Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl Stanhope explained

Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl Stanhope, FRS (15 August 1714 – 7 March 1786) was a British peer.The son of James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope, and Lucy Pitt, he succeeded to his father's titles in 1721. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society from 1735, and had a lifelong interest in mathematics. He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1774.^[1] He privileged the pursuit of science and mathematics over politics and became close to prominent natural philosophers such as Joseph Priestley and Benjamin Franklin. As a patron of various mathematicians, he came into contact with Thomas Bayes, one of the founders of Bayesian inference.^[2]

On 25 July 1745, he married Grizel Hamilton, daughter of Charles Hamilton, Lord Binning. They had two sons:

• Philip Stanhope, Viscount Mahon (24 June 1746 – 6 July 1763).
• Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope (3 August 1753 – 15 December 1816).^[3]

References

• Web site: Lundy . Darryl . p. 2877 § 28764 . The Peerage . 20 March 2007.
• Sharon McGrayne The Theory That Would Not Die (Yale 2011) Ch 1.

Notes and References

1. Web site: APS Member History. 2021-06-21. search.amphilsoc.org.
2. Book: Commerce (Barbados), Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and. Institution and first Proceedings of the Society, etc. [1781–84.]]. 1784. en.
3. The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741–1760. 29 August 1753.