John Hellins
Encyclopedia
John Hellins FRS was an autodidact, schoolteacher, mathematician, astronomer and country parson
.
ca. 1749, the son of a poor family, and the parish apprenticed him to a cooper.
He became a schoolteacher and through hard work and patronage became assistant to Nevil Maskelyne
, the Astronomer Royal
in 1773 .
(1779–83) and afterwards at Greens Norton
, near Towcester. In 1789 he was entered as a 'ten-year man
' at Trinity College, Cambridge
, and eventually graduated BD in 1800. In 1790 he was presented to the vicarage of Potterspury
in Northamptonshire
. On 10 November 1794 he married Anne Brock of North Tawton
. He founded the village school in Potterspury
: today the John Hellins Primary School bears his name..
of planets.
, which was published in 1801 by Taylor and Wilks, London as Analytical Institutions in Four Books
, its President:
In 1787, he edited The Young Algebracist's Companion. In 1788, he published Mathematical Essays, on several subjects and in 1802 in two volumes, The Analytical Institutions, originally written in Italian, by Donna Maria Gaetana [Translated from the Italian by Mr. Colson
.]
Having adopted the clerical profession, Mr. Hellins was for some time curate of Constantine in Cornwall
and, afterwards, of Greens Norton
, Northamptonshire, but in 1790 he was presented by the Earl Bathurst
to the vicarage of Potterspury in Northamptonshire. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1796, and in 1800 took the degree of B.D.
at Trinity College, Cambridge
.
Mr. Hellins, at one time, computed the Nautical Almanac
. He afterwards assisted at Greenwich
and, what is now perhaps almost unknown, furnished the late Mr. Windham with all the calculations and tables on which that gentleman brought forward his new military system, as Minister of War, in 1806.
Mr. Hellins applied himself with great industry to some of the useful branches of pure mathematics. No less than nine communications from him appear in our Transactions:
And in 1798,
For the last he was honoured with your Copley Medal.
Retired to a small living in Northamptonshire, Mr. Hellins became a pattern of philosophical calm and content.
He seems to have said:
I have known Mr. Hellins for above forty years, and I can testify to his virtues. It once happened that, through the late Dr. Maskelyne, I had nearly obtained for him the Observatory
at Dublin. The failure cannot, however, be lamented, since Brinkley
was appointed in his stead.
Mr. Hellins also occasionally furnished Mathematical articles to the British Critic
, from the year 1795 to 1814. The most remarkable of these are those:
When the first series of the British Critic closed , the connection of Mr. Hellins with the work is supposed to have ceased. Several minor articles, on scientific subjects, were written by him, which are not here specified.
He married Miss Brock, a Devonshire lady, who survived him but a short time, and by whom he hath left an only son.
Parson
In the pre-Reformation church, a parson was the priest of an independent parish church, that is, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organization...
.
Early years
He was born in DevonDevon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
ca. 1749, the son of a poor family, and the parish apprenticed him to a cooper.
He became a schoolteacher and through hard work and patronage became assistant to Nevil Maskelyne
Nevil Maskelyne
The Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne FRS was the fifth English Astronomer Royal. He held the office from 1765 to 1811.-Biography:...
, the Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834....
in 1773 .
Service as priest
He went on to become a clergyman, serving as a curate at Constantine, KerrierConstantine, Kerrier
Constantine is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately five miles west-southwest of Falmouth....
(1779–83) and afterwards at Greens Norton
Greens Norton
Greens Norton is a village in South Northamptonshire, England, just over from Towcester. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 1,587 people.-Facilities:It has a pub called the Butchers Arms, a post office, and a...
, near Towcester. In 1789 he was entered as a 'ten-year man
Ten-year man
A ten-year man was a category of mature student at the University of Cambridge.Under the University's statutes of 1570, a man over twenty-four could proceed to a BD degree ten years after matriculation without first gaining a BA degree or a MA degree. The device was not used much until the...
' at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, and eventually graduated BD in 1800. In 1790 he was presented to the vicarage of Potterspury
Potterspury
Potterspury is a village and civil parish in the district of South Northamptonshire. The nearest main town is Milton Keynes, the centre of which is about 7 miles south-east...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
. On 10 November 1794 he married Anne Brock of North Tawton
North Tawton
North Tawton is a small town in Devon, England, situated on the river Taw.-History:The Romans crossed the River Taw at what is now Newland Mill, a little outside the present town, and established a succession of military camps there over the years...
. He founded the village school in Potterspury
Potterspury
Potterspury is a village and civil parish in the district of South Northamptonshire. The nearest main town is Milton Keynes, the centre of which is about 7 miles south-east...
: today the John Hellins Primary School bears his name..
Recognition of his scientific contribution
His mathematician and astronomical learning was noted. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1796. Two years later (1798), he was awarded the Copley Medal largely for his paper on computing the perturbationsPerturbation (astronomy)
Perturbation is a term used in astronomy in connection with descriptions of the complex motion of a massive body which is subject to appreciable gravitational effects from more than one other massive body....
of planets.
Analytical Institutions
He supervised the translation from Italian of the Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della gioventù italiana) by Maria Gaetana AgnesiMaria Gaetana Agnesi
Maria Gaetana Agnesi was an Italian linguist, mathematician, and philosopher. Agnesi is credited with writing the first book discussing both differential and integral calculus. She was an honorary member of the faculty at the University of Bologna...
, which was published in 1801 by Taylor and Wilks, London as Analytical Institutions in Four Books
Davies Gilbert's eulogy
The Gentleman's Magazine 1828, prints in full the eulogy on Hellins's life and achievements, given at a meeting of the Royal Society, by Davies GilbertDavies Gilbert
Davies Gilbert FRS was a British engineer, author, and politician. He was elected to the Royal Society on 17 November 1791 and served as President of the Royal Society from 1827 to 1830....
, its President:
One of those extraordinary men, who, deprived of early advantages, have elevated themselves, by the force of genius of industry, to a level above most persons blessed with regular education. ...
In 1787, he edited The Young Algebracist's Companion. In 1788, he published Mathematical Essays, on several subjects and in 1802 in two volumes, The Analytical Institutions, originally written in Italian, by Donna Maria Gaetana [Translated from the Italian by Mr. Colson
John Colson
Johnathan "John" Colson was an English clergyman and mathematician, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University.John Colson was educated at Lichfield School before becoming an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford, though he did not take a degree there...
.]
Having adopted the clerical profession, Mr. Hellins was for some time curate of Constantine in Cornwall
Constantine, Kerrier
Constantine is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately five miles west-southwest of Falmouth....
and, afterwards, of Greens Norton
Greens Norton
Greens Norton is a village in South Northamptonshire, England, just over from Towcester. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 1,587 people.-Facilities:It has a pub called the Butchers Arms, a post office, and a...
, Northamptonshire, but in 1790 he was presented by the Earl Bathurst
Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst
Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst PC, KC , known as the Lord Apsley from 1771 to 1775, was a British lawyer and politician. He was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain from 1771 to 1778.-Background and education:...
to the vicarage of Potterspury in Northamptonshire. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1796, and in 1800 took the degree of B.D.
Bachelor of Divinity
In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....
at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
.
Mr. Hellins, at one time, computed the Nautical Almanac
HM Nautical Almanac Office
Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office , now part of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, was established in 1832 on the site of the Royal Greenwich Observatory , where the Nautical Almanac had been published since 1767...
. He afterwards assisted at Greenwich
Royal Observatory, Greenwich
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich , in London, England played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and is best known as the location of the prime meridian...
and, what is now perhaps almost unknown, furnished the late Mr. Windham with all the calculations and tables on which that gentleman brought forward his new military system, as Minister of War, in 1806.
Mr. Hellins applied himself with great industry to some of the useful branches of pure mathematics. No less than nine communications from him appear in our Transactions:
- On the summation of series.
- On the conversion of slowly-converging series into others of swifter convergency.
- On their application to the calculation of logarithms, and to the verifing of circular area.
- On the roots of equations.
And in 1798,
- On method of computing with increased facility the planetary perturbations.
For the last he was honoured with your Copley Medal.
Retired to a small living in Northamptonshire, Mr. Hellins became a pattern of philosophical calm and content.
“Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife.
His sober wishes never learned to stray.”
He seems to have said:
“Curtatis decimis, modicoque beatus agello,
Vitam secrete in rure quietus agam.”
I have known Mr. Hellins for above forty years, and I can testify to his virtues. It once happened that, through the late Dr. Maskelyne, I had nearly obtained for him the Observatory
Dunsink Observatory
The Dunsink Observatory is an astronomical observatory established in 1785 in the townland of Dunsink near the city of Dublin, Ireland.Its most famous director was William Rowan Hamilton, who, amongst other things, discovered quaternions, the first non-commutative algebra, while strolling from the...
at Dublin. The failure cannot, however, be lamented, since Brinkley
John Brinkley (astronomer)
The Rt. Rev. John Mortimer Brinkley D.D. was the first Royal Astronomer of Ireland and later Bishop of Cloyne.-Early years:...
was appointed in his stead.
Mr. Hellins also occasionally furnished Mathematical articles to the British Critic
British Critic
The British Critic: A New Review was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a conservative and high church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the French Revolution.-High church review:...
, from the year 1795 to 1814. The most remarkable of these are those:
- On Mr. Wales' Method of finding the Longitude, Vol. 6. p. 413.
- On Bishop HorsleySamuel HorsleySamuel Horsley was a British churchman, bishop of Rochester from 1792.Entering Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1751, he became LL.B. in 1758 without graduating in arts. In the following year he succeeded his father in the living of Newington Butts in Surrey...
's Mathematical Treatises, Vol. 21. p. 272. - On Donna Agnesi's Analytical Institutions, of which he superintended the publication, Vol. 23. p. 143; Vol. 24. p. 653 ; and 25. p. 141.
- On Keith's Trigonometry, Vol. 31. p. 489.
- On F. BailyFrancis BailyFrancis Baily was an English astronomer, most famous for his observations of 'Baily's beads' during an eclipse of the Sun.-Life:Baily was born at Newbury in Berkshire in 1774...
's work, on the Doctrine of Interest and Annuities, Vol. 38. p. 622, and Vol. 43. p. 502.
When the first series of the British Critic closed , the connection of Mr. Hellins with the work is supposed to have ceased. Several minor articles, on scientific subjects, were written by him, which are not here specified.
He married Miss Brock, a Devonshire lady, who survived him but a short time, and by whom he hath left an only son.
Death
He died in Potterspury 5 April 1827, leaving one son by his wife Anne. In the North Aisle of the parish church of St. Nicholas is a small tablet of white marble, inscribed:"
In Memory of
The REVD. JOHN HELLINS, B.D. & F.R.S./
upwards of 36 years Vicar of this parish, who died April 5th 1827/
aged 78 years./
of ANNE HELLINS his widow, who died June 3rd 1827. Aged 72.
Further reading
- John Hellins: R. E. Anderson, ‘Hellins, John (d. 1827)’, rev. Adrian Rice,Link to article in ODNB accessed 30 May 2007.
- William Wales: E. I. Carlyle, ‘Wales, William (bap. 1734, d. 1798)’, rev. Derek Howse, Link to article in ODNB accessed 20 Aug 2007
- Thomas Keith: W. A. J. Archbold, ‘Keith, Thomas (bap. 1759, d. 1824)’, rev. Ruth Wallis, Link to article in ODNB, accessed 20 Aug 2007
- William Beloe: Antonia Forster, ‘Beloe, William (1758–1817)’, Link to article in ODNB accessed 21 Aug 2007. Beloe was one of the proprietors of The British Critic.