ACCRINGTON AND DISTRICT PROBUS CLUB

AUDREY Fletcher enthusiastically chaired this first meeting of the new Probus year for the Accrington club, following her election at the AGM on March 6.

A full house was then introduced to our guest speaker, Stephen R Halliwell.

Steve’s subject was the life and times of Moses Holden, 1777 to 1864.

Blank looks all round, nobody had even heard of this gentleman but, in a little over 45 minutes, it became difficult to understand why this extraordinary Freeman of Preston had almost vanished into obscurity.

Having no formal schooling after the age of five, Moses was a founder and promoter of the Institute for Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in Preston, which can be identified as the progenitor of UCLAN.

This self-taught, enthusiast with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge was filling theatres all over the country in the mid-1800s.

His subject was astronomy, for which he built his own telescopes, grinding his own lenses.

He was well enough regarded to correspond with the Royal Observatory and even the King himself.

His Celestial Handbook and Almanac was widely used.

The new UCLAN telescope at Alston, formally opened just last year, is named after him.

Steve has become this incredible man’s biographer and presents a fascinating and entertaining story that many more people in East Lancashire, and the world should hear.