JOHN FLAMSTEED

The first Astronomer Royal plotted out the constellations and mapped the heavens

- WORDS NIKOLE ROBINSON

John Flamsteed was born in 1646 in Denby, Derbyshire, the only child of wealthy merchant and malt-maker Stephen Flamsteed and his wife Margaret, who sadly passed when John was a child. He attended school in nearby Derby, where he took a keen interest in Latin and history. Finishing school in 1662, Flamsteed intended to enrol at Jesus College in Cambridge, but was unable to attend due to his poor health. Instead he began to help with the family business, with his father instructing him in mathematics. He also began to study astronomy, observing his first partial solar eclipse in September 1662. Despite his father's disapproval, Flamsteed's love for the stars grew. He absorbed any astronomical literature he could get his hands on and surrounded himself with peers who had similar interests, exchanging correspondence with many great minds of the time.

In 1670, Flamsteed once again petitioned to join Jesus College and was accepted as an undergraduate.