Ralph Greatorex

Ralph Greatorex (c. 1625–1675)^[1] was an English mathematician and mathematical instrument maker. He was an apprentice of London clockmaker Elias Allen.^[1]

Greatorex is mentioned in

St. James's Park, 'above all the rest,' says Samuel Pepys, 'I liked that which Mr. Greatorex brought, which do carry up the water with a great deal of ease.'^[2]

On 24 October Pepys bought of Greatorex a drawing-pen, 'and he did show me the manner of the lamp-glasses which carry the light a great way, good to read in bed by, and I intend to have one of them. And we looked at his wooden jack in his chimney, that goes with the smoake, which indeed is very pretty.'[2] On 9 June and 20 September 1662 and 23 March 1663 ('this day Greatorex brought me a very pretty weather-glasse for heat and cold') Pepys met the inventor; the last entry, 23 May 1663, refers to his varnish, 'which appears every whit as good upon a stick which he hath done, as the Indian.'^[2]

As well as Pepys, Allen, Oughtred and Evelyn, others that Greatorex worked or corresponded with included Samuel Hartlib, Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, Edward Phillips and Jonas Moore.^[1] He also attended meetings of the Royal Society, and did horticultural experiments at Arundel House.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sarah Bendall, 'Greatorex, Ralph (c.1625–1675)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 retrieved 6 Feb 2011
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Greatorex, Ralph, Lydia Miller Middleton, Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 23

Notes

Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Greatorex, Ralph" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 23. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

[ODNB-1] Sarah Bendall, 'Greatorex, Ralph (c.1625–1675)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 retrieved 6 Feb 2011

[DNB_1900-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Greatorex, Ralph, Lydia Miller Middleton, Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 23

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