Christopher Wren

Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician, and physicist, widely regarded as one of the country’s most celebrated architects. He worked in the English Baroque style and oversaw the rebuilding of 52 churches in the City of London following the Great Fire of 1666. His most famous work is St Paul’s Cathedral on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710. However, credit for many of the churches is now often given to others in his office, particularly Nicholas Hawksmoor. Wren also designed the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, and the south front of Hampton Court Palace. He studied Latin and Aristotelian physics at the University of Oxford, was a founder of the Royal Society, and served as its president from 1680 to 1682. His scientific contributions were highly regarded by both Isaac Newton and Blaise Pascal.

Wren was born in East Knoyle, Wiltshire, the only surviving son of Christopher Wren the Elder and Mary Cox. His father was rector of East Knoyle and later Dean of Windsor. The couple had several children before Christopher: Mary, Catherine, and Susan were born by 1628, but several others died shortly after birth. Christopher arrived in 1632, followed two years later by Elizabeth. Mary Cox likely died soon after Elizabeth’s birth; as the sole heir to her father’s estate, she had brought the family financial security. As a child, Wren seemed consumptive, but he survived into robust old age. He was initially taught at home by a private tutor and his father. After his father became Dean of Windsor in 1635, the family spent part of each year there, though little is known of Wren’s life at Windsor. He spent his first eight years in East Knoyle, educated by the Rev. William Shepherd. During the dangerous times of his father’s Royalist associations, the family kept a low profile from Parliamentary authorities—a tough period that later influenced his work. The claim that he attended Westminster School between 1641 and 1646 comes only from *Parentalia*, a biography by his son, which says he was there “for some short time” before entering Oxford in 1650. This is consistent with headmaster Doctor Busby’s practice of educating both impoverished Royalists and Puritans.

Some of Wren’s youthful exercises show he received a thorough grounding in Latin and learned to draw. According to *Parentalia*, he was introduced to mathematics by William Holder, who married Wren’s elder sister Susan in 1643. Wren’s drawing skills were used for anatomical illustrations in Thomas Willis’s brain anatomy textbook *Cerebri Anatome* (1664), where Willis coined the term “neurology.” During this time, Wren grew interested in designing mechanical instruments. It was probably through Holder that he met Sir Charles Scarburgh, whom he assisted in anatomical studies. Another sister, Anne Brunsell, married a clergyman and is buried in Stretham.

On 25 June 1650, Wren entered Wadham College, Oxford, where he studied Latin and Aristotle’s works. He did not receive scientific training in the modern sense, but he became closely associated with John Wilkins, the Warden of Wadham. The Wilkins circle—a group of mathematicians, creative workers, and experimental philosophers—helped lead to the formation of the Royal Society and likely influenced Wren’s scientific studies. He earned his B.A. in 1651 and an M.A. two years later.

After his M.A. in 1653, Wren was elected a fellow of All Souls’ College and began active research and experimentation in Oxford. This included physiological experiments on dogs, notably the first injection of fluids into a live animal’s bloodstream under laboratory conditions. At Oxford, he was part of John Wilkins’s group and key to the correspondence network known as the Invisible College. In the Great Quadrangle of All Souls, the arms of his friend Robert Boyle appear opposite those of the Hill family, near a sundial designed by Wren.

Wren’s fellowship ended when he was appointed Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London, in 1657. He received rooms and a stipend and gave weekly lectures in Latin and English. He continued meeting the men he had discussed ideas with in Oxford; they attended his London lectures and, in 1660, began formal weekly meetings. These gatherings led to the development of the Royal Society, England’s premier scientific body. Wren played a major role in its early life, and his broad expertise helped exchange ideas across many subjects.