Hendon Egerton Houghton, clerk and amateur astronomer, was the son of Thomas Ussher Houghton and his wife Catherine Elizabeth. He was educated at Whitgift School, an independent boys' school in South Croydon, London. He came to South Africa in November 1920 and joined the staff of the British High Commissioner's Office in Cape Town. He continued to work there until at least 1938, by which time he had been honoured as a member of the order of the British Empire (MBE). He also immediately became a member of the Cape Astronomical Association, which was in the process of amalgamating with the Johannesburg Astronomical Association to form the Astronomical Society of South Africa. His keen interest in the affairs of the society led to his being elected as secretary in 1924, a position he held until 1930. He continued to serve on the society's council for many years and in 1936 was elected president. By 1938 he had also been elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Association (FRAS).

Houghton's main interest in astronomy was in variable star observations and in 1934 he succeeded G. E. Ensor* as director of the Variable Star Section of the Astronomical Society of South Africa. He held this position until his death in 1947. He was one of the top 25 observers who contributed most observations between 1911 and 1961 to the American Association of Variable Star Observers (he was number 14) which collected such observations from all over the world. Altogether he made more than 10 000 observations of variable stars and thus made a substantial contribution to variable star astronomy in South Africa, a field pioneered by Dr A. W. Roberts*. While conducting these observations he furthermore discovered Comet 1932b (Houghton-Ensor) on 1 April 1932. The comet was independently discovered by G. E. Ensor in Pretoria the next night.

Another of Houghton's activities which came to be widely appreciated by members of the society was his regular contribution of papers and lectures. Many of his lectures were delivered at the monthly meetings of the Cape Centre of the society and were based on his wide reading and intensive study of astronomical subjects. A number of these contributions were published in the Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society of South Africa (MNASSA), while some of his papers appeared in the society's Journal.

Houghton was a lovable person. He was survived by his wife, Zeta Winifred Houghton.

List of sources:

FamilySearch: Hendon Egerton Houghton. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS3W-VSHD-J?view=index&personArk=/ark:/61903/1:1:QPXK-LQZT&action=view&cc=2520237

Google scholar. http://scholar.google.co.za/ , publications by H. E. Houghton.

Houghton, H. E. Some South African amateur astronomers. Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society of South Africa (MNASSA), 1947, Vol. 6(5), pp. 39-42 and 45-52.

Journal of the Astronomical Society of South Africa, 1924, Vol. 1(3) and 1938, Vol. 4(3), Lists of members.

Long, A. W. The foundation and development of the Astronomical Society of South Africa. Journal of the Astronomical Society of South Africa, 1930, Vol. 2(4), pp. 153-180.

Obituary: Hendon Egerton Houghton, MBE, FRAS. Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society of South Africa (MNASSA), 1948, Vol. 7(1), p. 2.

Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa (SESA). Cape Town: Nasou, 1970-1976.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2024-11-26 11:43:18