Herschel , Sir , William , 1738-1822 , Knight , astronomer and musician Herschel , Caroline Lucretia , 1750-1848 , astronomer Herschel , Sir , John Frederick William , 1792-1871 , 1st Baronet , astronomer Herschel , Alexander Stewart , 1836-1907 , astronomer

Herschel , Sir , William , 1738-1822 , Knight , astronomer and musician Herschel , Caroline Lucretia , 1750-1848 , astronomer Herschel , Sir , John Frederick William , 1792-1871 , 1st Baronet , astronomer Herschel , Alexander Stewart , 1836-1907 , astronomer

Sir William Herschel (1738-1822) was born in Hanover and came to England in 1757, where he taught music in Leeds, Halifax and Bath. He devoted himself to the study of mathematics and astronomy, built his own telescope in c 1773, and with it discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 (which he named 'Georgium Sidus' in honour of George III). He was appointed private astronomer to George III in 1782 and knighted in 1816, and is regarded as the virtual founder of sidereal science.

His sister Caroline Lucretia Herschel (1750-1848) discovered eight comets, receiving a salary from George III in 1787. She received the Astronomical Society's gold medal for her catalogue of Sir William Herschel's star clusters and nebulae, 1828, and was created an honorary member of the Society in 1835.

Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871), the son of Sir William Herschel, was a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, and obtained his M.A. in 1816. With George Peacock (1791-1858) he translated Lacroix's Elementary Treatise on the Differential Calculus, and was elected FRS in 1813.

His son Alexander Stewart Herschel (1836-1907) was born in South Africa, and studied meteorology at the Royal School of Mines, London, 1861. He was professor of physics at Glasgow, 1866-1871 and at Durham College, Newcastle, 1871-1886. He reported on observation of meteors to the British Association, 1862-1881, observing a solar eclipse in Spain in 1905, and was elected FRS in 1884.