James Jeans (1877-1946) bought Cleveland Lodge in Westhumble with his first wife, poet Charlotte Tiffany Mitchell, in 1918, and he lived there until his death. Before moving to Surrey, Jeans was an influential mathematician and physicist, both at Cambridge and Princeton University. He made important contributions regarding quantum theory, the theory of radiation and stellar evolution. Along with Arthur Eddington, Jeans also founded British cosmology, a branch of physics concerned with the origins of the universe.
His discoveries such as Jeans length, Jeans instability, the Rayleigh-Jeans law and Jeans Escape were all major accomplishments which contributed to his being one of the six best mathematicians in the world at the time. From around 1929 Jeans begun to focus on trying to communicate complex scientific theories to the general public. His first book in this vein was The Universe Around Us and was a huge success. Due to this he became a thoroughly popular lecturer and broadcaster.
Jeans’ second wife was Susi Hock, a concert organist whom he had met whilst she was on tour. Jeans was not a particularly extraverted man, however he did take part in village life, joining both the Westhumble Association as well a local Horticultural Society.
