William Crabtree

William Crabtree
William Crabtree, as he appears in The Manchester Murals in Manchester Town Hall
Born	1610 Broughton Spout, Broughton, Lancashire, England
Died	1644 (aged 34) Manchester, England
Residence	England
Nationality	English
Fields	Astronomy Mathematics
Known for	Transit of Venus

William Crabtree (1610–1644) was an astronomer, mathematician, and merchant from Broughton, then in the Hundred of Salford, Lancashire, England. He was one of only two people to observe and record the first predicted transit of Venus in 1639 .

Crabtree was born in 1610 in the hamlet of Broughton Spout, which was on the east bank of the River Irwell, near the area now known as "The Priory" in Broughton, Salford and was educated at the Manchester Grammar School. He married into a wealthy family and worked as a merchant in Manchester. In his spare time, his great interest was astronomy. He carefully measured the movements of the planets and undertook precise astronomical calculations. With improved accuracy, he rewrote the existing Rudolphine Tables of Planetary Positions.

Crabtree corresponded with Jeremiah Horrocks (who sometimes spelt his name in the Latinised form as Horrox), another enthusiastic amateur astronomer, from 1636. A group of astronomers from the north of England, which included William Gascoigne, formed around them and were Britain's first followers of the astronomy of Johannes Kepler. "Nos Keplari" as the group called themselves, were distinguished as being the first people to gain a realistic notion of the size of the solar system. Crabtree and Horrocks were the only astronomers to observe, plot, and record the transit of Venus across the Sun, as predicted by Horrocks, on 24 November 1639 Julian calendar (4 December Gregorian calendar). The two correspondents both recorded the event in their own homes and it is not known whether they ever met in person, but Crabtree's calculations were crucial in allowing Horrocks to estimate the size of Venus and the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Unfortunately, Horrocks died early in 1641 – the day before he was due to meet Crabtree. Crabtree made his will on 19 July 1644, and was buried within the precincts of the Manchester Collegiate Church on 1 August 1644, close to where he had received his education.