Thomas William Webb

Who was Thomas William Webb?

The Reverend Thomas William Webb was a British astronomer. Some sources give his year of birth as 1806. The only son of a clergyman, the Rev. John Webb, he was raised and educated by his father, his mother having died while Thomas was a small child. He went to Oxford where he attended Magdalen College. In 1829 was ordained a minister in the Anglican Church. He was married to Henrietta Montague in 1843, daughter of Mr. Arthur Wyatt, Monmouth. Mrs. Webb died on 7 September 1884, and after a year of declining health Thomas died on 19 May 1885.

Through his career T. W. Webb served as a clergyman at various places including Gloucester, and finally in 1852 was assigned to the parish of Hardwicke near the border with Wales. In addition to serving faithfully the members of his parish, T. W. Webb pursued astronomical observation in his spare time. On the grounds of the vicarage or parsonage he built a small canvas and wood observatory that was home to a number of instruments, from a small 3.7" refractor Webb acquired a number of progressively larger refractors and reflectors with which the observations in the guide were made.