Bewick Bridge

Bewick Bridge (1767, Linton, Cambridgeshire – 15 May 1833, Cherry Hinton) was an English vicar and mathematical author. In 1786, he was admitted as a sizar to study mathematics Peterhouse, Cambridge University, where he graduated as senior wrangler and won the Smith's Prize in 1790. In October 1790, he was ordained a deacon at Ely, and became a priest in 1792; in the same year he became a Fellow at Peterhouse, during which he spent time as both as college moderator and as proctor. From 1806 until 1816, he was Professor of Mathematics at the East India Company College, Haileybury, along with staff such as Thomas Malthus.

On his retirement for reasons of ill health, he was granted a pension. He wrote a number of mathematical texts: his Algebra (based on his lectures at Haileybury) achieved international circulation. Bridge’s 'Algebra’ as a book that was frequently used or recommended for the schoolroom or for self-study (Hollings). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1812. From 1816 until 1833, he was vicar of Cherry Hinton in Cambridge, where in 1818 he built the vicarage, and he founded the village school in 1832 (now a Church of England Primary School). It's proximity to Cambridge enabled him to sustain a continuing scholarly life: 'he was certainly a founder member and early treasurer of the Cambridge Philosophical Society in 1819' (Hollings).

It was also clear that he had powerful patrons. In preparing to travel to Europe, he obtained an introduction from Robert Peel to a Mr Antrobus, who in turn introduced him to Friedrich Truchsess von Waldburg. In March 1824, he travelled from Turin to the Valleys with Pierre Bert (1776–1833), and stayed in his home with his family for 3 days. On return, he published an account of his journey, encouraging Parliament to support the Waldensian cause as one of the most ancient and pure forms of Christianity. Villani notes that he was a co-secretary from 1825 of the Venerable Waldensian Committee of London with W. S. Gilly, formed to raise money for a hospital in Torre Pellice, and later Treasurer of that Committee.

He died on 15 May 1833, aged 66, after a long illness, considered by many as an 'amiable and valuable man' who, as an 'admirable man of business' contributed to the health of many voluntary and charitable associations (such as the Cambridge Savings Bank). His often-reprinted Algebra enabled him to leave a substantial legacy in his will (Hollings). Issues of his work continued to emerge after his death, including in the USA (where it was considered 'a particularly prominent text'), and India; and in 1848, Thomas Atkinson produced a revised version of the Algebra, and a summary Key to Bridge’s Algebra (London: Adam Scott, 1848). (Hollings) In September 2011 the Cherry Hinton Community Junior School was named after Bewick, becoming Bewick Bridge Community Primary School.

Publications:

Mathematical Lectures. vol. 1. Lectures on the Elements of Algebra; vol. 2. Six Lectures on the Elements of Plane Trigonometry.-A Compendious and Practical Treatise on the Construction, Properties, and Analogies of the Three Conic Sections, Etc. Broxbourn, Herts.: Watts, 1810. (and various editions under other names, or in sections).

An Introduction to the Study of the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy: containing a Series of Lectures upon the Rectilinear and Projectile Motion, the Mechanical Action and the Rotatory and Vibratory Motion of Bodies, London: Cadell & Davies 1813.

A Treatise on Mechanics: intended as an introduction to the study of natural philosophy. [London]: Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, Strand, London; Deightons, Nicholsons, and Barrett, Cambridge; and Cooke, and Parker, Oxford, 1814, 1813. (Printed by R. Watts; Herts).

A Brief Narrative of a Visit to the Valleys of Piedmont, inhabited by the Vaudois, the descendants of the Waldenses; together with some observations upon the fund now raising in this country for their relief. London: R. Gilbert, 1825.

Sources:

Particular thanks to Dr Christopher Hollings, Lecturer in Mathematics and its History within the History of Mathematics research group at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Oxford. Dr Hollings is one of the few scholars to pay close attention to Bridge's contribution to Mathematics.

Hollings, Christopher, 'Two books on the elements of algebra', in Philip Beeley and Ciarán Mac an Bhaird, eds., Mathematical Book Histories. Printing, Provenance, and Practices of Reading (forthcoming, mss thanks to the author).

Obituary, Bury and Norwich Post, and East Anglian, 22 May 1833.

Villani, Stefano, “Dal Galles alle Valli: Thomas Sims (1785-1864) e la riscoperta britannica dei valdesi”, in Bollettino della Società di Studi Valdesi 215 (2014): 103-171.