28-403: John Byrom , John Byrom of Kersal , or John Byrom of Manchester FRS (29 February 1692 – 26 September 1763) was an English poet, the inventor of a revolutionary system of shorthand and later a significant landowner. He is most remembered as the writer of the lyrics of Anglican hymn " Christians, awake, salute the happy morn ", which was supposedly a Christmas gift for his daughter. Byrom
56-1617: A "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge , including mathematics , engineering science , and medical science ". Fellowship of the Society, the oldest known scientific academy in continuous existence, is a significant honour. It has been awarded to many eminent scientists throughout history, including Isaac Newton (1672), Benjamin Franklin (1756), Charles Babbage (1816), Michael Faraday (1824), Charles Darwin (1839), Ernest Rutherford (1903), Srinivasa Ramanujan (1918), Jagadish Chandra Bose (1920), Albert Einstein (1921), Paul Dirac (1930), Winston Churchill (1941), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1944), Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1945), Dorothy Hodgkin (1947), Alan Turing (1951), Lise Meitner (1955), Satyendra Nath Bose (1958), and Francis Crick (1959). More recently, fellowship has been awarded to Stephen Hawking (1974), David Attenborough (1983), Tim Hunt (1991), Elizabeth Blackburn (1992), Raghunath Mashelkar (1998), Tim Berners-Lee (2001), Venki Ramakrishnan (2003), Atta-ur-Rahman (2006), Andre Geim (2007), Bai Chunli (2014), James Dyson (2015), Ajay Kumar Sood (2015), Subhash Khot (2017), Elon Musk (2018), Elaine Fuchs (2019) and around 8,000 others in total, including over 280 Nobel Laureates since 1900. As of October 2018 , there are approximately 1,689 living Fellows, Foreign and Honorary Members, of whom 85 are Nobel Laureates. Fellowship of
84-708: A Chair (all of whom are Fellows of the Royal Society ). Members of the 10 Sectional Committees change every three years to mitigate in-group bias . Each Sectional Committee covers different specialist areas including: New Fellows are admitted to the Society at a formal admissions day ceremony held annually in July, when they sign the Charter Book and the Obligation which reads: "We who have hereunto subscribed, do hereby promise, that we will endeavour to promote
112-580: A double agent, the "Queen's Chameleon". His views might be summed up in the verse that he composed, in the form of a toast: Byrom died in 1763 and is buried in his family's private chapel, which is now known as Jesus Chapel in Manchester Cathedral , Manchester, England. His papers, though preserved for some time after his death, were mysteriously destroyed in the nineteenth century. A freemason , few surviving items have suggested that he may have belonged to an early quasi-masonic society, known as
140-505: A significant development in the history of shorthand. It was used by John (1703–1791) and Charles Wesley (1707–1788), founders of Methodism, who recorded their self-examinations in coded diaries. The ancestral home of the Byrom family is Byrom Hall at Slag Lane in Lowton (the lane facing the hall is called Byrom Lane). He lived here from time to time, but seems to have largely resided in
168-654: A town house in Manchester and at Kersal Cell . Byrom had three daughters and a son. His eldest child was the diarist and Jacobite supporter Elizabeth "Beppy" and his son was named Edward. His favourite was his daughter Dorothy, known as Dolly. In December 1745, after a romp with Dolly, he promised to write her something for Christmas; it was to be written especially for her and no one else. The delighted Dolly reminded her father of his promise each day as Christmas grew nearer. On Christmas morning, when she ran down to breakfast, she found several presents awaiting her. Among them
196-737: Is confirmed by the Council in April, and a secret ballot of Fellows is held at a meeting in May. A candidate is elected if they secure two-thirds of votes of those Fellows voting. An indicative allocation of 18 Fellowships can be allocated to candidates from Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences; and up to 10 from Applied Sciences, Human Sciences and Joint Physical and Biological Sciences. A further maximum of six can be 'Honorary', 'General' or 'Royal' Fellows. Nominations for Fellowship are peer reviewed by Sectional Committees, each with at least 12 members and
224-421: Is nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society (a proposer and a seconder), who sign a certificate of proposal. Previously, nominations required at least five fellows to support each nomination by the proposer, which was criticised for supposedly establishing an old boy network and elitist gentlemen's club . The certificate of election (see for example ) includes a statement of the principal grounds on which
252-790: The John Rylands Research Institute and Library throughout the 20th century and referred to as the Thomson-Byrom following donations by Rev. W. H. Thomson of Manchester in 1961 and 1963, and the third by his niece, Miss V. Keable, in 1971. Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society ( FRS , ForMemRS and HonFRS ) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made
280-426: The post-nominal letters FRS . Every year, fellows elect up to ten new foreign members. Like fellows, foreign members are elected for life through peer review on the basis of excellence in science. As of 2016 , there are around 165 foreign members, who are entitled to use the post-nominal ForMemRS . Honorary Fellowship is an honorary academic title awarded to candidates who have given distinguished service to
308-520: The "Cabala Club", similar to the Gentleman's Club of Spalding , and pursued occult interests. He was survived by his wife who died in December 1778. All of his estate and the family home of Kersall Cell, Salford was left to Elizabeth Byrom . His library of books and manuscripts were donated to Chetham's Library by his descendant Eleanora Atherton in 1870. Byrom's papers were accumulated by
SECTION 10
#1732797304629336-439: The Royal Society has been described by The Guardian as "the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar " with several institutions celebrating their announcement each year. Up to 60 new Fellows (FRS), honorary (HonFRS) and foreign members (ForMemRS) are elected annually in late April or early May, from a pool of around 700 proposed candidates each year. New Fellows can only be nominated by existing Fellows for one of
364-663: The Society, we shall be free from this Obligation for the future". Since 2014, portraits of Fellows at the admissions ceremony have been published without copyright restrictions in Wikimedia Commons under a more permissive Creative Commons license which allows wider re-use. In addition to the main fellowships of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS & HonFRS), other fellowships are available which are applied for by individuals, rather than through election. These fellowships are research grant awards and holders are known as Royal Society Research Fellows . In addition to
392-612: The cause of science, but do not have the kind of scientific achievements required of Fellows or Foreign Members. Honorary Fellows include the World Health Organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (2022), Bill Bryson (2013), Melvyn Bragg (2010), Robin Saxby (2015), David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville (2008), Onora O'Neill (2007), John Maddox (2000), Patrick Moore (2001) and Lisa Jardine (2015). Honorary Fellows are entitled to use
420-528: The fellowships described below: Every year, up to 52 new fellows are elected from the United Kingdom, the rest of the Commonwealth of Nations , and Ireland, which make up around 90% of the society. Each candidate is considered on their merits and can be proposed from any sector of the scientific community. Fellows are elected for life on the basis of excellence in science and are entitled to use
448-540: The good of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, and to pursue the ends for which the same was founded; that we will carry out, as far as we are able, those actions requested of us in the name of the Council; and that we will observe the Statutes and Standing Orders of the said Society. Provided that, whensoever any of us shall signify to the President under our hands, that we desire to withdraw from
476-412: The inhabitants of Manchester tried to persuade him to set up a medical practice in the town, but he decided that his abilities were insufficient to pursue a medical career and resolved to teach his shorthand system instead. Shortly after coming into his family inheritance in 1740, he patented his New Universal Shorthand . This system of shorthand, officially taught at both Oxford and Cambridge universities,
504-467: The phrase Tweedledum and Tweedledee (in connection with a dispute about the merits of the two composers, George Frideric Handel and Giovanni Bononcini ). Ralph Tomlinson authored a parody of John Byrom's poem called A Slang Pastoral . It begins "My Time, O ye Muses, was happily spent," and it was originally published in The Spectator . Byrom did not lead an ordinary provincial life. He
532-514: The post nominal letters HonFRS . Statute 12 is a legacy mechanism for electing members before official honorary membership existed in 1997. Fellows elected under statute 12 include David Attenborough (1983) and John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne (1991). The Council of the Royal Society can recommend members of the British royal family for election as Royal Fellow of the Royal Society . As of 2023 there are four royal fellows: Elizabeth II
560-552: The proposal is being made. There is no limit on the number of nominations made each year. In 2015, there were 654 candidates for election as Fellows and 106 candidates for Foreign Membership. The Council of the Royal Society oversees the selection process and appoints 10 subject area committees, known as Sectional Committees, to recommend the strongest candidates for election to the Fellowship. The final list of up to 52 Fellowship candidates and up to 10 Foreign Membership candidates
588-455: Was a member of the Royal Society while Sir Isaac Newton was president, moving in some very influential social and intellectual circles in London and elsewhere. Modern research has revealed him to be something of a man of mystery. In the first place there is the question of his political views. It was once thought that he was a closet Jacobite , but it is now suggested that he may have acted as
SECTION 20
#1732797304629616-466: Was an envelope addressed to her in her father's handwriting. It was the first thing she opened and, to her great delight, it proved to be a Christmas carol entitled " Christians, awake, salute the happy morn ". The original manuscript, headed with "Christmas Day for Dolly", was first published in Harrop's Manchester Mercury in 1746. Although Byrom is probably best remembered for this Christmas carol, he
644-588: Was born at what is now The Old Wellington Inn (part of the Old Shambles), Manchester, in 1692. The property was then used as an office for market tolls, with accommodation on the upper floors. The inn, now a tourist attraction, has a plaque in the bar area which commemorates his birth. However, some sources claim that he was born at Kersal Cell in Lower Kersal in the township of Broughton , near Salford , just outside Manchester. According to Bailey he
672-466: Was descended from an old genteel Lancashire family. Ralph Byrom came to Manchester from Lowton in 1485 and became a prosperous wool merchant. His son Adam acquired property in Salford , Darcy Lever , Bolton and Ardwick (though his wealth did not prevent his mentally ill daughter from being accused of witchcraft ). Edward Byrom helped to foil a Royalist plot to seize Manchester in 1642 . Byrom
700-421: Was not a Royal Fellow, but provided her patronage to the society, as all reigning British monarchs have done since Charles II of England . Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1951) was elected under statute 12, not as a Royal Fellow. The election of new fellows is announced annually in May, after their nomination and a period of peer-reviewed selection. Each candidate for Fellowship or Foreign Membership
728-514: Was one of the tallest men in the kingdom. His privileged background enabled him to obtain an excellent education, including The King's School, Chester , and Merchant Taylors' School, London . He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge , becoming a fellow there in 1714. He subsequently travelled abroad and studied medicine at Montpellier in France. Byrom invented a system of shorthand and, having perfected this, returned to England in 1716. Some of
756-462: Was regarded by his contemporaries as a poet and a literary man. Most of his poems, the best-known of which is My spirit longeth for Thee , were religious in tone. Byrom greatly admired William Law and he often versified parts of Law's prose. The printer and novelist Samuel Richardson printed poems for Byrom, some of which were found upon Richardson's death among his manuscripts. Byrom is also remembered for his epigrams and, above all, his coinage of
784-467: Was used by the clerk of the House of Lords. [REDACTED] On 16 June 1742, An Act of Parliament ( 15 Geo. 2 . c. 23) secured to John Byrom, M.A., the sole right of publishing for a certain term of years (21) the art and method of shorthand invented by him. His system of shorthand was posthumously published as The Universal English Shorthand which, although superseded in the nineteenth century, marked
#628371