Origins 1755–1765 '' by
Joseph Wright of Derby, 1770 (
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery) The origins of the Lunar Society lie in a pattern of friendships that emerged in the late 1750s.
Matthew Boulton and
Erasmus Darwin met at some time during 1757 or 1758, possibly through family connections, as Boulton's mother's family were patients of Darwin; or possibly though shared friendships, as both were admirers of the printer
John Baskerville and friends of the astronomer and geologist
John Michell, a regular visitor to Darwin's house in
Lichfield. Darwin was a physician and poet who had studied at
Cambridge and
Edinburgh; Boulton had left school at fourteen and started work in his father's business making metal goods in
Birmingham at the age of 21. Despite their different backgrounds they shared a common interest in experiment and invention, and their activities would show Darwin's theoretical understanding and Boulton's practical experience to be complementary. Around the same time the
Derby-based clockmaker
John Whitehurst became a friend, first of Boulton and subsequently of Darwin, through his business supplying clock movements to Boulton's
ormolu manufacturing operation. Although older than both Boulton and Darwin, by 1758 Whitehurst was writing to Boulton telling excitedly of a
pyrometer he had built, and looking forward to visiting Birmingham "to spend one day with you in trying all necessary experiments". Boulton, Darwin and Whitehurst were in turn introduced by Michell to
Benjamin Franklin when he travelled to Birmingham in July 1758 "to improve and increase Acquaintance among Persons of Influence", and Franklin returned in 1760 to conduct experiments with Boulton on electricity and sound. Although Michell seems to have withdrawn slightly from the group when he moved to Thornhill (near Dewsbury) in 1767, The first of these was
Josiah Wedgwood, who became a close friend of Darwin in 1765 while campaigning for the building of the
Trent and Mersey Canal and subsequently closely modelled his large new
pottery factory at
Etruria, Staffordshire on Boulton's
Soho Manufactory. In 1767
James Keir visited Darwin in Lichfield, where he was introduced to Boulton, Small, Wedgwood and Whitehurst and subsequently decided to move to Birmingham. By 1768 the core group of nine individuals who would form the nucleus of the Lunar Society had come together with Small at their heart. and the group themselves used a variety of less specific descriptions, including "Birmingham Philosophers" or simply "fellow-schemers".
The Lunar Society 1775–1780 If William Small's arrival in 1765 had been the catalyst to the development of the Lunar Circle as a cohesive group, his death – probably from malaria Small had been the key link between the members, and in his absence those remaining moved to place the group on a more organised footing. Meetings were to be held on the Sunday nearest the full moon, The first was probably that held on 31 December 1775,
Heyday of the Society 1780–1789 , c. 1783 In late 1780 the nature of the society was to change again with the move to Birmingham of
Joseph Priestley. Priestley had been closely associated with the group's activities for over a decade and was a strong advocate of the benefits of scientific societies. Shortly after his arrival Lunar meetings moved from Sunday afternoons to Mondays to accommodate Priestley's duties as a clergyman, while the society's dependence on Matthew Boulton was lessened by holding meetings at other members' houses in addition to Soho House. The result was to be the society's most productive era. Several other major new figures became associated with the society during this period.
Samuel Galton, Jr., unusual as a
Quaker who was also a gun-manufacturer, appears in the letters of other Lunar members as attending meetings from July 1781, and his daughter
Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck was to provide one of the few first-hand accounts of the Lunar Society's activities. The botanist and physician
Jonathan Stokes, who had known
William Withering as a child, moved to
Stourbridge and started attending Lunar Society meetings from 1783. His contribution to the society was significant but short-lived: after collaborating with Withering on his
Botanical Arrangement of British Plants the two quarrelled bitterly and Stokes severed his relations with the main Lunar members by 1788. The society also lost several major figures over the period:
Richard Lovell Edgeworth ceased regular involvement in the society's activities when he returned to Ireland in 1782, and
Thomas Day died the following year.
Decline 1789–1813 of 1791 The outbreak of the
French Revolution in 1789 caused political strains between members of the society, but it was the
Priestley riots of 1791 in Birmingham itself that saw a decisive falling off of the society's spirit and activities.
Joseph Priestley himself was driven from the town, leaving England entirely for the United States in 1794,
William Withering's house was invaded by rioters and
Matthew Boulton and
James Watt had to arm their employees to protect the Soho Manufactory. Regular meetings are recorded into the nineteenth century – eight in 1800, five or six before August 1801 and at least one in 1802, The society had definitely collapsed by 1813, however: in August of that year
Samuel Galton, Jr. is recorded as having won a ballot for possession of the scientific books from the society's library. ==Modern Lunar Societies==