Lunar Society of Birmingham

Lunar Society =
Lunar Society of Birmingham

Founding of the Society

Year Authority / Notes

1775 The first meeting of the Lunar Society is given as Sunday, 31 December 1775 on p.141 of Schofield (1963).
The history of the Lunar Society is, however, rather complex. According to pp.33-117 of Schofield (1963), it was preceeded (1765-1775) by informal meetings of a group that Schofield names the Lunar Circle.
According to p. 3 of Schofield (1963), it was a small group comprised of only 14 members, including Erasmus Darwin, Samuel Galton, Joseph Priestly, Jonathan Stokes, James Watt, and Josiah Wedgewood (the renowned potter); and it specialized in the application of science and technology to industry.
The group took the name Lunar Society, according to p.3 and p.145 of Schofield (1963), because they generally scheduled their dinner meetings on the Sunday or Monday closest to the Full Moon. The website for a latter-day Birmingham-based Lunar Society indicates that the proximity of meetings of the original Lunar Society to the Full Moon was "to make travel easier before the days of street lighting."
According to p.4 of Schofield (1963), the Lunar Society never published its proceedings.

Seat of the Society

City Authority / Notes

Birmingham
England This location is supported by Schofield (1963), a detailed historical monograph on the Lunar Society.

Name of the Society

Dates Name Authority

1775 - 1809? Lunar Society
[Sometimes referred to as: Lunar Society of Birmingham .] The first meeting of the Lunar Society is given as Sunday, December 31 1775 on p.141 of Schofield (1963). And on p.414 of Schofield (1963), Schofield indicates that the Lunar Society went into decline after 1791, but he acknowledges that Eric Robinson had cited evidence of meetings of the Lunar Society as late as 1801.
The website for a latter-day Birmingham-based Lunar Society gives a cessation date of 1809 for its eighteenth-century predecessor.

Lunar Society = Lunar Society of Birmingham
Founding of the Society
Year	Authority / Notes
1775	The first meeting of the Lunar Society is given as Sunday, 31 December 1775 on p.141 of Schofield (1963). The history of the Lunar Society is, however, rather complex. According to pp.33-117 of Schofield (1963), it was preceeded (1765-1775) by informal meetings of a group that Schofield names the Lunar Circle. According to p. 3 of Schofield (1963), it was a small group comprised of only 14 members, including Erasmus Darwin, Samuel Galton, Joseph Priestly, Jonathan Stokes, James Watt, and Josiah Wedgewood (the renowned potter); and it specialized in the application of science and technology to industry. The group took the name *Lunar Society, according to p.3 and p.145 of Schofield (1963), because they generally scheduled their dinner meetings on the Sunday or Monday closest to the Full Moon. The website for a latter-day Birmingham-based Lunar Society indicates that the proximity of meetings of the original Lunar Society* to the Full Moon was "to make travel easier before the days of street lighting." According to p.4 of Schofield (1963), the Lunar Society never published its proceedings.
Seat of the Society
City	Authority / Notes
Birmingham England	This location is supported by Schofield (1963), a detailed historical monograph on the Lunar Society.
Name of the Society
Dates	Name	Authority
1775 - 1809?	*Lunar Society* [Sometimes referred to as: *Lunar Society of Birmingham* .]	The first meeting of the Lunar Society is given as Sunday, December 31 1775 on p.141 of Schofield (1963). And on p.414 of Schofield (1963), Schofield indicates that the Lunar Society went into decline after 1791, but he acknowledges that Eric Robinson had cited evidence of meetings of the Lunar Society as late as 1801. The website for a latter-day Birmingham-based Lunar Society gives a cessation date of 1809 for its eighteenth-century predecessor.