56 Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 



by the Admiralty, and from which position he retired in 1884, after an 

 official life of forty-six years. 



Mr. Dunkin was one of various writers who in recent times helped 

 to promote in the public mind that taste for astronomical pursuits now 

 so evident. Some thirty years or more ago, in re-editing ' Lardner's 

 Handbook of Astronomy,' he incorporated therein a large amount of new 

 information on the progress of astronomy up to that period, of which 

 more than one edition was published. And a following work, ' The 

 Midnight Sky/ a popular exposition of the varying aspect of the starry 

 heavens in each month of the year, has since enjoyed a wide circulation 

 amongst that class of readers for which it was mainly designed ; besides 

 which he contributed articles of popular character on astronomical sub- 

 jects to various of the periodicals of the time. 



Mr. Dunkin married in 1848 Maria, the eldest daughter of the late 

 S. J. Hadlow, formerly a member of the Stock Exchange. He enjoyed 

 his retirement for fourteen years, retaining still his interest in the 

 science in the promotion of which his life had been spent. He died at 

 his residence on Blackheath, on November 26, 1898, in his 78th year, 

 and was buried in the adjacent Charlton Cemetery, and his wife died 

 in the year following. He leaves an only son, Edwin H. W. Dunkin, 

 known for his archaeological researches. 



W. E. 



