Fellows of the Royal Society

Fellows of the Royal Society from Queens’

The “Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge”, more usually known as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science first proposed by a committee in November 1660 and is nowadays in effect the UK Academy of Sciences. Royal Charters were granted by Charles II in 1662 and 1663.

(The dates in bold refer to the year of election as an F.R.S.)

1663. James Compton 1622–1681. (Queens’ 1637). P.C., M.P. Third Earl of Northampton; Recorder of Coventry and of Northampton; Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire; Constable of the Tower; a Lord of Trade. Original Fellow of the Royal Society.

1663. John Wallis 1617–1703. (Queens’ Fellow 1644). Savilian Professor of Geometry, University of Oxford; Chief Cryptographer for Parliament; Mathematician, partially credited with the development of modern calculus. Original Fellow of the Royal Society

1663. Sir Peter Wyche 1628–1699. (Queens’ 1644). Traveller; Envoy to Russia, Resident at Hamburg. Chairman of the committee appointed “to consider the improvement of the English Tongue”. Original Fellow of the Royal Society.

1667. John Pearson 1613–1686. (Queens’ 1632, migrated to King’s, Fellow of King’s, Master of Jesus, Master of Trinity). Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge; Archdeacon of Surrey; Chaplain to Charles II; Bishop of Chester.

1667. Walter Needham c1631–c1691. (Queens’ Fellow 1655). Physician in Shrewsbury, Oxford and London; Anatomist and early Embryologist.

1686. John Harwood 1661–1731. (Queens’ 1682). F.S.A. Commissary of St Paul’s; Advocate in Doctors Commons. Archaeologist and Zoologist.

1707. Henry Plumptre c1679–1746. (Queens’ 1697, Fellow). F.R.C.P. Physician in London (St Thomas’s Hospital). Harveian Orator, Registrar, Treasurer and President of the Royal College of Physicians; Medical author, reviser of the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis.

1712. Thomas Pellett c1671–1744. (Queens’ 1689, Fellow). F.R.C.P. Physician in London; Harveian Orator; President of the Royal College of Physicians.

1725. Richard Poley c1681-1770. (Queens’ 1699, Fellow). Secretary to the British Envoy in Sweden.

1726. Richard Hassell c1699–1770. (Queens’ 1717). London Lawyer.

1729. Daniel Wray 1701–1783. (Queens’ 1719). F.S.A. Deputy Teller of the Exchequer; Trustee of the British Museum; Antiquary and Author.

1730. Thomas Walker c1700–1764. (Queens’ 1718, Fellow). Barrister; Librarian and Treasurer, Doctors Commons.

1730. Robert More 1703–1780. (Queens’ 1721, Fellow). M.P. Traveller and Botanist; friend of Linnaeus.

1737. George Lloyd c1708–1783. (Queens’ 1726). Medical Doctor; Deputy Lieutenant for the West Riding of Yorkshire.

1738. Richard Davies c1708–1761. (Queens’ 1726, Fellow). Physician in Shrewsbury and Bath and medical author.

1743. Peter Newcome c1713–1779. (Queens’ 1731, Fellow). Proprietor of Hackney School.

1747. Sir George Savile, Bt. 1726–1784. (Queens’ 1745). M.P. Colonel of Militia. Supporter of the American Colonists and of Parliamentary reform.

1748. Henry Reade 1716-1762. (Queens’ 1736, Fellow). Commissioner of the Tax Office.

1750. Richard Roderick c1710–1756. (Queens’ 1728, Fellow of Magdalene). F.S.A. Critic and Versifier. Friend of the critic Thomas Edwards.

1751. Corbyn Morris c1709–1779. (Queens’ 1727). Secretary of Customs for Scotland; Commissioner of Customs. Statistical Economist and Demographer and Author of ‘An Essay towards Fixing the True Standard of Wit, Humour, Railing, Satire and Ridicule’.

1754. Lewis Crusius 1701–1775. (Queens’ 1733). Headmaster of Charterhouse; Rector of St John’s, Bredwardine. Classical Scholar.

1758. John Hadley 1731–1764. (Queens’ 1749, Fellow). F.R.C.P. Professor of Chemistry, University of Cambridge; Physician at St Thomas’s Hospital and to the Charterhouse. Friend of the poet Thomas Gray.

1759. John Lloyd 1735–1777. (Queens’ 1758). Medical Doctor, Naturalist and Geologist; explorer of Eldon Hole in the Peak District.

1759. John Lewis Petit 1736–1780. (Queens’ 1752). Physician; Censor of the Royal College of Physicians; Physician to St George’s and St Bartholomew’s Hospitals.

1759. Wilkinson Blanshard c1734–1770. (Queens’ 1751). F.R.C.P. Curator of the Royal College of Physicians and Physician at St George’s Hospital; Harveian Orator.

1760. John Michell 1724–1793. (Queens’ 1742, Fellow). Professor of Geology, University of Cambridge; Scientist and Astronomer; Rector of Thornhill, Yorkshire.

1763. George Wollaston 1738–1826. (Student and Fellow at Sidney Sussex, D.D. from Queens’ 1774). Rector of St Mary Aldermary and St Thomas the Apostle, London; Editor of extracts from Newton’s Principia.

1766. Thomas Forster c1710-1785. (Queens’ 1728). Rector of Halesworth, Suffolk.

1767. Owen Manning 1721–1801. (Queens’ 1737, Fellow). F.S.A. Historian, Antiquary, Topographer and Author; Rector of Godalming, Prebendary of Lincoln.

1767. Sir William Watson 1744–c1825. (Queens’ 1761, migrated to Gonville and Caius). Physician and Astronomer, Author of Treatise on Time.

1774. James Walker c1720–1789. (Queens’ 1741). Medical Doctor.

1780. Isaac Milner 1750–1820. (Queens’ 1770, Fellow, President). Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy then Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, University of Cambridge; Dean of Carlisle; Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.

1790. Philip Yorke 1757–1834. (Queens’ 1774). M.P, K.G, F.S.A, P.C. High Steward of the University of Cambridge; succeeded as third Earl of Hardwicke in 1796; Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire; Trustee of the British Museum

1804. Thomas Harrison 1771–1824. (Queens’ 1789, Fellow). Barrister; Mathematician; Commissary of the University of Cambridge; J.P.; Honorary Secretary of the African Association and of the Royal Institution; Prominent in the Anti-Slavery Movement.

1807. Lewis Hayes Petit c1774–1849. (Queens’ 1792). M.P, F.S.A, F.R.A.S, F.G.S. Barrister; Commissioner of Public Records.

1807. John George Children 1777–1852. (Queens’ 1795). F.S.A, F.R.S.Ed.. Studied Mechanics and Mineralogy; Keeper of the Zoological Collections in the British Museum; Secretary and Vice-President of the Royal Society; President of the Entomological Society.

1814. George Henry Law 1761–1845. (Queens’ 1776, Fellow). F.S.A. Bishop of Chester; Bishop of Bath and Wells.

1824. William Scoresby 1789–1857. (Queens’ 1824). F.R.S.Ed. Captain in the Greenland Fishery; Chaplain of the Mariners’ Church, Liverpool. Son of the Arctic navigator, William Scoresby. Author of books on Arctic exploration and navigation.

1828. Thomas Perronet Thompson 1783–1869. (Queens’ 1798, Fellow). M.P. General; Governor of Sierra Leone; Economist; Proprietor of the Westminster Review.

1832. Charles Boileau Elliott 1803–1875. (Queens’ 1828). F.R.G.S, J.P. Traveller and Author; Civil Servant in Bengal.

1834. James William Bellamy 1788–1874. (Queens’ 1807). Headmaster of Merchant Taylors’ School.

1838. Philip Kelland 1808–1879. (Queens’ 1830, Fellow). F.R.S.Ed. Professor of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh; President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; Founder of the Life Association of Edinburgh.

1856. John Carrick Moore 1805–1898. (Queens’ 1823). F.G.S. Barrister; Deputy Lieutenant of Wigtownshire; Geologist. Nephew of General Sir John Moore of Corunna fame.

1858. Robert Bickersteth 1816–1884. (Queens’ 1837). Bishop of Ripon.

1860. Robert Main 1808–1878. (Queens’ 1829). F.R.A.S. President of the Royal Astronomical Society; Radcliffe Observer at the University of Oxford.

1867. Baldwin Francis Duppa 1828–1872. (Queens’ 1848). Chemist at the Royal College of Chemistry.

1868. Edward James Stone 1831–1897. (Queens’ 1854, Fellow, Honorary Fellow). Astronomer Royal at the Cape of Good Hope; Radcliffe Observer at the University of Oxford; President of the Royal Astronomical Society.

1877. Osborne Reynolds 1842–1912. (Queens’ 1863, Fellow, Honorary Fellow). Professor of Engineering, Owens College, Manchester. The originator of ‘Reynolds Numbers’ in Fluid Mechanics.

1882. Charles Baron Clarke 1832–1906. (Queens’ 1854, migrating from Trinity, Fellow). F.G.S., F.L.S. Barrister; Botanist; Inspector of Schools in East Bengal; Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens at Calcutta; President of the Linnaean Society.

1902. Henry Taylor Bovey 1850–1912. (Queens’ 1869, Fellow and Honorary Fellow). F.R.S Can. Civil Engineer; Professor of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, McGill University; Rector of Imperial College, London.

1917. Charles Tate Regan 1878–1943. (Queens’ 1897, Honorary Fellow). F.L.S. Keeper of the Department of Zoology, British Museum; Director of the Museum; Fish Expert.

1925. Robert John Tillyard 1881–1937. (Queens’ 1900; Honorary Fellow). F.G.S., F.L.S. Chief Commonwealth Entomologist in Australia.

1932. Thomas Smith 1883–1969 (Queens’ 1902). Superintendent of the Light Division, National Physical Laboratory.

1948. Hayne Constant 1904–1968 (Queens’ 1924). C.B.E. Chief Scientist of the Royal Air Force; developer of jet engines.

1950. Leslie Reginald Cox 1897–1965 (Queens’ 1919). O.B.E. Deputy Keeper, British Museum; President of the Malacological Society; President of the Geological Society; President of the Palaeontological Association.

1955. (James) Arthur Ramsay 1909–1988. (Queens’ Fellow 1935, Vice-President, Honorary Fellow). M.B.E. Professor of Comparative Physiology, University of Cambridge.

1958. Percy Wragg Brian 1910–1979. (Queens’ 1928, Fellow). C.B.E. Mycologist and Head of the Department of Microbiology, Imperial Chemical Industries. Regius Professor of Botany, University of Glasgow; Professor of Botany, University of Cambridge.

1960. (Alfred) Maurice Binnie 1901–1986. (Queens’ 1919, Fellow of Trinity). F.Eng., F.I.M.E, F.I.C.E. Reader in Hydraulics, Engineering Laboratory, University of Cambridge.

1961. Maurice Stevenson Bartlett 1910–2001 (Queens’ 1929). Professor of Mathematical Statistics, University of Manchester, Professor of Mathematical Statistics, University College, London; Professor of Biomathematics, University of Oxford.

1963. Sir (Theodore) Morris Sugden 1919–1984. (Queens’ 1938, Fellow, Honorary Fellow, Master of Trinity Hall). Research Director and Chief Executive of Shell Research Ltd.; President of the Chemical Society; Physical Secretary of the Royal Society.

1964. Sir James William Longman Beament 1921–2005. (Queens 1940, Fellow, Vice-President). F.R.S.A. Draper's Professor of Agriculture, University of Cambridge; Insect Physiologist; Chairman of the Natural Environment Research Council; Member of the Composers Guild of Great Britain.

1968. Robert Neville Haszeldine 1925–2016. (Queens’ Fellow 1949, Honorary Fellow). F.R.S.C. Professor of Chemistry and Principal of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.

1970. Colin Gasking Butler 1913–2016. (Queens’ 1931). O.B.E. Head of Bee Department, Head of Entomology, Rothamsted Research Institute.

1971. Brian Selby Hartley 1926–2021. (Queens’ 1944). Founder Member, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge; Professor of Biochemistry, Imperial College, London.

1974. John Charlton Polkinghorne 1930–2021. (Queens’ President 1989, Honorary Fellow). K.B.E. Professor of Mathematical Physics, University of Cambridge; Member of the Science Research Council; Vicar of Blean, Kent; Proctor in Convocation for the University of Cambridge, Member of the Church of England Doctrine Commission; Governor of the S.P.C.K. Winner of the Templeton Prize for ‘Progress towards Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities’

1978. Fergus William Campbell 1924–1993. (Queens’ Senior Member 1953). Professor of Neurosensory Physiology, University of Cambridge.

1978. (Ernest) Ronald Oxburgh, Lord Oxburgh, of Liverpool. (Queens’ President 1982, Honorary Fellow). K.B.E., F.G.S. Professor of Mineralogy and Petrology, University of Cambridge; President of the European Union of Geosciences; Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence; Rector of Imperial College, London; Chairman of Shell; President of the Geological Society of London.

1979. Digby Johns McLaren 1919–2004. (Queens’ 1938). O.C., F.R.S.Can. Director of the Geological Survey of Canada; Professor of Geology, University of Ottawa; President of the Royal Society of Canada.

1979. Michael Farries Ashby (Queens’ 1954). C.B.E., F.Eng. Professor of Applied Physics, Harvard University; Professor of Engineering, University of Cambridge; Royal Society Research Professor, Engineering Design Centre, University of Cambridge.

1987. Anthony James Merrill Spencer 1929–2008. (Queens’ 1949). Professor of Theoretical Mechanics, University of Nottingham.

1990. (Mohamed) Azim Surani. (Queens’ 1972). C.B.E. Mary Marshall and Arthur Walton Professor of Physiology and Reproduction, Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge.

1991. John Evan Baldwin 1931–2010. (Queens’ 1949, Fellow). Professor of Radio Astronomy, University of Cambridge.

1991. Brian Charlesworth (Queens’ 1963). Professor of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago; Royal Society Research Professor in the Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh.

1991. Sir David Anthony King (Queens’ Fellow 2001; Master of Downing College). K.B., F.R.S.C., F.I.P., Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. Brunner Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of Liverpool; 1920 Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of Cambridge; Chief Scientific Adviser to H.M. Government and Head of the Office of Science and Technology/Government Office for Science; Chancellor of the University of Liverpool; President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

1991. Andrew Michael Soward (Queens’ 1962). Professor of Fluid Dynamics, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Professor of Applied Mathematics, University of Exeter; Strategic Research Adviser in the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

1993. (Ludwig) Edward Fraenkel 1927–2019. (Queens’ 1964, Fellow). Professor of Mathematics, University of Bath.

2000. Paul Kingsley Townsend. (Queens’ 1969). Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge.

2002. Philip William Ingham. (Queens’ 1974). Professor of Developmental Genetics, University of Sheffield, Director of the MRC Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics; Professor of Developmental Biology, Imperial College, London and Research Director at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore.

2002. James Anthony Jackson. (Queens’ 1973, Fellow). Professor of Active Tectonics, University of Cambridge.

2002. Roger John Davis. (Queens’ 1976, Fellow). Professor in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts and at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute

2005. Michael John Morgan. (Queens’ 1961, Fellow). Professor of Psychology, University of Durham; Professor of Psychology, University College, London; Professorial Darwin Fellow in Pharmacology (Centre for Neuroscience), Edinburgh University; Professor of Visual Psychophysics, University College, London; Professor of Psychophysics, The City University.

2007. Michael James Bickle. (Queens’ 1967). Professor of Tectonics, University of Cambridge.

2010. Michael Harvey Hastings. (Queens’ Fellow 1987). Staff Scientist, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge.

2014. Richard Edwin Hills 1945–2022. (Queens’ 1964). Professor of Radio Astronomy, University of Cambridge.

2018. Demis Hassabis. (Queens’ 1994). Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DeepMind.

2019. Peter Howard Haynes. (Queens’ 1976, Fellow). Professor of Applied Mathematics, University of Cambridge.

2022. Roberto Cipolla. (Queens’ 1981). Professor of Information Engineering, University of Cambridge.

2023. James Alexander Maynard. (Queens’ 2005). Fields Medallist. Professor of Number Theory, University of Oxford.

List updated 2023 August 15.