George Biddell Airy was born at Alnwick in Northumberland on July 27th
1801. His father was William Airy of Luddington in Lincolnshire, the
descendant of a long line of Airys who have been traced back with a
very high degree of probability to a family of that name which was
settled at Kentmere in Westmorland in the 14th century. A branch of
this family migrated to Pontefract in Yorkshire, where they seem to
have prospered for many years, but they were involved in the
consequences of the Civil Wars, and one member of the family retired
to Ousefleet in Yorkshire. His grandson removed to Luddington in
Lincolnshire, where his descendants for several generations pursued
the calling of small farmers. George Biddell Airy's mother, Ann Airy,
was the daughter of George Biddell, a well-to-do farmer in Suffolk.
William Airy, the father of George Biddell Airy, was a man of great
activity and strength, and of prudent and steady character. When a
young man he became foreman on a farm in the neighbourhood of
Luddington, and laid by his earnings in summer in order to educate
himself in winter. For a person in his rank, his education was
unusually good, in matters of science and in English literature.
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