John Brocklesby, born near Birmingham, England, in 1811, arrived in the United States with his father in 1820. He received his B.A. from Trinity College (Hartford, CT) in 1835, followed by a Masters from the same institution ten years later. In between, he tutored Mathematics and studied law at Yale Law School, graduating with a LL.D. in 1835. He practiced law in Hartford between June 1840 and December 1841.

John Brocklesby, ca. 1873. Photo credit: Trinity College Archives

Starting in January 1842, Brocklesby taught mathematics and natural philosophy at Trinity College. He lectured on electricity and magnetism. In 1846, he took weather readings for Trinity's new weather station and sent weekly reports (of temperature, daily rainfall, hours of sunlight, etc.) to the Hartford Times and Hartford Courant. One time students fooled him into thinking that the amount of rain which had fallen was equal to the amount that they had poured into his rainfall gauge.

At a time when research and publication were not requisite for college professors, Brocklesby pursued an active agenda of scientific research, which led to a number of publications. These included separate textbooks on meteorology, astronomy, and physical geography, all written for academies, schools, and general readers. His interest in telescopes and microscopes did not diminish his faith in a divine creator, as his Views of the Microscopic World, designed for general reading, and as a hand-book for classes in natural science indicated in its preface of November 1850 that “by the aid of this instrument we follow the footsteps of Divinity” (p. 3).

Trinity administration (if not always the students) seemed to have enjoyed his teaching, as he lasted forty years at Trinity College. A story of some legitimacy indicated that he chided students for their tobacco spitting in class and chapel, telling one group that “Those who expectorate on this floor need not expect-to-rate high in this class.” He founded the Trinity College chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, serving as the president of its chapter for 22 years. In 1854, his salary was raised from $1,000 to $1,200. In the summer of 1862, he served on the “Parietal Board” to enforce discipline upon a number of students who had become unruly. He also served four times as Acting President of Trinity College (between June 28, 1860 and April 8, 1861; between January 1864 and summer 1864; between December 1865 and October 1867; and between July 1, 1874 and November 1874).

John's son, William Claiborne Brocklesby, graduated from Trinity College in 1869 and later became an architect. John Brocklesby became Professor Emeritus in 1882. He died in Hartford on June 21, 1889.

John Brocklesby Papers, Watkinson Library and College Archives, Trinity College, Hartford, CT

The History of Trinity College (1967) by Glenn Weaver, pp. 101-102, 108, 118, 120, 125, 134, 137, 142, 182.

John Brocklesby. Views of the Microscopic World: Designed for General Reading, and as a Hand-book for Classes in Natural Science. New York: Pratt, Woodford and Company. 4 Courtlandt-Street, 1851, p. 3.