Spitalfields_Mathematical_Society
The Spitalfields Mathematical Society was founded in 1717 by Joseph Middleton.[1] The society had 64 members when it was established, and at first meetings were held in the Monmouth's Head, a public house in the Spitalfields district of London.[2][3] Fellows of the society were drawn from artisans and craftsmen such as weavers, apothecaries, brewers, ironmongers, stockbrokers, and makers of optical and mathematical instruments. Well-known members included John Canton, John Dollond, Thomas Simpson, John Crosley, John Tatum, Francis Baily, and Benjamin Gompertz.[4]
It merged with the Royal Astronomical Society in 1846.[1]
The name lives on in the "Spitalfields Days" organised by, among others, the Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge, Mathematics Research Centre, Warwick, and International Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Edinburgh.[5]