Morgan Crofton

Who was Morgan Crofton?

Morgan Crofton was an Irish mathematician who contributed to the field of geometric probability theory. He also worked with James Joseph Sylvester and contributed an article on probability to the 9th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Crofton's formula is named in his honour.

As a person he was the child of Reverend William Crofton, Rector of Skreene, Co Sligo but converted to the Roman Catholic Church in the 1850s in part due to an interest in Newman. This led to his resignation at Queen's College, Galway and transference to various Catholic colleges.

He was Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and Professor of Natural Philosophy at Queen's University of Ireland. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June, 1868.

He married twice: firstly on 31 August 1857 Julia Agnes Cecilia, daughter of J B Kernan and secondly Katherine, daughter of Holland Taylor of Manchester. Later his son became a priest.