The Reverend Joseph Woolley MA LLD FRAS (1817-1889) was a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society

Royal Astronomical Society

The Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...

 and a founding member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Royal Institution of Naval Architects

The Royal Institution of Naval Architects is an international organisation representing naval architects. It is an international professional institution whose members are involved world-wide at all levels in the design, construction, repair and operation of ships, boats and marine...

. He was also the first Principal of the School of Mathematics and Naval Construction

School of Mathematics and Naval Construction

The Central School of Mathematics and Naval Construction was a short-lived shipbuilding college at Portsmouth Dockyard on the south coast of England. It was founded in 1848 but only lasted five years, until 1853...

, Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

. He was related to the 20th-century astronomer Richard van der Riet Woolley

Richard van der Riet Woolley

Richard van der Riet Woolley was an English astronomer who became Astronomer Royal. His mother's maiden name was Van der Riet....

 (Joseph Woolley was the brother of Benjamin Woolley, Richard van der Riet Woolley's paternal grandfather).

Woolley was educated at Brompton Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge

St John's College, Cambridge

St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....

. He graduated BA as 3rd Wrangler in 1840, became a Fellow and Lecturer at St John's College, and was Rede Lecturer in 1844.

Sources

• H. W.Dickinson, 'Joseph Woolley - Pioneer of British Naval Education; 1848 - 1873', Education Research and Perspectives (2007) 34(1) pages 1–26
• Richard van der Riet Woolley biography, including Woolley family history