Henry Beighton and astronomy in the 'Ladies' Diary'

Henry Beighton, FRS (1687-1743) was a polymath who played an important role in the early days of the Industrial Revolution. Between 1714 and 1743, he was the editor of 'The Ladies' Diary', an almanac and mathematical journal published annually in England throughout the 18th Century. An important part of the information in the Ladies' Diary was the prediction of and subsequent reports on eclipses for each year. Beighton's tenure as editor covered one of the most exciting periods for eclipses in Britain, with the tracks of total solar eclipses crossing the British mainland in both 1715 and 1724.