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Thomas Maclear | |
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 1833 portrait of Maclear | |
| Born | (1794-03-17)17 March 1794 Newtownstewart,County Tyrone, Ireland |
| Died | 14 July 1879(1879-07-14) (aged 85) |
| Occupation(s) | Astronomer, surgeon |
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Thomas Maclear (17 March 1794 – 14 July 1879) was anIrish-born Cape Colonyastronomer who became Her Majesty's astronomer at theCape of Good Hope.[1]
Born on 17 March 1794, inNewtownstewart, the eldest son of Rev. James Maclear and Mary Magrath.[2] In 1808, he was sent to England to be educated in the medical profession. After passing his examinations, in 1815 he was accepted into theRoyal College of Surgeons of England. He then worked as house-surgeon in the Bedford Infirmary.
In 1823, he went into partnership with his uncle atBiggleswade,Bedfordshire. In 1825, he was married to Mary Pearse, the daughter of Theed Pearse, Clerk of the Peace for the county of Bedford.
Maclear had a keen interest in amateur astronomy, and would begin a long association with theRoyal Astronomical Society, to which he would be named a Fellow. In 1833, when the post became vacant, he was named as Her Majesty's Astronomer at theCape of Good Hope, and arrived there aboard theTam O'Shanter with his wife and five daughters, to take up his new duties in 1834. He worked withJohn Herschel until 1838, performing a survey of the southern sky, and continued to perform important astronomical observations over several more decades.[3] The Maclears and Herschels formed a close friendship, the wives drawn together by the unusual occupations of their husbands and the raising of their large families. Mary Maclear, like Margaret Herschel, was a noted beauty and intelligent, though suffering from extreme deafness.
Between 1841 and 1848, Maclear would be occupied in performing ageodetic survey for the purpose of recalculating thefigure of the Earth (its dimensions and shape) via anarc measurement. He caused abeacon to be erected on top ofTable Mountain which was used as atriangulation station for the checking ofde Lacaille's arc measurement.
He became close friends withDavid Livingstone, and they shared a common interest in the exploration of Africa. He performed many other useful scientific activities, including collecting meteorological, magnetic and tide data.
In 1861, his wife died. In 1863, he was granted a pension, but did not retire from the observatory until 1870. He lived thereafter at Grey Villa, Mowbray. By 1876, he had lost his sight, and died on 14 July 1878, aged 85, inCape Town. He is buried next to his wife in the grounds of theRoyal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope.[3]
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