My dear Tom
Francis2 & myself have had a long chat about you, and the final result was not favourable to the idea of your going to Ireland. However it would be well not to make any definite resolve until we meet & have a further consultation on the matter
Yours aff[ectionate]ly | John Tyndall
RI MS JT/1/T/973
[late December 1864–early January 1865]: Hirst noted in his journal in December that he had intended to apply for the Mathematics chair at Queen’s College, Cork in Ireland (Brock and Macleod, Hirst Journals, p. 1711). However, in his entry for Sunday, 8 January 1865, he noted that as a result of meeting with Tyndall, he was persuaded not to apply after all: ‘Tyndall was at Lamas and goes there again to day. He has decided for me with respect to the Cork Professorship and my mental disquietude is at an end. I shall take no further steps in the matter and remain in London’ (p. 1713). Hirst also mentioned in his journal entry of 1 January 1865 that ‘I have had two letters from him unfavourable to my leaving London, but leaving the final decision until we meet’ (p. 1712). This letter is one of those letters, and the other is missing.
Francis: probably William Francis, a close friend of both Tyndall and Hirst.
Please cite as “Tyndall2206,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on