James Dunlop
James Dunlop was born in Dalry, Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of John Dunlop, a weaver, and his wife Janet, née Boyle. Dunlop was educated at a primary school in Dalry and went to work at a thread factory in Beith when he was 14. He also attended a night-school in Beith kept by a man named Gardiner. He became interested in astronomy at an early age and was building telescopes in 1810. By fortune in 1820, he got to know the astronomically inclined Sir Thomas Brisbane. In the same year, Brisbane was selected as the new Governor of New South Wales, who then decided to set up an astronomical observatory in the new Colony. Before leaving Britain, Dunlop was then selected as his second scientific helper, and both travelled to Sydney in 1821.