James Bowdoin ( 1726 - 1790 )

Birth: Boston, Massachusetts, (now United States of America), North and Central America (07 August 1726) Death: Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, North and Central America (06 November 1790) Burial: Granary burying ground, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, North and Central America Profession: Merchant; politician Research field: Electricity; astronomy Education: South Grammar School (now Boston Latin School); Harvard (1745); Edinburgh, LLD Career: Member of the Massachusetts General Court (1753-1756); Councillor (1756); supported an expedition to Newfoundland to observe the transit of Venus across the sun (1761); President of the Massachusetts Council (1775-1777); Fellow of Harvard University (1779); first President of the Massachusetts Bank (1784); Governor of Massachusettts (1785-1786); advocate of American independence involved in drafting the consitituion of Massachusetts; corresponded with Benjamin Franklin and collaborated with him on his pioneering work in electricity, Franklin also communicated letters from Bowdoin to the Royal Society Memberships: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (co- founder and first President); FRSE; Massachusetts Humane Society (first President 1786) Membership: Fellow Election Date: 3/04/1788 The first Fellow to be elected from the newly independent America, he was accordingly listed on the 'foreign list' as was the convention before the formal institution of the classification 'Foreign Member of the Royal Society'.