William Ludlam: portrait of an eighteenth-century mathematician

Abstract

In 1785, William Ludlam wrote a book entitled The rudiments of mathematics. After I purchased the 1790 edition of this text some years ago at an antiquarian bookstore in Connecticut, I became interested in learning more about him. Ludlam's name had appeared as a footnote in several histories of mathematics, but little else had been written about him. I began some research, simply out of curiosity. What emerged was a story of an interesting mathematician, scientist, inventor, and clergyman—and a man who often found himself in the middle of controversy and subject to personal attacks, whether deserved or not. This article is a biography of Ludlam, in which I have used his own words, as well as those of his adversaries, wherever possible.

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Veronika Vernier, Historic Collections Assistant at The Queen's College, Oxford, and Angela Henley of the Bursary, The Queen's College, Oxford, for arranging permission to use the pastel painting of William Ludlam. I especially wish to thank Virginia Wright, Historical Advisor for St Mary de Castro, Leicester, for her splendid research in obtaining birth, death, and burial records of the Ludlam family.

Notes

¹ Information on these Ludlams is supplied by Mrs Virginia Wright of Leicester.

² Ludlam's nephew, Joseph Cradock, writes (1828b) that Ludlam was called ‘John’ by his close friends, possibly because he was a Fellow of St John's. On at least one occasion, Cradock refers to Ludlam as ‘Johnny Ludlam’.

³ Mobberley incorrectly lists Ludlam's year of birth as 1716.