Thomas Exley

Thomas Exley (9 December 1774 – 17 February 1855) was an English schoolmaster and schoolkeeper, who taught and occasionally published on mathematics, but was better known for advancing controversial scientific theories and for theological discussions, with special reference to Methodism.

Exley was born in Gowdall, a village one mile west of Snaith, Yorkshire. He settled at Bristol in the last week of 1799, quickly resuming work teaching mathematics. In 1812 he brought out with the Rev. William Moore Johnson, then curate of Henbury, Gloucestershire, a compilation entitled The Imperial Encyclopædia; or, Dictionary of the Sciences and Arts; comprehending also the whole circle of Miscellaneous Literature, &c., 4 vols. 4to, London [1812]; the following year, on 6 January 1813, he was awarded an honorary MA degree from King's College, Aberdeen, on the nomination of Johnson and their mutual brother-in-law Dr. Adam Clarke, both Johnson and Clarke already holding honorary degrees from Aberdeen. By 1848 Exley had given up keeping school and retired to Cotham Park Road, Bristol. He was an early member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and read several papers at its meetings.

The Imperial Magazine; or Compendium of Religious, Moral & Philosophical Knowledge carried a profile of Exley in the sixth issue of its first volume in 1819. Exley was then only forty-four, but the final paragraph observes that, the life of a retired mathematician can hardly be expected to furnish any extensive variety. He died on 17 February 1855, aged 80.

Exley showed an early taste for mathematics. He was a pupil at a classical and mathematical school near Barnard Castle, North Yorkshire and then moved to Manchester in search of further study and employment, finding both in a recently opened classical school. This was also his entry to the Clarke family, as, in 1796, he married Hannah Clarke, a daughter of the schoolkeeper and sister of Dr. Clarke. Exley opened his own school in Huddersfield, but, despite its success, ill health obliged him to move again, which is how he came to settle in Bristol. His reputation was assured there when, in 1802, he solved some challenging questions that appeared in a local paper.

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