Chloe A Marini, Spring 2024
Margaret Flamsteed was the daughter of a wealth London lawyer and well educated by the time she married in 1692 at age 22 years old. She married John Flamsteed, the first Royal Astronomer, and lived with him at the Greenwich observatory, built in 1676. Flamsteed mostly attended to her husband’s affairs and was a dutiful wife. Her husband died in 1719, but six years later his life’s work ended up being published under his name. This was due to Flamsteed. Flamsteed, like many women before and after her, living in the shadows of her husband’s success and name, while still advocating for his, and subsequently her, work, during and after his life.
Flamsteed was mostly known for her hosting skills. The Flamsteed House, built in 1676, was made for her future husband by his patron Jonas Moore, who knew John from a young age and believed that he had the potential to become a great astronomer. Moore funded John’s education, advocated for him in front of the court, and was able to make John the first royal astronomer. This compared to Flamsteed is striking. When Flamsteed first moved in with John, it was apparent that she was knowledgeable and had a desire to learn more beyond her station. While it is not known what kind of education Flamsteed continued with after marrying John, she was recognized by many visiting astronomers for her astronomical explanations and hospitality she displayed when visiting. Many letters between visitors and apprentices of John reveal that Flamsteed surprised them and left a lasting impression about her understanding and knowledge. Especially her knowledge on the instrunments in the house and their uses. The Camera Obscura, a telescope used by the Flamsteeds, was used to study the sun in a safe environment. Flamsteed was noted to have used it as inspiration for art, with the implication that she also aided in recording information collected by the telescope.
This is also reflected as John’s health started to decline and his notes started to transform from his handwriting to hers. Flamsteed also wrote to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford inquiring about Edmond Halley’s faux Historia Coelestis in 1712, while John was dying of his frail health. Then after John died in 1719, she and one of his apprentices continued his work, fighting to print and get the Historia Coelestis recognized by the Royal Astronomical Society. Flamsteed complied and completed three volumes of the Historia Coelestis and made sure that her husband’s life’s work recognized as well as solidified his legacy.
In doing so, Flamsteed had historians turning their eyes and resources to her, wondering why notes for John were in her handwriting, how much she knew about the work she was publishing, and how far her influence went. Looking beyond John’s death, Flamsteed is seen taking greater efforts beyond publishing his work. She used instruments and gifts to pay off her husband’s debts. Tools like the year-around clock, made by Thomas Tompion in 1675 and gifted to John by his patron Moore, were simplified for mass production so that the public may buy and use the clocks, paying off John’s death. Flamsteed also claimed and stored all of John’s tools and instruments, claiming them as her own and doing with as she pleased. By taking these tools, she essential stole them from Halley, but her devotion to her husband’s work shows through her the rest of her life.
Flamsteed died in 1730, a year after she published and printed John’s Atlas, a series of maps showing constellations and depictions of the heavens. Flamsteed’s life was a consistent shadow of following her husband and his works. Her legacy is defined by her devotion, hostess abilities, and ruthlessness in regards to her husband’s works. Flamsteed was able to start a girls’ school, teaching maths and science, however this was only for the purpose of apprenticeships and working as assistants/accountants. However, her ruthlessness and dedication proves that her knowledge and influence goes beyond what records and letters contain. The house she lived in and maintained, her lack of heirs and relatives, and obsession with the work she helped produced point towards her having the skills and traits of a great astronomer. Someone, less interested in her own legacy continuing on through children, and more focused on the importance of the work she played a hand in making. Margaret Flamsteed was a woman of great devotion, knowledge, and pride. She deserves the title of astronomer and the shame of her life and story is that it will only be viewed through the records and legacies of men.
Bibliography
Brück, M. Women in Early British and Irish Astronomy: Stars and Satellites. Springer Netherlands. 2009.
Flamsteed, J. Historia Coelestis Britannica. Vol. 1, second edition. London. 1725.
Forbes, E. G. The origins of the Greenwich Observatory. Journal of the British Astronomical Assocation, Vol. 85, p. 213-216, 1975.
Fisher, John, 'The King’s Observator', The Life and Work of James Bradley: The New Foundations of 18th Century Astronomy (Oxford, 2023; online edn, Oxford Academic, 14 Dec. 2023), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198884200.003.0002
Flamsteed, M. Letter to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, concerning Halley’s spurious edition of the Historia Coelestis of 1712. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 3, p. 10. Nov. 1833.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the University of Alabama in Huntsville Honors College for funding this experience, Prof. Reagan Grimsley and Charlie Gibbons for mentoring the class, and Cecilia Duykers and Makayla Frisse for making this a great experience.
