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
, he acted as chairman of the committee on the eruption of
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in 1883, and edited the voluminous report published in 1888. He sat on the council of the Social Science Association in 1878, and on the jury of the Health Exhibition in 1884; was registrar to the
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from 1880 to 1895, and drew up a report on the
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for the Mansion House committee. In 1876, he received the Telford premium of the
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for a paper on ''Floods and Water Economy,'' and in 1897 the Albert medal of the
Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
for the 'services rendered to the United Kingdom' by his rainfall observations. He was a member of the Scottish and Australasian Meteorological Societies, of the
Royal Botanic Society The Royal Botanic Society was a learned society founded in 1839 by James de Carle Sowerby under a royal charter to the Duke of Norfolk and others. Its purpose was to promote "botany in all its branches, and its applications." Soon after it was es ...
, and of many foreign learned associations. Twice elected to the council of the Societe Météorologique de France, he frequently attended its meetings at Paris, and was made, in 1891, a chevalier of the
legion of honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
. Struck with paralysis on 14 February, he died on 10 March 1900, and was buried in
Kensal Green cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...
.


Family

He married in 1866 Elizabeth Luke, who shared his labours until her death in 1884. Their only child died in infancy.


Legacy

His work on rainfall is being continued by Mr. H. Sowerby Wallis, his coadjutor during thirty years. A paper on ''The Wiltshire Whirlwind of October 1, 1889,'' prepared by him a few days before his last illness, was read to the Royal Meteorological Society on 16 May 1900. A gold medal (
Symons Gold Medal The Symons Gold Medal is awarded biennially by the Royal Meteorological Society for distinguished work in the field of meteorological science. It was established in 1901 in memory of George James Symons, a notable British meteorologist. Recipients ...
) in his memory was founded by the same body, to be awarded for services to meteorological science. The record of weather kept by Symons at his house in Camden Square was maintained unbroken for forty-two years. Throughout his life he made many friends and incurred no enmity.


Works

His library contained ten thousand volumes and pamphlets. Besides essays and reports, he wrote: * ''Rain: how, when, where, why it is measured,'' London, 1867. * ''Pocket Altitude Tables,'' London, 1876, &c., three editions. * ''The Floating Island in Derwentwater,'' London, 1889. * ''Merle's MS. Consideraciones Temperiei pro 7 Annis 1337-1344,'' reproduced under his supervision, London, 1891 ee Merle, William * ''Theophrastus on Winds and Weather Signs,'' edited from John George Wood's translation, London, 1894. Mr. Benjamin Daydon Jackson's 'Vegetable Technology,' London, 1882, was based upon a catalogue of works on applied botany published by Symons in the ''Colonies and India'' for 13 September 1879. A report drawn up by him in 1861 on the anemometry of Bermuda appeared in the eighth number of the meteorological papers issued by the board of trade.


References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Symons, George James 1838 births 1900 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Science British meteorologists Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Fellows of the Royal Society People from Pimlico Presidents of the Royal Meteorological Society