Francis Galton FRS (1822 - 1911)

Born 16 Feb 1822 in The Larches, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, England

Ancestors

Husband of Louisa Jane (Butler) Galton — married 1 Aug 1853 (to 13 Aug 1897) in Peterborough Registration District, Northamptonshire, England

Died 17 Jan 1911 at age 88 in Grayshott House, Grayshott, Hampshire, England

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English statistician, sociologist, psychologist, anthropologist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, psychometrician, and criminologist, knighted in 1909.

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Biography

Francis Galton FRS is Notable.

Francis Galton FRS was a Freemason.

Francis Galton son of Samuel Tertius Galton and his wife, Frances Violetta Darwin was born on 16 February 1822. He was baptised at St Martin in Birmingham on 26 March 1822. ^[1]

Francis Galton, 1840

Francis was a child prodigy, being able to read by the age of 2, and reading Shakespeare by the age of 6. He was educated at King Edward's Grammar School in Birmingham and at Rugby under Thomas Arnold ^[2]. He studied at Birmingham General Hospital and King's College London Medical School. He appears on the 1841 census ^[3] as a student at Trinity College, Cambridge where he obtained a BA in 1844. ^[4] In 1844 he became a freemason, starting as an Apprentice, then Fellow Craft, and Master Mason - all in 1844. He then suffered a nervous breakdown due to his father's death (also in 1844).

In 1845 and 1846, Francis travelled to Egypt, the Nile, the Sudan, Beirut, Damascus, and visited Jordan.

He was awarded an MA in 1847 (without studying for it) because of the emotional stress attached to the death of his father.

In 1850, Francis joined the Royal Geographical Society and travelled to southwest Africa (now known as Namibia). He received the Royal Geographical Society's Founder's Gold Medal and became famous for his cartography and expeditions.

Louisa Jane Butler

On 1 August 1853 he married Louisa Jane Butler, daughter of George Butler, Dean of Peterborough ^[4] and his wife, Sarah Gray. ^[5] Francis Galton seems to have been rapidly absorbed into the Butler family. He had no children, of his own, and for a man who was so deeply interested in heredity as he was, Spencer Butler's 11 children and Montagu Butler's eight sons and daughters formed a wonderful field of investigation. Isabel Richards remembered her brothers being photographed many times to produce the 'composite portraits' which he used in his studies. Ruth Butler remembers him taking casts of the family's ears to test a theory as to the correlation between musical ability and the form of the ear.

The couple's life was radically altered upon the 1859 publication of The Origin of Species by Francis's cousin, Charles Darwin. Francis began studying human populations, mental characteristics - even fingerprints. He invented "historiometry", which studied genetics and genius, and coined the phrase "nature versus nuture". He analyzed human abilities, and investigated whether being a twin had an effect; also whether culture had an effect on individuals.

On the 1861 census, Francis appears with his wife and three servants in St Margaret's, Westminster, Middlesex, England. He is described as a landed proprietor. ^[6]

On the 1871 census, Francis, together with his wife Louisa, returned to be with his 87-year-old mother, her youngest daughter (Emma), and five servants, living at 5 Bertie Terrace, Milverton, Warwickshire, England. Francis was described as a Geographer. His sister, Elizabeth Wheler was living at Number 3. ^[7] In 1875, Francis submitted the first weather map to The Times newspaper - this is used in newspapers worldwide.

In 1883, Francis invented the term "eugenics", and his studies and statistics became strongly affected by his approach to "racial hygiene".

Galton's Correlation Diagram

1884's International Health Exhibition provided Francis with an excellent opportunity to display "the simplicity of the instruments and methods by which the chief physical characteristics of man may be measured and recorded". ^[8] He used an interactive walkthrough laboratory, whereby patrons could discover their strength, breathing capacity, acuteness of sight and hearing. Each individual (9,337 of them) was given a copy of all their statistics, while Francis kept a copy for statistical research. He also used questionnaires (never used before) for people to describe their reactions to mental imagery.

Although his mother had died in 1874, Francis and his wife were still living at 5 Bertie Terrace on the 1891 census. He was described as 'living on his own means', which enabled him to take an active role in the British Association for the Advancement of Science. ^[9]

1892, 1893, and 1895 saw the publication of three more books by Francis - all investigating the topic of fingerprints, their heritability and racial differences. The books identified common patterns and set out a classification system still used today. Although fingerprints in crime detection had been introduced in the 1860s, and reiterated in the 1880s, it was not until Galton's books in the 1890s that the topic was considered in such a detailed manner.

Francis (now Sir Francis) died childless at Grayshott House in Haslemere on 17 January 1911^{[10][11] [4]} and was buried at St Michael and All Angels, Claverdon in Warwickshire on the 21st. ^[12][2] He left £45,000 to found a Chair of Eugenics at London University. ^[4]

Bibliography

• The art of travel, or, Shifts and contrivances available in wild countries. London: John Murray. 1855.
• Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical South Africa. London. 1853.
• Hereditary Genius. London: Macmillan. 1869.
• "Statistical Inquiries into the Efficacy of Prayer". Fortnightly Review. 12: 125–35. 1872.
• "On men of science, their nature and their nurture". Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain. 7: 227–236. 1874.
• "Typical laws of heredity". Nature. 15 (388): 492–495, 512–514, 532–533. 1877.
• "Composite portraits" (PDF). Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 8: 132–142. 1878.
• Inquiries Into Human Faculty and Its Development. Macmillan. 1883. p. 24.
• "Anthropometric Laboratory", Science, London: William Clowes, 5 (114): 294–295, 1884.
• "On the Anthropometric Laboratory at the Late International Health Exhibition". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 14: 205–221. 1 January 1885a.
• "Regression Towards Mediocrity in Hereditary Stature". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 15: 246–263. 1886.
• "Hereditary stature". Nature. 33 (848): 295–298. 1886b.
• "Co-Relations and Their Measurement, Chiefly from Anthropometric Data". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. 45 (273–279): 135–145. 1 January 1888.
• Natural Inheritance (PDF). London: Macmillan. 1889.
• "Cutting a Round Cake on Scientific Principles (Letters to the Editor)" (PDF). Nature. 75 (1938): 173. 20 December 1906.
• "Vox Populi" (PDF). Nature. 75 (1949): 450–451. 7 March 1907.
• Memories of My Life. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company. 1909. p. 331.
• Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry Into Its Laws and Consequences. Macmillan. 1914.
• "The Eugenic College of Kantsaywhere". Utopian Studies. 12 (2): 191–209. 2001.
• Notes attached to Butler family tree in possession of NW Smith and passed down to BW Smith

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JWHK-98C : 18 September 2020), Francis Galton, 1822.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Wikipedia: Francis Galton
3. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQR8-FQP : 22 May 2019), Francis Galton, All Saints in the Jewry, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Venn Cambridge Alumni: Galton Francis
5. ↑ Marriage: "British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPCJ-T3T7 : 17 April 2019), Francis Galton, Esq, Leamington, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom; records extracted FamilySearch and images digitized by FindMyPast; citing Leamington, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom, 6 Aug 1853, The British Newspaper Archive, Ireland; FHL microfilm .
6. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7LD-FCJ : 3 March 2021), Francis Galton, St Margaret, Westminster, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
7. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KD8R-6NP : 19 February 2021), Francis Galton in entry for Frances A V Galton, 1871.
8. ↑ "On the Anthropometric Laboratory at the Late International Health Exhibition". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 14: 205–221. 1 January 1885a.
9. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WGL4-8ZM : 1 March 2021), Francis Galton in household of Emma S Galton, Milverton, Leamington, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Warwickshire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
10. ↑ https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1904/32858_625537_2389-00123/14413980?backurl=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/1593183/person/25796538266/facts/citation/117589429385/edit/record National Probate Calendar (7 March 1911 Sir Francis Galton of 42 Rutland Gate, Middlesex died 17 January 1911 at Grayshott House, Haslemere. Estate £104487 3s 1d. Probate granted to Edward Galton Wheler and Arthur Francis Butler, inspector to the Board of Education)
11. ↑ England and Wales death index (Registered Alton 1911 1st qu Francis Galton aged 88)
12. ↑ Burial record Claverdon (21 January 1911 Francis Galton of Grayshott House, Grayshott, aged 88)

See Also:

• The Britannica Guide to The 100 Most Influential Scientists (2007), pp. 183, 188-190.
• Wikipedia:Francis_Galton
• Ruth Schwartz Cowan, ‘Galton, Sir Francis (1822–1911)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2005 accessed 6 May 2017. This is a subscription site but access is free to readers of British libraries whose library subscribes.
• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVC-GR26 : 26 July 2019), Francis Galton, 1911; Burial, Claverdon, Stratford-on-Avon District, Warwickshire, England, St Michael and All Angels Churchyard; citing record ID 10454153, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.