Roger Langdon

author

Roger Langdon

1825–1894

Raised with little formal schooling, he became known as the “Station Astronomer,” teaching himself widely while working on the railway. His life story mixes hard work, curiosity, and a lasting love of astronomy and learning.

1 Audiobook

The Life of Roger Langdon, Told by himself. With additions by his daughter Ellen.

The Life of Roger Langdon, Told by himself. With additions by his daughter Ellen.

by Ellen Langdon, Roger Langdon

About the author

Born in 1825 and later known in the West Country as the “Station Astronomer,” Roger Langdon worked his way up from humble beginnings to railway service, eventually becoming stationmaster at Silverton in Devon. Accounts of his life describe him as largely self-taught, with a deep interest in astronomy that grew during his years working night duty on the railway.

Langdon is remembered not only for his practical railway career but for the unusual range of his self-education. Sources about his life say he studied the night sky seriously and even took up ancient Greek later in life, a detail that helps explain why his story continued to attract readers long after his death.

He died in 1894. His memoir, The Life of Roger Langdon, Told by Himself. With Additions by His Daughter, helped preserve the picture of a hardworking Victorian autodidact whose curiosity reached far beyond his everyday job.