Tuesday October 30, 1894

Discussed with M^r Skinner (from Mess^rs Troughton & Simms) plans for new Astrographic micrometer and for Photographic spectroscope.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... On another topic, Graham Dolan has kindly send me an image of the Great Equatorial Building's balcony under construction - see entry for 19 October. He tells me that this picture can be dated to the summer of 1898, so it seems that it took some time to do the work. It is always interesting to see in these old images that, although the Observatory was closed to the public, it was still a sight for visitors to Greenwich Park - even if they were chiefly there for the view down to the river that the people on the benches at the right of the picture are enjoying.

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Wednesday October 24 to Sunday October 28, 1894

Went to Deal returning on Sunday evening.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

Monday October 22, 1894

Work on new Buildings (Altazimuth Pavilion) & Physical Obs^y (N. wing &c.) commenced.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... At last! Although both buildings still had a long way to go before completion - the Physical Observatory, in particular, for which funding was only secured piecemeal, wing by wing. Building works, of course, had been almost a constant throughout the history of the Observatory.

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Coincidentally, today, 22 October 2009, marks the 125th anniversary of the vote held at the international conference in Washington, D.C., that selected the Greenwich meridian as the Prime Meridian of the world. That vote, however, only led to recommendations being passed on to the 25 governments that sent delegates, only one of which (Japan) acted. In 1894, 10 years after the conference, Christie was still working on a Committee of the Science and Art Department to see how the Washington recommendations could be adopted.

Friday October 19, 1894

M^r Crisp & M^r Loughborough with M^r Awdry discussed the above. Also discussed, with M^r Crisp proposed Magnetic Pavilion in the Park and balcony below 36^ft Dome.

Discussed with M^r Simms plans for new Astrographic micrometer & Photographic spectroscope.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... The 36-foot dome was the new onion-shaped dome that accommodated the larger 28-inch telescope instead of the Great Equatorial telescope that the building had originally contained. This postcard clearly shows the balcony that Christie discussed today.

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The Magnetic House at this time was still where it had been since the 1840s - in the south part of the Royal Observatory's site, but north of the New Physical Observatory. This area today is covered by the dome of the Peter Harrison Planetarium. Despite Christie performing apparently satisfactory experiments to test the effect of ironwork in the new buildings on the magnetic observations, it had obviously become clear that the would have to be performed away from the main site. The picture below shows the new Magnetic Pavilion, built in 1899, in the area of Greenwich Park that became known as the Christie Enclosure. This area, 350 yards east from the main site, once held several telescope domes, including that of the Yapp 36-inch telescope, as well as the Magnetic Pavilion and Magnetograph House. It was all dismantled and returned to the Park when the Observatory moved to Herstmonceux and the Greenwich site became part of the National Maritime Museum.

Wednesday October 17, 1894

Called at Director of Works’ Department and arranged for M^r Crisp to come down to settle various matters in connection with the new buildings to be commenced next Monday.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

Monday October 15, 1894

Dined with Clockmakers’ C^o in evening returning thanks for the Livery. Met M^r Buckney & had conversation with him about timeball at Sheerness, chronometers &c.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

Friday October 12, 1894

Sir H. Grubb discussed plans of 26ⁱⁿ Photo-Equatorial & specification for new Altaz dome.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

Wednesday October 10, 1894

Arranged for light hinged cover to 28ⁱⁿ O.G. as suggested by M^r Lewis.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... It is interesting to see Thomas Lewis, whose official responsibility was the Time Department, being involved with the 28-inch telescope in this way. Under the previous Astronomer Royal, George Airy, staff seem to have been discouraged from taking an interest in instruments and activities outside their remit.

Tuesday October 9, 1894

Received a positive & negative eyepiece for 28 Inch ordered July 24 from Mess^rs Troughton & Simms.

Frank Dyson, Chief Assistant

Monday October 8, 1894

Miss Pritchard called with reference to a biography of Prof. Pritchard.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... William Prichard, the former Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, had died the previous year. Christie's previous Chief Assistant, H.H. Turner, had succeeded to the chair. Ada Pritchard, his daughter, published Charles Pritchard, D.D., Memoirs of his Life in 1897, which included an account of his theological worky, by the Bishop of Worcester and an account of his astronomical work by Turner. The book shows that Ada spent some time looking through the manuscript records of the Observatory, now held at Cambridge University Library.

Friday October 5, 1894

Saw Gen. Donnelly at S. & A. Department. Also Cap^t. Abney with reference to absorption of glass in ultraviolet part of spectrum. He advised use of Feils’ medium flint for photo. Spectroscope and large prisms adapted to a collimator of 2½ inches aperture.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... Sir John Fretchville Dykes Donnelly was, as this book suggests, "the very model of a modern Major-General", seeing active army service in the Crimea before focusing the rest of his career on scientific education within the Department of Science and Art at South Kensington. Through this he supervised science teaching not only in schools throughout the country, but also within many important higher education institutions. He had been educated at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, when Christie's father Samuel Hunter Christie was professor of mathematics.

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The other meeting was with the equally wonderfully-named Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney (1843-1920), a chemist, astronomer and photographer who was a fellow and president of the Royal Astronomical Society. See his obituary here. He had first come to astronomy, at to Greenwich, through his involvement in supervising the photography associated with the 1874 transit of Venus expeditions.

Thursday October 4, 1894

Went to Troughton & Simms about new Astrographic micrometer & new spectroscope. Found nothing had been done in preparing working drawings.
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William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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Diaphragm of the Astrographic Micrometer sent to Troughton & Simms to be rouged, as the divisions were very difficult to see against the photographs.

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Frank Dyson, Chief Assistant

Wednesday October 3, 1894

D^r Doberck Director of Hong Kong Obs^y called & aired his grievances in regard to M^r& M^rs Plummer, Com^ee on Photographic Exhbition 1895 at Imperial Institute at 4.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... William Doberck, according to a recent article, was a "combatative and prickly personality", frustrated in his desire to do astronomical research by his role in an institution founded as a meteorological and magnetic observatory and time service.

The Plummer referred to here is not the one who visted in January and April. This was John Isaac Plummer who was working for Doberck in Hong Kong after working for brief periods in the Cambridge, Greenwich, Glasgow, Durham and Orwell Park Observatories - see this site for more information on Plummer and his problematic relationship with Doberck: already in 1891 Doberck was complaining that "Mr Plummer has turned out to be a most incompetent man, no friend of science in general and a particular enemy of this observatory. He has been very troublesome and his conduct has been ungentlemanly", although he had been warmly recommended by some of his previous employers. This account is also revealing of Christie's role in such staffing matters across the empire. Although the falling-out between Dorberck and Plummer was nearly disasterous, they seem to have overcome their differences in the end, working relatively harmoniously in Hong Kong until 1907 and 1911 respectively.

Tuesday October 2, 1894

D^r Doberck of Hong Kong Observatory called to see the Astronomer Royal.

Frank Dyson, Chief Assistant