Walking through the cloisters of Westminster Abbey recently, I chanced across this splendid plaque commemorating Edmond Halley. The former Astronomer Royal is today best known for discovering the comet that bears his name, but the memorial lists other notable achievements. Here’s his full tale/tail:
First to predict the return of the comet named after him.
Second Astronomer Royal.
Fellow and Secretary of the Royal Society.
Sponsor of Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia.
Editor of Philosophical Transactions.
Savilian Professor of Astronomy Oxford.
Oceanographer Meteorologist Geophysicist.
Inventor Navigator and famed for
His researches in determining longitude
He laid the actuarial foundation of life assurance.
What a man. Comets, clocks and compensations.
As well as a tail full of achievements, the plaque also carries an image of the Giotto space probe, which shot past Halley’s Comet in March 1986 – one of the first great achievements of the European Space Agency.
The plaque was installed on 13 November 1986 after much lobbying from the Halley’s Comet Society (I wonder if they only meet every 75 years). A procession of astronomers (including incumbant Royal, Sir Francis Graham Smith) and afficianados witnessed the unveiling. Their number included Eamonn Andrews, former host of This is your life. No big red book for Mr Halley, but a fitting tribute nontheless. His memorial sits next to great explorers of a more earthly nature, Francis Drake, Francis Chichester and James Cook.
Halley, though, is not buried within the Abbey or its precincts. His grave is at St Margaret’s church in Lee Green, beside a couple of other Astronomers Royal.
You can find his Westminster memorial at the southern end of the Abbey cloisters, which are well worth a visit in their own right.