William Scoresby Vicar of Bradford & Scoresby Lunar Crater - Bradford, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 47.729 W 001° 44.878
30U E 582469 N 5961494
This plaque in the entrance porch of Bradford Cathedral is dedicated to William Scoresby, the Vicar of Bradford. He had been an Arctic explorer who set a record for the furthest voyage north and the lunar crater is also far north on the moon.
Waymark Code: WMJCW7
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/31/2013
Views: 2
At the time William Scoresby was the Vicar of Bradford, the church was the parish church of St Peter. It did not become a Cathedral until 1919.
William Scoresby
The following information is an extract from the
Wikipedia website. "He was the son of a whaler from the town of Whitby and was apprenticed to his father aged 13. From the age of 17 he mixed time whaling in the spring and studying at Edinburgh University at other times of the year.
As a result of his studies he spent much of his time until his 30s conducting scientific experiments during his many whaling voyages. He published a number of books and papers on the Arctic Regions.
William junior finished whaling in 1823, aged 33, to train for the ministry. Following his ordination in the Church of England, Scoresby was the first pastor of the Floating Church for seamen in Liverpool. Then in in 1838 was appointed Vicar of Bradford.
Whilst at Bradford he tried to improve conditions for factory workers and succeeded in founding several Church schools for factory children.
On one of his voyages in the Arctic on 25 May 1806, he succeeded in reaching 81°30’ N. lat. (19° E. long), for twenty-one years the highest northern latitude attained in the eastern hemisphere.
He also studied temperature variations at various depths of water in the Arctic regions.
He also studied the way in which metal ships affected magnetic compasses which resulted in improved compass designs for such ships."
Lunar Crater Scoresby
Scoresby is a lunar impact crater that is located in the northern part of the Moon's near side. It is fitting that a crater so far north on the moon should be named after an Arctic explorer who held the record for travelling the furthest north in his time.
The crater is 56km in diameter, 2.4 km deep and has a colongitude value of 350 degrees at sunrise.
Due to its location, this crater appears highly foreshortened when viewed from the Earth, appearing elliptical in shape. It is, however, very nearly circular when seen from above.
The Plaque
The text on the plaque is as follows
The Rev. William Scoresby D.D. 1789 - 1857
Yorkshireman; Arctic explorer; Scientist;
Author "The Arctic Regions".
Vicar of Bradford 1839 - 1847.
Founded first Church Day Schools in Bradford.
Benefactor and Champion of the Poor.
Erected by the Rotary Club of Bradford 1996