James Ludovic Lindsay

James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres, FRS, FRAS (28 July 1847 – 31 January 1913) was a British astronomer, politician, bibliophile and philatelist. A member of the Royal Society, Crawford was elected president of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1878. He was a prominent Freemason.

The Earl was the son of Alexander the 25th Earl and his wife Margaret, born at St Germain in France. He was asthmatic and spent considerable periods at sea studying the more portable sections of the family library which had been established by his father.

The Earl, then Lord Lindsay, married Emily Florence Bootle-Wilbraham, granddaughter of Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale, and had seven children:

Crawford was interested in astronomy from an early age. Along with his father, he built up a private observatory at Dun Echt, Aberdeenshire. He employed David Gill to equip the observatory, using the best available technology. Among his achievements, Gill later made the first photograph of the Great Comet of 1882, pioneering astrophotography and the mapping of the heavens. Crawford mounted expeditions to Cadiz in 1870, to observe the eclipse of the sun; India in 1871, to observe the eclipse of the sun; and then to Mauritius in 1874, to observe the transit of Venus. On the latter two expeditions Crawford employed London photographer Henry Davis, who in 1876 was appointed Crawford's personal librarian.

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