John Canton
British physicist · Scientists · Lived 1718 to 1772 · aged 53
John Canton was a British physicist. He was born in Middle Street Stroud, Gloucestershire, to a weaver, John Canton and Esther. As a schoolboy, he became the first person to determine the latitude of Stroud, while making a sundial.
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The sundial caught the attention of many, including Dr Henry Miles, a Stroud-born Fellow of the Royal Society. Miles encouraged Canton to leave Gloucestershire to become a trainee teacher for Samuel Watkins, the headmaster of a Nonconformist school in Spital Square, London, with whom he ultimately entered into partnership.
