Isaac Roberts

Isaac Roberts (27 January 1829 – 17 July 1904) was a Welsh engineer and business man best known for his work as an amateur astronomer, pioneering the field of astrophotography of nebulae. He was a member of the Liverpool Astronomical Society in England and was a fellow of the Royal Geological Society. Roberts was also awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1895.

Roberts was born in Groes, Denbighshire, Wales to William Roberts, a farmer. Although he spent some years of his childhood there, he later moved to Liverpool. There, he became an apprentice to John Johnson & Son (which later became Johnson and Robinson), a firm of mechanical engineers, for 7 years beginning on 12 November 1844. He became a partner in 1847, and supplemented his job with night school. When Peter Robinson died in 1855, Roberts was made manager of the firm. When the other partner, John Johnson died, Roberts was in charge of the contracts and affairs of the firm. Roberts began working as a builder in 1859, and was joined by Peter Robinson's son, J. J. Robinson, in 1862. He was very successful, and became known as one of the best engineers in the region.

Isaac Roberts married his first wife, Ellen Anne, in 1875, making him the son-in-law of Anthony Cartmell. Isaac Roberts married Dorothea Klumpke, who was nearly 30 years his junior, in 1901.

He became agnostic in his religious views.

Roberts died suddenly in Crowborough, Sussex, England in 1904 (he was 75 years old), widowing his then-wife Dorethea Klumpke. He was cremated soon after his death, and his ashes lay in Crowborough for about five years before he was reburied in Flaybrick Hill Cemetery, in Birkenhead. Roberts was patriotic to his home land of Wales, and continued to use the Welsh language throughout his life. He left a substantial amount of money to Cardiff University, Bangor University, and University of Liverpool. His epitaph read:

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