William Pearson was born at
Whitbeck in
Cumberland on 23 April 1767. After graduating from
Hawkshead Grammar School near to
Lake Windermere, Westmorland, Pearson began his career as a schoolmaster at
Hawkshead. After which, moving to
Lincoln as undermaster of the Free Grammar School. Through Pearson's interest in astronomy, Pearson constructed an astronomical clock and an orrery, which was probably used for public lectures. Although enrolled at Cambridge University, he does not appear to have earned a degree. He was admitted as a
sizar at
Clare College in 1793, but may not have gained residence. An original proprietor of the
Royal Institution, Pearson finished a planetarium in 1803 that illustrated Dr.
Thomas Young's lectures. On 10 January 1810 Pearson was presented to the rectory of Perivale in Middlesex. On 15 March 1817, Lord-chancellor Eldon presented Pearson to the rectory of South Kilworth in Leicestershire. He acquired the
Temple Grove School, a large private institution at
East Sheen in 1810. After establishing an observatory there, he measured the diameters of the Sun and Moon during the partial solar eclipse of 7 September 1820, with one of
John Dollond's divided object-glass micrometers. The foundation of the
Astronomical Society of London (now known as the
Royal Astronomical Society) was largely due to his efforts. In 1812 and 1816, he began development of the society that formally took shape during a meeting at the Freemasons' Tavern on 12 January 1820. Pearson helped write the rules and served as treasurer during the society's first ten years. In 1819, he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society and received an honorary LL.D. After leaving East Sheen in 1821, William erected an observatory at South Kilworth that possessed a 36-inch focal-length altazimuth telescope, originally constructed by
Edward Troughton for the
St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The observatory was also equipped with a 42-inch focal-length achromatic refractor by Tulley, a
transit circle by
William Simms, and a clock by Hardy. While at South Kilworth, Pearson observed the occultations of the
Pleiades in July and October 1821. In 1824 and 1829, he published the two quarto volumes of his
Introduction to Practical Astronomy. The first volume mainly contained tables for the processes of reduction. The second volume included elaborate descriptions and engravings of various astronomical instruments (drawn by
John Farey, Jr, and engraved by
Edmund Turrell) along with instructions for their use. Pearson received the
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (then known as the Astronomical Society of London) on 13 February 1829 for the publication, which Sir
John Herschel called ‘one of the most important and extensive works on that subject which has ever issued from the press’. In 1830, the Royal Observatory nominated Pearson to its new board of visitors. Assisted by a village mathematician named Ambrose Clarke, Pearson began the reobservation and computation of the 520 stars tabulated for occultations in his
Practical Astronomy during the same year. He presented the resulting catalogue to the Royal Astronomical Society on 11 June 1841. Pearson observed
Halley's Comet on 29 October 1835, and in 1839 he deduced a value for the obliquity of the
ecliptic from his own research. He died on 6 September 1847 at South Kilworth, and a tablet honoring his memory in the church recognizes the respect earned by his exemplary conduct as a clergyman and magistrate. ==Family==