A Norfolk network within The Royal Society

Abstract

The Royal Society in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries provided a meeting place for the discussion of scientific matters, but many of the men who gathered there were connected outside the Society as friends, relatives, or colleagues. Dawson Turner (F.R.S. 1802) is the central figure in a network of Fellows of the first part of the nineteenth century, men linked by the coincidence of birth in the county of Norfolk. Turner communicated widely with people of his own locality, and with those who shared his botanical, antiquarian and artistic interests. Among these were Sir Astley Cooper (F.R.S. 1802), Sir James Edward Smith (F.R.S. 1785) and Sir William Jackson Hooker (F.R.S. 1812), each of whom achieved significantly greater notability in their chosen field than did Turner himself. Each in turn can also be placed within his own network of acquaintances within The Royal Society. Although apparently arbitrary, the connection of locality exemplifies the influence of existing relationships on the election of new Fellows, explaining links between Fellows with differing scientific interests and demonstrating how Fellows in the same field interacted outside the confines of The Royal Society. Finally, it presents a picture of how The Royal Society's meetings in London were mirrored throughout the provinces.