SIO Obituary : — Mr. George Caley. 



Reflections of this kind are found in his manuscripts, and in this he de- 

 serves our imitation. I shall mention only one other trait in his character, — 

 an anxious desire to promote the diffusion of knowledge. He was an early 

 member, though not one of the first, of the Belfast Society for promoting 

 Knowledge. This was founded in the year 1 788, and he was admitted in 

 the year 1792, from which time he continued ever anxious for the pros- 

 perity of that society. He was also one of the earliest friends and steady 

 supporters of the Belfast Academical Institution, being appointed a visitor 

 by the act of incorporation. He was the proposer of the liberal grant 

 made by the proprietors of the Linen Hall to establish lectures on chemistry 

 and mechanics ; and when lately the Mechanics' Institute was commenced, 

 being prevented by illness from attending, he sent his thoughts on the 

 subject in writing, and was most solicitous for the success of the measure. 

 Of our own Society, though from bad health unable to attend our meetings, 

 he was a zealous advocate, and received much gratification from the 

 thought that the branch of science to which he had so ardently devoted 

 himself, was cultivated in his own native town, and that he left behind him 

 those who would value his labours. May his example animate your ex- 

 ertions, and may the name of Templeton be ever remembered with respect 

 by the members of this Society ! And, that our young members may be 

 familiar with it, and led to enquire about him, I would suggest the appro- 

 priation of such a sum annually, as our limited income will admit, for the 

 encouragement of exertion in Natural History, to be called the Temple- 

 tonian prize or medal, according to the plan you may adopt, if the sug- 

 gestion be approved of. Such prizes are often useful in inciting the youth- 

 ful mind to exertion, and such encouragement of natural history may lead 

 the young to avail themselves more than they have yet done of the oppor- 

 tunities afforded them for the cultivation of it. 



Art. XII. Obituary,. 



Died, on the 23d of May, at Bayswater, aged 59, Mr. George Caley. This 

 very remarkable person was born and educated in Craven, in Yorkshire, in 

 an humble station of life ; and seems to have contracted an early predilec- 

 tion for natural history, by coming in contact with those excellent practical 

 botanists who do so much honour to their calling in the town of Manches- 

 ter. His attention was first directed to indigenous plants, and few persons 

 were better acquainted with them. His father's business, which was that 

 of a small farmer and horse-dealer, frequently called him into remoter parts 

 of the country, and gave him a large acquaintance with English localities. 

 No person who has not conversed with some one belonging to the Man- 

 chester school of botanists, can have any conception of the ardour and de- 

 votedness with which the discovery and cultivation of the rarer species is 

 pursued : they live in a little world of their own^ are remarkable for their 

 sobriety and industry, and derive many advantages from that sectarian spirit 

 which, separating the few upon some distinct ground from the many, obliges 

 them to uphold each other, and magnifies the importance of the object that 

 associates them. Every hill and plain within a day's walk (and that none 

 of the shortest) of Manchester has been examined by them with micro- 

 scopical diligence ; and Mr. Caley, the subject of this brief memoir, was not 

 the person to sink the temperature of their zeal in a subject which wholly 

 engrossed him ; and, if he received from them some increase of ardour in 

 the first instance, it cannot be doubted but that he transmitted it to them, 

 in return, with redoubled intensity. His pursuits soon brought him ac- 



