Key, Henry Cooper [FRAS] (1819-1879), educated at private schools and Christ Church College, Oxford, before taking holy orders with the Church of England. In 1846 he gained the living of Stretton Sugwas, Herefordshire. He developed an early interest in astronomy, building his own telescope at an early age. After moving to Herefordshire he acquired a series, of increasingly, larger silver-on-glass reflecting telescopes. These were housed in an observatory, adjacent to the Stretton Rectory, with his largest being a 18-inch reflector (Key 1837; Obit., MNRAS, 40 (1880), 199-200; Haley 2020).
Phillips, John (1831-1914), born Hereford, a GWR locomotive engineer who worked mainly at the place of his birth. His interest in astronomy is recorded in a centennial history of the GWR. A member of the BAA, he built a 15-inch reflector on an outdoor altazimuth mounting. A member of the BAA, Jupiter section, the society published his observations of the planet (Phillips 1890 ; Mees 1893, 12; GWR 1935, 129).
Russell, Samuel Wilfred (1895-1965), born Dublin, educated in Ireland and Germany before he served in the British army during the First World War. Later, he enrolled to read medicine at Trinity College, Dublin, being registered as a GP from 1923, first at Burnley and later Bromyard where he spent the rest of his career as a doctor. His interest in astronomy appears to have developed later in life, joining the BAA in 1947 and was focused upon lunar observations. His drawing now reside in the collections of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (Devoy 2016).
Webb, Thomas William [Revd.] (1807-1885), born Ross-on-Wye, clergyman and antiquarian with an interest in astronomy. Appointed vicar of Hardwicke, near Hey-on-Wye in 1856, he best known for his observational guide Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes first published in 1859 (ODNB; Robinson 2006).
With, George Henry (1827-1904), born in Chelsea, he spent two years at St John’s College, Battersea, became a schoolmaster. In 1851 he was appointed Master of the Blue Coat School in Hereford, and remained there 25 years. Around 1860 he adopted the new technology of making silver on glass mirrors, and began producing excellent mirrors that replaced speculum metal. It made better telescopes more readily affordable, and led to a great expansion in amateur astronomy (Marriott 1996).
Survey of Astronomical History 