Monday December 31, 1894

Prof. Turner here. Talked over with him question of measurement of astrographic plates, also publication of M^r Thackeray's paper on R.A.'s of Polaris in Memoirs R.A.S.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... It's nice to see Turner, the Royal Observatory's Chief Assistant at the start of 1894, put in an appearance on the last day of the year - because, of course, this is the last post for this blog as we say bye-bye to IYA 2009. I hope those of you who have been following it have enjoyed these glimpses into the past of the ROG. It's been interesting and useful for me, at least. My energies are now being diverted into the Cambridge/NMM Longitude Project: look out for a new blog there starting later in the year. And please note, Sobel enthusiasts, Longitude means more than Harrison!

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Happy new year - 1895 and 2010!

Wednesday September 12, 1894

Went to Troughton and Simms’ about alteration of microscope of Astrographic micrometers & Posⁿ microm. of 28ⁱⁿ telescope. Saw the new Astrographic micrometer made for Prof. Turner.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... Christie is straight back to business after his long holiday. It is nice to see his interest in the instrumentation ordered by Turner, his former Chief Assistant, in his new role as director of the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford.

Friday May 4, 1894

Discussed with Prof. Turner arrangements for Eclipse expedition to Japan in 1896 Aug.Went to R.A. private view in afternoon.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... For one perspective on the 1896 eclipse expedition see this link. The paintings at the 1894 Royal Academy exhibition were a rather different kettle of fish - as this engraving of Sir Frederick Leighton's 'The Spirit of the Summit' from the Illustrated London News shows. More engravings from the 1894 exhibition can currently be seen here. Probably not my favourite style of art....

Friday April 27, 1894

Point House Club dinner to Prof. Turner. Found in the morning that bearing pieces of crown cell of 28ⁱⁿ O.G. in reversed posⁿ had slipped. Turned it to visual posⁿ & brought it down on the fixed bearing pieces in that posⁿ placing two thicknesses of cartridge paper between slotted bearing pieces & the glass. This slipping of the lens would account for anomalies in the photos.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... Further fiddling with the various pieces of the 28-inch reversible lens - and a wonderful improvised solution!

Saturday March 10, 1894

Went to Oxford for visitation of Univ^y Obs^y dining with Prof. Turner at New College. Returned to Greenwich at night.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... As with the recent meeting about the Radcliffe Observatory, Christie was acting as an inspector of an observatory run by a former colleague who was to inspect his institution in turn: as Savilian Professor of Astronomy, Turner was an ex officio member of the Board of Visitors to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. The Oxford University Observatory, as distinct from the older Radcliffe Observatory, had been built in 1874 in the University Parks, some 70 acres of parkland on the west bank of the River Cherwell. Turner was to find his ambitions for this observatory frustrated: the University neglected it while allowing the Radcliffe to be expensively re-equipped.

Wednesday March 7, 1894

Meeting of the Radcliffe Managers at 10.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... Christie was one of the managers, or trustees, of the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford. Up until 1839 the Radcliffe Observer had been the Savilian Professor of Astronomy (the new post of Christie's former Chief Assistant, H.H. Turner) but at this date the positions were split - the professorship being more theoretical and the position of Observer being more practical. In 1894 the Radcliffe Observer was Edward James Stone, also a former Chief Assistant at Greenwich and, from 1870 to 1879, the royal astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope. Stone, in turn, was on the Board of Visitors to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. The world of professional astronomy in the 19th century was definitely a small one!

Choosing Chief Assistants

RH says.... There is another gap in both Christie's and Dyson's journals at this point, so a good excuse to look at some other sources of information. Given that the switch-over between Turner and Dyson has just taken place, I have been looking into the way that Chief Assistants were appointed and came across some interesting comments made by Turner in - of all places - his obituary of Christie (H.H. Turner, ‘Sir William Henry Mahoney Christie’, The Observatory, March 1922, 77-81).

It had become a tradition that Greenwich's Chief Assistants were chosen from Trinity College, Cambridge, being among the top wranglers (those who came highest in the Mathematical Tripos exam) and probably winners or high competitors in the Smith's Prize (see Cambridge's Department of Mathematics History for more information) and Sheepshanks Exhibition in Astronomy. This meant that they were the best mathematically-trained men that the country could produce, with a profound understanding of theoretical astronomy and Newton's Principia, but they had not necessarily ever handled a telescope.

This manner of selecting Chief Assistants was criticised from two quarters. One objection was that these might not be practical men and, as the Astronomer Royal at the Cape of Good Hope, David Gill, said "They enter into chief positions where they have to superintend men who know much more about practical work than they do, and they have to pick up what they can of a hard and fast hide-bound system – which they are taught to regard as unquestionably superior to all others". Another objection came from those junior colleagues, who believed that internal promotion was a better solution. Turner - an outsider from Cambridge - had this to say, claiming “more than a personal issue was involved” :

"When Airy retired in 1881 ... Christie was appointed to succeed him as Astronomer Royal, thus vacating his position as Chief Assistant, and he was faced with a decision, not only critical at the time but fraught with consequences which have not diminished in importance in the subsequent history of the Royal Observatory. The Staff would naturally have preferred the promotion of one of their own body into the vacant place; and they were encouraged to hope for this solution by the amiable but perhaps incautious temporary expedient adopted by Christie himself. He crowned the long and faithful observatory career of Mr. Edward Dunkin by promoting him to the office of Chief Assistant for his last three years of service, seeing that this breathing space would give him time to look for the traditional young mathematician from Cambridge. At the moment he perhaps did not sufficiently recognize the danger of the precedent, which was naturally utilized by the Staff when the three years were over. But Christie stuck to his plan of appointing a Cambridge mathematician, and as the best means known to him of finding the man he wanted, he offered his services as examiner for the Sheepshanks Exhibition at Cambridge, which resulted in my being first elected Sheepshanks Exhibitioner and ultimately Chief Assistant at Greenwich in 1884.

"It has already been remarked that about this time Astronomy and Mathematics had lost touch – and the names of Sheepshanks Exhibitioners prove a good illustration of this fact. The first ten names in the list are all of distinguished mathematicians (the third, for instance, being that of the late Lord Rayleigh, and the tenth Sir J.J. Thomson), but have not subsequently been associated with Astronomy. Then follow H.H. Turner, F.W. Dyson, G.T. Walker, P.H. Cowell, E.T. Whittaker, &c., &c. But for Christie these names, though they might have been the same, would probably, like their predecessors, have been associated with other departments of Science. He might have let the Chief Assistantship at Greenwich go as the Staff wished."

As a trump card, he added that had it not been for Christie's sticking to this tradition, "Eddington might have been lost to Astronomy". Arthur S. Eddington, famous for his work on the theory of relativity when Plumian Professor of Astronomy in Cambridge, was a Chief Assistant in Greenwich from 1906-1913.

Wednesday February 28, 1894

Inspector Summer called about the above letter, which he did not consider serious. M^r Crosley of the Kentish Mercury called & I gave him information about new instruments & buildings for an article on the Obsy.M^r Turner resigned his post as Chief Assistant handing over his keys to M^r Dyson, his successor.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

M^r Turner resigned his Office of Chief Assistant

H.H. Turner, Chief Assistant

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RH says..... Despite having been Oxford's Savilian Professor of Astronomy since the new year, Turner only now formally resigned his post. Likewise, Dyson had been learning the job at Greenwich for time, but only gets his keys to Greenwich Park and the Observatory now. Meanwhile, the police decide they are not concerned about the bomb threat communicated in the letter received on 27 February, and Christie has an opportunity to show off his innovations to the press. It seems that the newspapers were important to the Observatory at this time, when a lot of public money was being spent on new kinds of research at the ROG rather than just the utilitarian work it had traditionally undertaken.

Tuesday February 27, 1894

A policeman delivered a memo. respecting warning letter as to another explosion. Sent this on to Adm^y at once by messenger.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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M^r F.W. Dyson appointed Chief Assistant from March 1. He came back to the Observatory this day.

H.H. Turner, Chief Assistant

Wednesday February 21, 1894

M^r Donough came to fix dew cap & adapters &c at eye end of the 28ⁱⁿ telescope.
Meeting of International Catalogue Com^ee at R.S. saw M^r Awdry & Cap^t Wharton at Adm^y.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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To Oxford at night. Inaugural Lecture on Friday Feb 23 on the Photographic Chart. To Greenwich Sat night.

H.H. Turner, Chief Assistant

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RH says.....  As Turner looked to pastures new in Oxford, life at Greenwich continued for Christie, although experimentation with the new 28-inch telescope had to be interspersed with negotations with the ROG's paymasters at the Admiralty and representation on a Royal Society committee. The Carte du Ciel, or photographic chart of the skies, continued to be a particular interest of Turner's. His fascinating 1912 book, The Great Star Map, being a brief general account of the international project known as the astrographic chart, can be found online.

Monday February 19, 1894

Arranged with Simmons for defective parts of the Observatory fence to be made good. Wrote to Admiralty called attention to my letter of Jan. 5 asking for protection to the Obs^y during the times when no Park keepers are available for patrol, especially from 4.15 to 5.30 p.m.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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Visited St James' Theatre with the Astronomer Royal, by invitation.

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H.H. Turner, Chief Assistant

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RH says.....

Christie was clearly concerned about the Observatory's security since the explosion on 15 February. If it was true that the park keepers were regularly unavailable at this time in the afternoon, it may suggest that Martial Bourdin had made his plans better than is usually believed.

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The visit to St James's Theatre in Piccadilly was to see the depiction of a large equatorial telescope, based on the ROG's astrographic, in the set of a new play. See the entry for 29 January for more information.

Thursday February 15, 1894

Went to Sandwich this afternoon, returning Sunday evening. Soon after I left an explosion of a bomb occurred on the zigzag path leading up to N.W. corner of the Observatory, the man who carried it (a French anarchist) being found mortally injured on the path - see detailed reports in D9.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

A dynamiter anarchist was blown up with his own bomb in Greenwich Park. See special Reports.

H.H. Turner, Chief Assistant

RH says.....
A French anarchist, Martial Bourdin, accidentally set of a bomb that he was carrying through Greenwich Park at 4.45pm on 15 February 1894. An account of events by one of my ROG colleagues can be found here and a flavour of the media storm that the event provoked (which provided inspiration for Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent) is given here. The image accompanying this post, and another fantastic image from the illustrated press here, show the public's fascination in the event. There has been much debate over what Bourdin's target actually was but, given that the "zigzag path" beneath the Observatory is not a main route, it would appear that the Observatory was the intended target. For nearly a decade Greenwich's local meridian had been designated the Prime Meridian for the world, and that the international day began at midnight in Greenwich - perhaps, then, what Greenwich stood for was indeed a tempting target for an anarchist.

The decision regarding the Prime Meridian was made at the International Meridian Conference held in Washington in 1884, the proceedings of which are available online. These show that the French delegates were far from happy about the idea of making Greenwich rather than Paris (or at least a 'neutral' position) home of the Prime Meridian.

Wednesday February 14, 1894

Distance between crown & flint lenses of 28ⁱⁿ O.G. reduced by 3/16in from 4 1/4in to 4 1/16in (relatively to visual position) and crown lens shifted upwards by 1/22in. Wrote to Grubb about proposed 26ⁱⁿ Photo-Telescope[.] Presided at Congratulatory dinner to Prof. Turner in evening.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

RH says.....

As Christie reported to the Board of Visitors in the summer, he and his staff spent a long time working on the adjustment of this new telescope's object glass because of its novel design (see here for more information). The OG could be reversed and the separation of the crown and flint lenses adjusted in order to alter the correction for chromatic aberration necessary for either visual or photographic use. The maker, Sir Howard Grubb declared them "the finest pair of discs of their size which have ever been made". Grubb and his Dublin firm were now in business with Greenwich again, as Christie sent off his order for the new 26-inch telescope paid for by Sir Henry Thompson.

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Turner's slow goodbye to Greenwich continued through this month as he worked out his period as Chief Assistant and trained his successor, before leaving finally and formally leaving for his Oxford professorship.

Friday February 9, 1894

R.A.S Annual Meeting

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says.....

A report of this Annual Meeting from The Observatory can be downloaded here. Turner and Maunder, Chief Assistant and one of the First Assistants at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, were both secretaries. It was announced at this meeting that the Society's Gold Medal was awarded to the American astronomer Sherburn Wesley Burnham, "for his discoveries and observations of Double Stars". Much of the rest of the meeting seems to have been taken up with discussing the best time to hold meetings in the future. A proposal to meet at 4.30 was voted down, suggesting that a majority of Fellows of the RAS were not gentlemen of leisure, but were men of business, naval and army officers and - occasionally - professional astronomers.

Wednesday January 31, 1894

Forwarded Prof. Turner’s resignation of office of Chief Assis^t., as from Feb 28, to Adm^y & proposed appointment of M^r Dyson as his successor.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

Rebekah Higgitt says.....
H. H. Turner's resignation and Frank Dyson's installation as Chief Assistant at the Observatory were long anticipated but could only be made official through the Admiralty, the government department that administered the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

January & February

M^r Dyson practising, and learning the work generally.

H.H. Turner, Chief Assistant

Rebekah Higgitt says....
Throughout these months, Cambridge research student Frank Dyson was learning the practical skill necessary to take over from Herbert Turner as the Observatory's Chief Assistant.

Tuesday January 30, 1894

To Oxford in evening. Took M.A. degree on Feb 1.

H.H. Turner, Chief Assistant

Rebekah Higgitt says.....

Again in Oxford, in preparation for his new role as Savilian Professor of Astronomy, the taking of his Master of Arts degree was undoubtedly merely a formality, necessary in order to take up the professorship and the associated fellowship of New College, Oxford. Turner already held a Bachelors and Masters degree from the University of Cambridge.

Friday 19 January, 1894

Went to Oxford in evening, returning Monday morning.

H.H. Turner, Chief Assistant

Rebekah Higgitt says.....

Another trip to Oxford for the new Savilian Professor of Astronomy.

Monday Janurary 15, 1894

Took to pieces the level for portable transits which had been damaged by a fall at Cairo; & examined the lever applied by M^r Simms to the micrometer screw.The Astronomer Royal gave notice to 5 computers that they might work from 2-3 every day at the subjects proposed for the examination for 3^rd Class Assistants; but that the proposal for such appointments had not yet been sanctioned by the Treasury.

H.H. Turner, Chief Assistant

Rebekah Higgitt says.....

Care and repair of the Observatory's instruments was an important part of the Chief Assistant's work. Here, Turner is referring to instruments used for the 1874 expedition to observe the transit (crossing) of Venus across the face of the sun. This rare event allows astronomers to make measurement to determine accurately the distance of the sun from the earth. The last transit was in 2004 and the next will be in 2012. After that we will have to wait until 2117. This instrument was one of five identical portable transit telescopes used at five observing stations in 1874, which are now at the National Maritime Museum. The record for another of these five instruments is online here.

Turner also refers to matters of staff education and promotion through an examination similar to those available to other Civil Servants. Further information about Christie's plans for staff reform can be seen here.

Saturday January 13, 1894

Returned to Greenwich

H.H. Turner, Chief Assistant

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Rebekah Higgitt says.....

Turner records here that he returned from his trip to Oxford (see entry for 9th January), which seems strange since we know that he attended the RAS meeting in London on the 12th. It is, of course, quite possible that he stayed in London that evening and, therefore, only returned to Greenwich on this day.