Olinthus Gilbert Gregory (29 January 17742 February 1841) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, author, and editor.

Biography

He was born on 29 January 1774 at Yaxley in

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

, the son of Robert, a shoemaker, and Ann, who also had three younger daughters: Harriet Euphrasia, Sophia (who died in 1783) and Marianna. Having been educated by Richard Weston, a

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, Olinthus published a treatise, ''Lessons, Astronomical and Philosophical'' in 1796. After moving to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 1796, Gregory first acted as sub-editor on the ''Cambridge Intelligencer'', and then opened a booksellers shop. In 1802 he obtained an appointment as mathematical master at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

through the influence of

Charles Hutton Charles Hutton FRS FRSE LLD (14 August 1737 – 27 January 1823) was an English mathematician and surveyor. He was professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich from 1773 to 1807. He is remembered for his calculation of th ...

, to whose notice he had been brought by a manuscript on the Use of the Sliding Rule; and when Hutton resigned in 1807 Gregory succeeded him in the professorship. Gregory combined his love of mathematics with an interest in music, but not in the melodious sense: music should be subject to rational principles. He proposed "the substitution of proper characters to denote the different kinds of musical time, instead of those vague indefinite ones, which are now in use." No more 3/2 time, or ''Adagio'' and ''Allegro''; rather, some absolute rate, based on the swing of a precisely-calibrated pendulum. Each composition should be played at its pre-defined speed, no matter who was conducting. In discussing Gregory's ideas, Werrett draws attention to the environment at Woolwich in which he developed them, and the use of the metronome to maintain a consistent rhythm in military music. Gregory favoured the establishment of a secular university in London. By the end of 1825 he was on a ten-man committee interviewing and selecting the teaching staff. His name was inscribed on the foundation stone of the new university, laid in Gower Street on 30 April 1827. Failing health obliged him to retire in 1838, and he died at his home at Queen's Terrace,

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

on 2 February 1841. Gregory's library was sold on 17 & 18 March 1842 by Southgate & Son of 22 Fleet Street. The esteem in which Dr Gregory was held can be judged from the following letter in 1841: :''To the Editor of the Morning Chronicle.'' :Sir - I see by your paper of the 11th inst., that Doctor Olinthus Gregory, late Professor Mathematics, &c. &c., :Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, has left his widow and family in any thing but affluent circumstances. :Now, I do trust, that out of the number of people who have experienced his exertions, as a Professor at :the Royal Military Academy, and also have benefitted by him as highly scientific individual, there may be :found some who will subscribe to the benefit of the widow and family of that excellent man. :I remain, sir, :C. D., M.P., :One of Dr. O. G.'s pupils at the R.M.Ac., Woolwich :Edinburgh, Feb. 13.

Affiliations

Many in this list are cited in the University of St Andrews website. *Corresponding Associate of the Academy of Dijon *Honorary Member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New York *Member of the

New-York Historical Society The New York Historical (known as the New-York Historical Society from 1804 to 2024) is an American history museum and library on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It ...

*Member of the Literary and Philosophical, and the

Antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

Societies of Newcastle upon Tyne *Member of the

Cambridge Philosophical Society The Cambridge Philosophical Society (CPS) is a scientific society at the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1819. The name derives from the medieval use of the word philosophy to denote any research undertaken outside the fields of law ...

*Member of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...

*Founder member, and later Secretary, of the Astronomical Society *Professor Mathematics in the

*Co-founder and first president of the Woolwich Institution for the Advancement of Literary, Scientific and Technical Knowledge In 1802 Gregory was appointed editor of the ''Gentlemen's Diary'', and from 1819 to 1840 editor of the ''Lady's Diary''. From 1817, "he had the whole of the general superintendence of the almanacks published by the Stationers’ Company."

Family

Gregory married, first, Rebecca Marshall on 4 March 1798 in Yaxley, with whom he had a son James and a daughter Eliza; Rebecca died in June 1807. His second marriage was to Anne Beddome on 20 December 1809 at St Mary, Newington, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. Their elder son, Boswell Robert was accidentally drowned in the Thames at Woolwich in the summer of 1834, aged 21.

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. Landon's writings are emblematic of the transition from Romanticism to Victorian literature. Her first major b ...

includes a poetical illustration, to a portrait by Richard Evans, commiserating with this event in Fisher's ''Drawing Room Scrap Book'', 1835. Their second son,

Charles Hutton Gregory Sir Charles Hutton Gregory (14 October 1817 – 10 January 1898) was an English civil engineer. He was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers between December 1867 and December 1869. Charles was the son of Dr Olinthus Gilb ...

, who later became president of the

, was named after Charles Hutton, Gregory's patron.New York Times Obituary (11 January 1898)
/ref> Anne died in Paddington in 1855, aged 65, and was buried at St Nicholas,

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Plumstead has been settled since ancient times, and London's earliest timber structure has been found here. ...

Works

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References

Notes

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Olinthus 1774 births 1841 deaths 18th-century Anglicans 18th-century English mathematicians 18th-century evangelicals 19th-century Anglicans 19th-century English astronomers 19th-century English mathematicians 19th-century evangelicals Academics of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge English encyclopedists English evangelicals Evangelical Anglicans People from Yaxley, Cambridgeshire Writers about religion and science