Stephen Peter Rigaud
Born	12 August 1774
Died	16 March 1839 (aged 64)
Resting place	St James, Piccadilly, London
Alma mater	Exeter College, Oxford

Stephen Peter Rigaud (12 August 1774–16 March 1839)FRAS^[1] was anEnglish mathematical historian andastronomer. Rigaud was born into aFrench Protestant family.^[2] His father,Stephen (also known as James Stephen) Rigaud, was Observer at theKew Observatory. The painterJohn Francis Rigaud, who painted a portrait of Rigaud, aged four, and his sister Mary Anne was not his uncle but other possible connections are unknown.

He was a Fellow ofExeter College, Oxford, from 1794 to 1810, held theSavilian Chair of Geometry at theUniversity of Oxford from 1810 to 1827, and wasSavilian Professor of Astronomy from 1827 to 1839.^[2] He lived at 21Richmond Green in Richmond, Surrey (nowRichmond, London) from 1815 to 1826.^[3]

"He devoted his leisure to research and authorship in the field of scientific biography. A well-informed friend has said of him, — " He had a peculiar delight in tracing the history of an invention, or illustrating the biography of those who, however eminent in their day, were in after ages known to have lived, flourished for a time, and died. To collect the materials for their lives, to throw light upon their habits, enumerate their works, and do justice to their merits, was a principal source of his amusement; and his perseverance in seeking for materials was exceeded only by the discrimination and impartiality which accompanied his researches and rendered them of permanent value."^[4]

• Historical essay on the first publication of Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia (1838)
• An account of some early proposals for steam navigation (1838)
• Defence of the resolution for omitting Mr Panizzi's bibliographical notes from the catalogue of the Royal Society (1838)
• Correspondence of scientific men of the seventeenth century: including letters of Barrow, Flamsteed, Wallis and Newton, printed from the originals in the collection of the Honorable the Earl of Macclesfield (1841)

He died on 16 March 1839 and was buried atSt James, Piccadilly, London, where a memorial to him lies in the church. His eldest son,Stephen Jordan Rigaud (1816–1859), was an English clergyman and schoolmaster who became Bishop ofAntigua.

Some of his large book collection, concerning astronomy, mathematics and physics, was purchased by theRadcliffe Observatory in Oxford. Some of the remaining materials were presented to theBodleian Library in 1935 and some were sold at auction.^[5] This collection at the Bodleian contains 840 books. The theological, classical and miscellaneous portion of his library was sold at auction in London by R. H. Evans on 6 August 1839 (and two following days); a copy of the catalogue is held at Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Munby.c.145(11)).

This article about a British astronomer is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information.

• v
• t
• e

• 1774 births
• 1839 deaths
• Burials at St James's Church, Piccadilly
• 19th-century English astronomers
• English people of French descent
• Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford
• Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Richmond, London
• Savilian Professors of Astronomy
• Savilian Professors of Geometry
• 19th-century English historians
• 19th-century English male writers
• English male non-fiction writers
• British astronomer stubs

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from July 2016
• Use British English from July 2016
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Articles with hCards
• All stub articles