John Gadbury

Dr John Gadbury, writer, astrologer and astronomer, was buried in St Margaret's Church Westminster on 28th March 1704. The burial register entry says "author of that almanac that bore his name". He has no gravestone or memorial.

He was born on 31st December 1627, son of William, a farmer, and his wife (a daughter of the Curzon family of Waterperry in Oxfordshire). First he was apprenticed as a tailor but then went to study at Oxford before moving to London where he lived near the home of astrologer William Lilly. Returning to Oxford to study astrology with Nicholas Fiske he later published various works on the subject. He also published works on astronomy and natural philosophy. In 1655 he published his first annual almanac. He was famously taken to task for not including in this the anniversary of the Guy Fawkes plot. He was married twice but details of his wives are not known. Later he became a bitter rival of Lilly and was arrested for a time for allegedly plotting against William III. After his death his cousin Job continued to publish the almanac for a few years.

Further reading

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

His manuscript weather diary is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford