Cross-post: The Lady Computers of The Royal Observatory

This post originally appeared on The Royal Society blog and is written by guest blogger Dr. Louise Devoy, Senior Curator of the Royal Observatory 

Guest blogger Louise Devoy reflects on the first generation of paid female astronomers at Greenwich, who helped to prove that women could actively contribute to professional science.

Photo: The Royal Society

As we continue to mark the 80th anniversary of the election of the first female Fellows of the Royal Society, here’s a guest post from the Royal Observatory commemorating some earlier pioneering women in STEM:

In July 2025, Professor Michele Dougherty FRS was appointed as the sixteenth Astronomer Royal, the first female post-holder since the role began in 1675. It’s an exciting milestone moment that offers us a great opportunity to reflect on the first generation of paid female astronomers at Greenwich – the ‘Lady Computers’ of the 1890s – whose ingenuity, tenacity and perseverance proved that women could actively contribute to professional science.

Women have always played an important role in the life and work of the Observatory. With the Astronomer Royal expected to live onsite, it was natural for the women in his household to take an interest in the Observatory’s activities. For example, Margaret Flamsteed, wife of the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed FRS, took on the arduous task of assembling and publishing Flamsteed’s work after his death in 1719 to ensure that his catalogue of 3,000 accurate star positions would not be forgotten.

Over the centuries, successive generations of wives, daughters and sisters supported the Astronomer Royal by receiving guests, providing illustrations for books, and even accompanying their husbands on eclipse expeditions. As demonstrated by surviving letters in the RGO Archives and the Royal Society Archives, we can see how they were embedded within a network of astronomers’ wives who took a keen interest in the scientific debates of the day. 

Read the rest of Dr. Devoy's post at The Royal Society blog.