Edward William Brayley

Brayley was born in London, the son of Edward Wedlake Brayley, a notable antiquary, and his wife Anne (c. 1771–1850). His early schooling, in the company of his brothers Henry and Horatio was private and sheltered. His upbringing was austere with little contact with other children or the world outside his home. He later studied at the London Institution and the Royal Institution under William Thomas Brande.Hays (2004)

Brayley abandoned an early inclination to follow his father's interestsBrayley (1825) for science. He published on diverse topics in several scientific journals including the Philosophical Magazine, for which he became an editorial assistant between 1823 and 1844. In 1829 and 1830, Brayley was employed by Rowland Hill to lecture on the physical sciences at his schools as Hazelwood, Edgbaston, Birmingham and Bruce Castle, Tottenham, London.

In 1834, he became librarian of the London Institution and in 1865 professor of physical geography. He lectured there on diverse subjects and also at the Royal Institution, the London Mechanics' Institute, and the Belgrave, Russell, and Marylebone Institutions. As a staff member of the London Institution he was often called on at the last minute to substitute for an indisposed lecturer and his talks included:

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• Meteors and meteorology;
• Mineralogy;
• Physical geography;
• Peat;
• "Metalliferous deposits";

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• "Recent eclipses";
• "Lord Rosse's telescopes";
• "Hall's condensing apparatus";
• The remains at Pompeii; and
• Photogenic drawing.

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Most of his scientific work involved the analysis and synthesis of the published ideas of others. Brayley worked on the publication of Samuel Parkes's Chemical Catechism (1834) and contributed many biographical and scientific articles to the English Cyclopaedia. Brayley was a close collaborator and friend of William Robert Grove and notably worked with him on the publication of Groves's seminal book on the conservation of energy, On the Correlation of Physical Forces (1846). He also assisted in the editing of Luke Howard's Barometrographia (1847).

He married on 9 August 1832 to Judith May (1800–1869), the daughter of Richard May, a portrait painter. She was the widow of James Hodgetts (d1830), and his step-son James Frederick Hodgetts (1828–1906) lived with them while growing up. Edward prepared him in a scientific career, which did not suit him and he joined the Indian Navy and later was a Prof. of seamanship in Berlin and St. Petersburg.{{Cite DNB12 |wstitle= Hodgetts, James Frederick |volume= 2 |pages= 274-275 |last= Gordon |first= Alexander |author-link= Alexander Gordon (Unitarian) |year=1912|short= 1}}

• Founder member of the Zoological Society;
• Founder member of the Chemical Society;
• Corresponding member of the Societas Naturae Scrutatorum at Basel;
• Member of the American Philosophical Society;
• Member of the London Electrical Society
• Member of the British Meteorological Society, (1850);
• Fellow of the Royal Society, (1854);
• The lunar crater Brayley is named for him;{{cite book |author1=Cocks, E. E. |author2=Cocks, J. C. |year=1995 |title=Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature |publisher=Tudor Publishers |isbn=0-936389-27-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780936389271}}
• Ferdinand von Mueller named the Australian rainforest tree, Flindersia brayleyana in his honour.{{cite book |last1=von Mueller |first1=Ferdinand |title=Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae |date=1866 |publisher=Victorian Government Printer |location=Melbourne |pages=143–144 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/7222#page/152/mode/1up |access-date=17 July 2020}}

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• The 1850 and 1851 Membership Lists of the British Meteorological Society

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• {{ cite book |title=Ancient Castles of England and Wales |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientcastlesof00wooluoft |edition=2 vols |year=1825 |author=Brayley, E. W.}}
• {{ cite book |title=The Utility of the Knowledge of Nature Considered; with Reference to the General Education of Youth |year=1831 |publisher=Baldwin & Cradock |location=London}}
• Hays, J. N. (2004) "[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3303 Brayley, Edward William (1801/2–1870)]", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, accessed 8 August 2007 (subscription required)

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Category:1801 births

Category:1870 deaths

Category:English geographers

Category:English non-fiction writers

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:English librarians

Category:Writers from London

Category:Academics of Birkbeck, University of London

Category:English male non-fiction writers

Category:19th-century English non-fiction writers

Category:19th-century English male writers

Category:19th-century British geographers

Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society