Arthur Cayley

The Collected Mathematical Papers of Arthur Cayley.vol. 8

From theO bituary Notices in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. Lviir. 1895.] Arthur Cayley was the second son of Henry Cayley and Maria Antonia Doughty; he was bom at Richmond, inS urrey, on 16 A ugust, 1821. The family, to whose fame so much honour has been added by one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, is of old origin and illustrious descent. I ts name, like not a few English names, is derived firom a locality inN ormandy; there was aC astellum Cailleii, near Rouen, held by baronial tenure. The head of the house appears to have come toE ngland with William the Conqueror and to have settled inN orfolk, becoming Lord of Massingham, Cranwich, Brodercross, and Hiburgh in that county. The influence of the family increased and, by the time of Edward II., Sir Thomas deC ailli possessed estates also in Yorkshire. On his decease without issue, theY orkshire property was transferred to a younger branch of the family and was inherited by a long succession of Cayleys who made their home at Thormanby. One of these was knighted, asS ir William Cayley, in 1641; in 1661 he was created a baronet in recognition of his services during the Civil Wars, the title surviving to the present day. The fourth son of Sir William, Cornelius, settled at York; and the eldest son of the latter, also Cornelius, born in 1692, was a barrister and in 1725 was appointed Recorder of Kingston-upon-H uU, an office which he held until a few years before his death in 1779. Probably the advantages offered by Hull, then, as now, the greatest port on the northern coast of England, suggested commerce as an occupation for some members of the Recorder slarge family; two of his sons became Russia merchants, settling inS tP etersburg. The younger of these, being the fifth son of the Recorder, wasH enry Cayley, born in 1768; he married, in 1814, Maria Antonia Doughty, a daughter of Willi
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)