Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/439

 his presidential address (1872) and a paper on 'Strength and Proportions of Riveted Joints' which was re-published in book form (1885). To the publications of the Royal Irish Academy he contributed four papers dealing with the theory of structures (Proc. vii. 165; viii. 191; Trans, xxiv. 189; xxv. 451).

He died in Dublin on 5 May 1909, and was buried in Mount Jerome cemetery. He married, in 1879, Susannah Frances, daughter of John Francis Walker, Q.C., by whom he had one son and three daughters.

 STONEY, GEORGE JOHNSTONE (1826–1911), mathematical physicist, born at Oakley Park, King's Co., Ireland, on 15 Feb. 1826, was elder son of George Stoney of Oakley Park by his wife Anne, second daughter of Bindon Blood of Cranagher and Rockforest, co. Clare. Bindon Blood Stoney [q. v. Suppl. II] was his only brother. His sister, who married her cousin, William FitzGerald, afterwards bishop of Cork and subsequently of Killaloe, was mother of Greorge Francis FitzGerald [q. v. Suppl. II]. Sir Bindon Blood, general R.E., G.C.B., and Sir Frederic Burton [q. v. Suppl. I] were also his cousins. Three members of the family besides himself — his brother Bindon, his eldest son, George, and his nephew, George Francis FitzGerald — were fellows of the Royal Society.

Stoney, whose father's Irish property had greatly depreciated in value after the Napoleonic wars, and had to be sold at the time of the Irish famine (1846–8), was sent with his brother to Trinity College, Dublin, where he paid his expenses by 'coaching.' There he had a distinguisbed career, and obtained in 1847 the second senior moderatorship in mathematics and physics. He graduated B.A. in 1848, proceeding M.A. in 1852. On leaving Trinity College, he was in 1848 appointed by Lord Rosse the first astronomical assistant at the Parsonstown Observatory, a post which he held till 1852. His interest in astronomy continued through life, and he contributed occasional papers on astronomical subjects to the scientific societies' journals, several of them being instigated by the expected appearance of a profuse shower of Leonid meteors in 1899 (Proc. Roy. Soc. lxiv. 403; Monthly Notices, vols. lvi.–lix). The present use of the cælostat in astronomical observation is largely due to his efforts in reviving a forgotten principle, and papers by him on improvements in the Foucault-Sidenstat as well as on the phenomena of shadow bands in eclipses will be found in the 'Monthly Notices.' While he was with Lord Rosse he unsuccessfully competed in 1852 for the fellowship at Trinity, winning the second place and the Madden prize. The same year he became through Lord Rosse's influence professor of natural philosophy at Queen's College, Gal way, one of his unsuccessful rivals being Professor Tyndall. After five years' work in Galway he returned to Dublin in 1857 as secretary of the Queen's University, with an office in Dublin Castle, and till the dissolution of the university in 1882 he devoted himself wholeheartedly to his duties, which involved the organisation of the scattered colleges constituting the imiversity. The excellence of Stoney's report and minutes on educational matters led the Irish under-secretary. Sir Thomas Aiskew Larcom [q. v.], to recommend Stoney as his successor on his own retirement in 1868. But Stoney approved of Gladstone's disestablishment policy, and declined the post, although the conservative Irish secretary. Lord Mayo, urged its acceptance. At the request of the civil service commissioners, Stoney soon after became superintendent of civil service examinations in Ireland, a post which he held till he left Dublin in 1893. He did much for Irish education. He was a member of the royal commission on the Queen's Colleges, 1885. He was an able advocate of higher education for women, and mainly through his exertions women obtained legal medical qualifications in Ireland before they were available in England or Scotland. His many essays in reviews on educational subjects include 'On the Demand for a Catholic University’ (Nineteenth Century, Feb. 1902). At the same time he was frequently consulted by the Irish government, not only on education, but (in virtue of his connection with the Royal Dublin Society) on questions of agriculture, fisheries, light railways, and the like. The death of his wife in 1872, and other family trouble, followed by two severe illnesses — small-pox in 1875 and typhoid in 1877 — enfeebled his health. These misfortunes, combined with his manifold official duties, greatly hampered his scientific research, which was the main interest of his life.

Physical optics was a subject to which Stoney gave much attention, and he 