Edward Crossley (1841 or 1842 – January 21 1905) was a British businessman, politician and astronomer.
He inherited his family's carpet manufacturing business (John Crossley & Sons) from his father when he was 27.
He was the Liberal MP for Sowerby Bridge from 1885 to 1892. He was also mayor of Halifax, England from 1874–1876 and 1884–1885.
He became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1867. He built an astronomical observatory and purchased a 36-inch telescope from Andrew Ainslie Common in 1885, and employed Joseph Gledhill as an observer.
With Gledhill and James Maurice Wilson (who was later Canon of Worcester), he wrote Handbook of Double Stars in 1879, which became a standard reference work.
The rainy English weather and the industrial air pollution at his observatory site were rather unsuitable for astronomy, so in 1895 he donated his 36-inch telescope to Lick Observatory in California. Though extensively modified, it is still in use and is known as the Crossley reflector . This telescope was used by Charles Dillon Perrine to discover two moons of Jupiter.
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Obituaries
Last updated: 08-20-2005 05:43:14
