Page:Protestant Exiles from France Agnew (1st ed. vol 3).djvu/247

 (20). Stephen Peter Rigaud, M.A. F.R.S. (born 1774. died 1839), the distinguished Professor of Astronomy, was the great-grandson of a Huguenot gentleman, Monsieur Rigaud, whose wife was a daughter of M. La Brue, a celebrated military engineer, under Henri IV.; a sister of this lady was married to M. De Schirac, a stedfast Huguenot and refugee. Professor Rigaud’s grand-parents were Pierre Rigaud and Anne Unice Mester. His parents were Stephen Rigaud (the fifth son in a family of seven sons and two daughters), and Mary Triboudet Demainbray. His maternal grandfather, Dr Stephen Demainbray, was at the head of the Kew Observatory, as king’s observer, in which office he was succeeded by our professor’s father. Stephen Peter Rigaud matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford, 15 April 1791, aged 16, as son of Stephen Rigaud. gent., of Richmond, Surrey; he became B.A., 9 Nov. 1797, and M.A. 21 Nov. 1799. So brilliant was his University career, that he was elected a Fellow of his College before he was of sufficient standing for a degree. His whole life was spent in Oxford. In 1810 he became Savilian Professor of Geometry, which he relinquished in 1827. for the Savilian Professorship of Astronomy. At the latter date he also became the Radcliffe Observer, having previously, since 1814, been observer to the king. In addition to his abundant and successful professorial labours, he discharged the duties of Senior Proctor, Delegate of the University Press, and Examiner in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences. He also contributed articles to the learned journals, to the Transactions of the Royal Society (of which he was elected Vice-President in 1837-8), and to the Transactions of the Ashmolean Society. Among the latter will be found the following papers by him:— “Remarks on the proportionate quantities of rain at different seasons in Oxford,” “On the Arenarius of Archimedes,” “Account of some early proposals for Steam Navigation,” “Captain Savery and his Steam Engine.” He has a Paper in the Cambridge Philosophical Society Transactions on “The relative quantities of land and water on the surface of the terraqueous globe.” He also issued his Astronomical Observations with painstaking fidelity. In 1834 he communicated to the Royal Astronomical Society some facts in the life of Halley, from a MS. in the Bodleian Library. He devoted his leisure to research and authorship in the field of scientific biography. A well-informed friend has said of him, — “He had a peculiar delight in tracing the history of an invention, or illustrating the biography of those who, however eminent in their day, were in after ages known to have lived, flourished for a time, and died. To collect the materials for their lives, to throw light upon their habits, enumerate their works, and do justice to their merits, was a principal source of his amusement; and his perseverance in seeking for materials was exceeded only by the discrimination and impartiality which accompanied his researches and rendered them of permanent value.” Such researches resulted in the publication, in 1831, of “The Miscellaneous Works and Correspondence of Bradley;” in connection with this volume the following letter is worthy of preservation:—

“Whitehall, January 21st, 1831. — My dear Sir, I offer you my best thanks for your kind attention in sending me the memoirs and correspondence of Bradley. Politics have not extinguished the deep interest I once took in those higher studies and pursuits to which the life of Bradley was devoted; and I shall turn with the utmost satisfaction from Schedules A and B to the Parallax of the Fixed Stars and the Reformation of the Calendar. Believe me, my dear sir, ever most truly yours,. S. P. Rigaud, Esq.”

To this volume Professor Rigaud, in 1833, added a supplement on the astronomical papers of Thomas Harriot. In 1838 he published some valuable notices of the first publication of Newton’s Principia. He translated for publication a series of Letters of Scientific Men from 1706 to 1741, superintended the printing of volume first at the University Press, but left his eldest son the charge of the second. His last illness found him in London. “His sufferings (a contemporary writes) were most severe; happily they were of short duration, yet long enough to show that his virtues were the fruits of faith, and could stand the trial of a dying hour; proving that he rested his hopes of salvation wholly and unreservedly on the only true foundation — the meritorious death and sacrifice of our Redeemer.” The integrity, benevolence and modesty of Professor Rigaud were known to a large circle of observers, well qualified to