Baden Powell, MA FRS FRGS (22 August 1796 – 11 June 1860) was an English mathematician and Church of England priest. He held the Savilian Chair of Geometry at the University of Oxford from 1827 to 1860. Powell was a prominent liberal theologian who put forward advanced ideas about evolution. Origins Baden Powell II was born at Stamford Hill, Hackney in London. His father, Baden Powell I (1767-1841), of Langton and Speldhurst in Kent, was a wine merchant, who served as High Sheriff of Kent in 1831, and as Master of the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1822. The mother of Baden Powell II was Hester Powell (1776-1848), his father's paternal first cousin, a daughter of James Powell (1737-1824) of Clapton, Hackney, Middlesex, Master of the Worshipful Company of Salters in 1818. The Powell family can be traced back to the early 16th century, where they were yeomen farmers at Mildenhall in Suffolk. Baden Powell II's great grandfather, David Powell (1725-1810) of Homerton, Middlesex, a second son, migrated to the City of London aged 17 in 1712, subsequently going into business as a merchant at Old Broad Street and buying the manor of Wattisfield in Suffolk. In 1740 a branch of the family bought the Whitefriars Glass works. The name Baden originated in Susanna Baden (1663-1737), the maternal grandmother of David Powell (1725-1810) of Homerton, Middlesex, and one of the ten children of Andrew Baden (1637-1716), a Mercer who served as Mayor of Salisbury in 1682. Education Powell was admitted as an undergraduate at Oriel College, Oxford and graduated with a First Class Honours degree in mathematics in 1817. Ordination Powell was ordained as a priest of the Church of England in 1821, having served as curate of Midhurst, Sussex. His first living was as Vicar of Plumstead, Kent, of which the advowson was owned by his family. He immediately began his scientific work there, starting with experiments on radiant heat. Marriages and children Powell married three times, and had fourteen children in total. In 1870 all his children adopted the surname "Baden-Powell". Powell's first marriage on 21 July 1821 to Eliza Rivaz (died 13 March 1836) was childless. His second marriage on 27 September 1837 to Charlotte Pope (died 14 October 1844) produced one son and three daughters: Charlotte Elizabeth Powell, (14 September 1838–20 October 1917) Baden Henry Baden-Powell, FRSE (23 August 1841–2 January 1901) Louisa Ann Powell, (18