He was born in Southwark in London in October 1785, the son of James South, a pharmaceutical chemist.

[1] He originally trained as a chemist, then as a surgeon, but his interests in astronomy overtook all things.

South promptly demolished the telescope mount; the 12-inch lens, which had been purchased separately, was preserved and presented to the (Dublin) Dunsink Observatory in 1862.

[4] He died at the observatory on Campden Hill in Kensington on 19 October 1867, and was buried on the west side of Highgate Cemetery.

She was an heiress and his new-found wealth enabled him to give up surgery and concentrate on astronomy.