Henry Coddington (1798/9, Oldbridge, County Meath — 3 March 1845, Rome) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, fellow and tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge and Church of England clergyman.^[1]

Life

Henry Coddington was the son of Latham Coddington, Rector of Timolin, Kildare. Admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1816, Coddingtion graduated BA as Senior Wrangler in 1820,^[2] and first Smith's prizeman; proceeded M.A. in 1823, and obtained a fellowship and sub-tutorship in his college. He retired to the college living of Ware in Hertfordshire, and in the discharge of his clerical duties burst a blood-vessel, thereby fatally injuring his health.^[3]

Coddington was vicar of Ware, Hertfordshire from 1832 to 1845.^[2] Advised to try a southern climate, he travelled abroad, and died at Rome 3 March 1845.^[3]

Family

He married a daughter of Dr. Batten, principal of Haileybury College, and left seven children.^[3]

Legacy

He wrote chiefly on optics, in particular An Elementary Treatise on Optics.^[4] He also made the Coddington magnifier popular. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in February, 1829.^[5]

Awards

His name occurs on the first list of members of the British Association. He was one of the earliest members of the Royal Astronomical Society,^[6] was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Royal Society, and sat on the council of the latter body in 1831–2.^[3]

See also

• Circle of confusion
• Pencil (optics)

References

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Clerke, Agnes Mary (1887). "Coddington, Henry". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 11. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 202–203.

Sources

• W. W. Rouse Ball, A History of the Study of Mathematics at Cambridge University, 1889, repr. Cambridge University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-108-00207-3, p. 131