This WebSite is provided to give information about The Reverend Professor Baden Powell.
Baden Powell, MA, FRS, FRGS (22 August 1796 – 11 June 1860) was an English mathematician and Church of England priest. He was also prominent as a liberal theologian who put forward advanced ideas about evolution. He held the Savilian Chair of Geometry at the University of Oxford from 1827 to 1860.
Powell married three times, and had fourteen children in total.
Baden Powell was born on 22nd August 1796 in Stamford Hill, Middlesex, the eldest (of three boys and two girls) of Baden Powell and Hester nee Powell - his father's father and his mother's father were brothers.
He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, and received his BA in 1817, with 1st Class Honours in Mathematics. He received his MA in 1820.
He became a "Clerk in Holy Orders" in 1820 as a Curate at Midhurst. He was appointed Vicar of Plumstead, Kent in 1821, and in 1827 aged 31 he was made Savilian Professor of Geometry, Oxford, but remained as Vicar of Plumstead.
In 1824 (aged 27) he became a Fellow of the Royal Society, and later Vice President.
He also became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and also President of the Royal Geographical Society.
He was appointed a Member of the Royal University Commission in 1850.
Baden Powell played the organ; he painted and sketched, and was known to draw caricatures of his Oxford colleagues during meetings.
He published works on mathematics, on physics, on theology and on philosophy, and fought for the principle that acknowledging scientific advances was not incompatible with Christian religion.
On 21 July 1821, when he was 25, he married Eliza Rivaz, who died forteen years later on 13 March 1836, childless.
Eighteen months after her death, on 27 September 1837 Baden married Charlotte Pope, who gave him a son and three daughters, but who died after seven years of marriage, on 14 October 1844.
Their childere were :-
Charlotte Elizabeth Powell, 14 September 1838 – 20 October 1917, aged 79
Baden Henry Powell, 23 August 1841–2 January 1901, aged 60. He is often mistakenly referred to as Baden Henry Baden-Powell, see below.
Louisa Ann Powell, 18 March 1843–1 August 1896, aged 53
Laetitia Mary Powell, 4 June 1844–2 September 1865, aged 21
Eighteen months after the death of his second wife, Baden was married for the third time, on 10 March 1846 (at St Luke's Church, Chelsea) to Henrietta Grace Smyth (3 September 1824–13 October 1914), a daughter of Admiral Smyth. She produced seven sons and three daughters:
Henry Warington Smyth Powell, (3 February 1847–24 April 1921), a naval officer, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a King's Councillor
George Smyth Powell, (24 December 1847–20 November 1898), a Conservative MP (1885 – 1898)
Augustus Smyth Powell "Gussie" (1849–1863)
Francis (Frank) Smyth Powell (29 July 1850– 25 December 1933),[2] an artist who exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts
Henrietta Smyth Powell (28 October 1851–9 March 1854)
John Penrose Smyth Powell (21 December 1852–14 December 1855)
Jessie Smyth Powell (25 November 1855–24 July 1856)
Robert Stephenson Smyth Powell, (22 February 1857–8 January 1941), the founder of the Scout & Guide Movements.
Agnes Smyth Powell, (16 December 1858–2 June 1945), the founder of the Girl Guides
Baden Fletcher Smyth Powell, (22 May 1860–3 October 1937), an aviator and president of the Royal Aeronautical Society
Shortly after Baden's death, his widow, in his honour, added his first name to create the Baden-Powell surname, so the remaining children of his third marriage became 'Baden-Powell'; the name was legally changed by Royal Licence on 30 April 1902.
Baden Henry Powell, a child of the second marriage, is often mistakenly referred to as Baden Henry Baden-Powell.
Following the publication of Darwin's "Origin of Species" in 1859, Baden contributed one of seven essays in "Essays and Reviews" (1860). This was violently attacked, and the authors denounced as being inspired by"the Evil One himself". For more on this, click >here<, and for his contribution, click >here<
On 20th August, 1909, his widow wrote to her nephew "There was some expectation of him becoming a Bishop, before Essays and Reviews were published".
He was elected to the Mercers' Company in 1822, by patrimony.
The Reverend Professor died on 11th June, 1860 at 6, Stanhope St., Paddington, and was buried on 16th June, 1860 in Kensal Green Cemetery, London.
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