James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres, KT, FRS, FRAS was a British astronomer, politician, ornithologist, bibliophile and philatelist. A member of the Royal Society, Crawford was elected president of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1878. He was a prominent Freemason, having been initiated into Isaac Newton University Lodge at the University of Cambridge in 1866.

Sir David Gill was a Scottish astronomer who is known for measuring astronomical distances, for astrophotography and geodesy. He spent much of his career in South Africa.