Thursday November 29, 1894

Meeting of Ratcliffe Trustees[?] at 9 a.m.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... This entry is rather illegible, but my reading suggests that this relates to a meeting of the managers of the Oxford Radcliffe Observatory.

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 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.

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.

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.

Tuesday January 9, 1894

Went to Oxford for a few days, to attend to various matters.

H.H. Turner, Chief Assistant

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Rebekah Higgitt says.....

Turner had been appointed Savilian Professor of Astronomy at the University of Oxford in 1893. He was, however, still based at Greenwich, finishing up business and training his successor, Frank Dyson, at the start of 1894.