Hans Moritz von Brühl

Hans Moritz von Brühl (20 December 1736 – 9 June 1809) was a German diplomat and astronomer, resident for much of his life in London, where he was known as John Maurice, Count of Brühl.

He was the son of F. W. Graf von Brühl of Martinskirchen, who died in 1760, and nephew of the Polish-Saxon statesman Heinrich von Brühl. Born at Wiederau in the Electorate of Saxony, he studied at Leipzig, and there formed a close friendship with Christian Gellert, who corresponded with him for some years. At Paris, in 1755, Brühl, then in his nineteenth year, took an active part in Saxon diplomacy, and was summoned to Warsaw in 1759. He was named, through his uncle's influence, chamberlain and commandant in Thuringia, and in 1764 appointed ambassador extraordinary to the court of St. James's.

He loved astronomy and promoted its interests. Through his influence Franz Xaver von Zach, who entered his family as tutor shortly after his arrival in London in November 1783, became an astronomer. With a Hadley's sextant and a chronometer by Josiah Emery, they together determined, in 1785, the latitudes and longitudes of Brussels, Frankfort, Dresden, and Paris. Brühl built (probably in 1787) a small observatory at his villa at Harefield, and set up there, about 1794, a two-foot astronomical circle by Jesse Ramsden, one of the first instruments of the kind made in England. He was intimate with William Herschel, and transmitted news of discoveries abroad through Johann Elert Bode's Jahrbuch. He supported the advancement of chronometry, in the work of Thomas Mudge and Emery.

He also gave attention to political economy, and made a tour through the remoter parts of England early in 1783 to investigate the state of trade and agriculture.

...
Wikipedia