Allestree, Richard (b. before 1582, d. c. 1643), almanac maker and mathematician, was a younger son of William Allestree (b. before 1520, d. 1581) and his wife, Ellen. The family lived at Alvaston and Derby. Richard was an uncle of the famous royalist divine ...
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Allestree, Richard (b. before 1582, d. c. 1643), almanac maker and mathematician
Bernard Capp
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Andrews, Henry (1744–1820), astronomer and astrologer
Patrick Curry
Andrews, Henry (1744–1820), astronomer and astrologer, was born on 4 February 1744 in Frieston, Lincolnshire. His background was humble, and he received little or no formal education. A passion for astronomy was evident from a very early age, and by the time he was ten he had acquired a telescope, which he used to set on a table on ...
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Andrews, William (1634/5–1712/13), astrologer and teacher of mathematics
Bernard Capp
Andrews, William (1634/5–1712/13), astrologer and teacher of mathematics, was a well-known compiler of almanacs. He spent his adult life in Essex, at Ashdown (1656), Saffron Walden (by 1660), and nearby Radwinter (from 1668), but it is not known whether he married. He studied astrology from about 1652 and composed his first almanac, for 1655, at the age of nineteen; a new edition followed every year until his death. Though he included political prophecies, he avoided controversy by taking a firmly patriotic line, predicting disasters for ...
Article
Ashenden, John (d. in or before 1368?), astrologer
Keith Snedegar
Ashenden, John (d. in or before 1368
Article
Ashmole, Elias (1617–1692), astrologer and antiquary
Michael Hunter
Ashmole, Elias (1617–1692), astrologer and antiquary, was born on 23 May 1617 at Lichfield in Staffordshire, the son of Simon Ashmole, a saddler, and his wife, Anne, daughter of Anthony Bowyer, a Coventry draper whose family was of gentry status. Ashmole's grandfather Thomas Ashmole...
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Ashmole, Elias (1617–1692)
Maker: John Riley
In
Elias Ashmole (1617–1692) by John Riley, 1683 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
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Askham [Ascham], Anthony (c. 1517–1559), writer on astronomy and almanac maker
Bernard Capp
Askham [Ascham], Anthony (c. 1517–1559), writer on astronomy and almanac maker, was born at Kirby Wiske, near Northallerton, Yorkshire, the third son of John Ascham (d. 1544) of Kirby Wiske, who was a yeoman farmer and steward to Lord Scrope of Bolton...
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Baker, Humphrey (fl. 1557–1574), writer on astrology and arithmetic
Anita McConnell
Baker, Humphrey (fl. 1557–1574), writer on astrology and arithmetic, whose origins are unknown, was living in London when his almanac was published in 1557. A small volume, printed in black letter, it was entitled The rules and right ample documentes, touchinge the use and practise of the common almanackes, which are named ephemerides: a briefe … introduction upon the iudicall astrologie … with a treatise … touching the coniunction of the planets … the hole faithfully and clerely translated into Englysche by Humprey Baker BL...
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Bassantin [Bassendyne], James (d. 1568), astronomer and astrologer
A. J. Turner
Bassantin [Bassendyne], James (d. 1568), astronomer and astrologer, was the son of the laird of Bassendean in the Merse, Berwickshire, and was born in the reign of James IV (r. 1488–1513). He entered the University of Glasgow at an early age, and, after finishing his studies in the humanities, devoted himself to mathematics and its related sciences, in which he acquired remarkable proficiency. To improve further in these subjects he travelled in the ...
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Blagrave, Joseph (b. 1610, d. in or before 1682), astrologer
C. H. Coote
revised by Patrick Curry
Blagrave, Joseph (b. 1610, d. in or before 1682), astrologer, was born in the parish of St Giles, Reading, the youngest of four sons of Alexander Blagrave (d. 1639) and his wife, Margaret. He was a nephew of John Blagrave (d...
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Bomelius, Eliseus (d. 1579), physician and astrologer
John Bennell
Bomelius, Eliseus (d. 1579), physician and astrologer, born in Wesel, Westphalia, was probably the son of Henry Bomelius (d. 1570), a native of Bommel (now Zaltbommel) in the Netherlands, who from 1540 to 1559 was Lutheran preacher at Wesel, and the author of several religious and historical books of wide repute. The ...
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Booker, John (1602–1667), astrologer
Bernard Capp
Booker, John (1602–1667), astrologer, was born at Manchester on 23 March 1602 and was later described as being of 'good parentage'; his father died on 23 March 1621. He received a sound schooling which gave him a lasting proficiency in Latin, and his writings show that he read widely. He moved to ...
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Bretnor, Thomas (1570/71–1618), astrologer and medical practitioner
Bernard Capp
Bretnor, Thomas (1570/71–1618), astrologer and medical practitioner, was born in Bakewell, Derbyshire, and went to London about 1604, settling in the parish of St Sepulchre. Though he appears not to have attended university, he was fluent in Latin, French, and Spanish, and became a well-known figure in Jacobean ...
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Buckminster [Buckmaster], Thomas (1531/2–1599), Church of England clergyman and almanac writer
Joseph Gross
Buckminster [Buckmaster], Thomas (1531/2–1599), Church of England clergyman and almanac writer, was vicar of Twickenham from 1562 to 1563, then rector at All Hallows-the-Great, London, 1564–72, and rector at St Mary Woolnoth from 1572 until his death. He is sometimes supposed to have been a relative of ...
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Cainer, Jonathan Ellis (1957–2016), astrologer
Roy Gillett
Cainer, Jonathan Ellis (1957–2016), astrologer, was born at St George’s Hospital, London, at 8 a.m. on 18 December 1957, the eldest of three sons of David Michael Cainer (b. 1934), schoolteacher, later computing manager for a bank, and his wife (Gloria) Ruth, ...
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Case, John (c. 1660–1700), astrologer and quack
Edward Heron-Allen
revised by Anita McConnell
Case, John (c. 1660–1700), astrologer and quack, was born at Lyme, Dorset, about 1660, judging from the statement in his book, The wards of the key to Helmont proved unfit for the lock, or, The principles of Mr Wm Bacon examined and refuted...
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Case, John (c. 1660–1700)
Maker: Frederick Hendrick van Hove
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John Case (c. 1660–1700), by Frederick Hendrick van Hove, 1698
© Royal College of Physicians
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Childrey, Joshua (1625–1670), antiquary and astrologer
W. P. Courtney
revised by Patrick Curry
Childrey, Joshua (1625–1670), antiquary and astrologer, was the son of Robert Childrey of Rochester, Kent, where he was born on 20 October 1625. Having attended Rochester grammar school, he entered Magdalen College, Oxford, in the Lent term of 1640, and became one of the clerks. On the outbreak of the civil war he left the university, and did not return until the city had surrendered to the forces of ...
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Coelson [Colson], Lancelot (1627–1687?), astrologer and medical practitioner
Bernard Capp
Coelson [Colson], Lancelot (1627–1687
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Coley, Henry (1633–1704), astrologer and mathematician
Bernard Capp
Coley, Henry (1633–1704), astrologer and mathematician, was born on 18 October 1633 in the parish of St Mary Magdalen, Oxford, the son of a joiner. His birth was said to have occurred at 32 seconds after 2.14 p.m., 'a sufficiently exact Estimate...
