Preparing for Visitation Day

RH says..... Visitation Day was not only an inspection of the Observatory by the Board of Visitors, but it was also an open day for a large number of guests, including journalists (as this Times report for the 1898 Visitation shows), and required a lot of preparation.



Chief Assistant Frank Dyson was also preparing for his upcoming wedding and to move into a new home, and in her biography of Dyson, his daughter writes of this period: “With his new work at the Observatory and his private plans, Frank spent March, April, May and early June in a fever of excitement and activity. The first Saturday in June was the traditional Visitation Day..... There was a luncheon in the octagon room and a garden party afterwards. Lord Kelvin, as President of the Royal Society, was Chairman of the Board of Visitors in 1894. At any ordinary time Dyson would have been thrilled at the opportunity of talking to this famous scientist and of meeting so many other eminent men. But his mind was in such a whirl between stars and carpets, telescopes and mahogany furniture, that his first Visitation Day (which should have been a red-letter day) passed by almost unnoticed.” - although we'll shortly see from Frank's journal that the day certainly did not go unrecorded.

Sunday May 27, 1894

Finished Report, sending off last Section “General Remarks” to Printers.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... The annual report had to be ready for the Board of Visitors' inspection on the first Saturday in June. See the post for 24 May for some detail on the contents of the Report and Christie's 'General Remarks'.

Saturday May 26, 1894

Kept as Queen’s Birthday

Frank Dyson, Chief Assistant

Friday May 25, 1894

The Upper & Lower Computing rooms were cleaned previous to the Visitation.
Afternoon. A half-holiday was granted by the Astronomer Royal in recognition of the excellent way the computing had been kept up to day.

Frank Dyson, Chief Assistant

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Went to Deal in afternoon returning Sunday

Observatory closed this afternoon & tomorrow, Saturday, (Queen’s Birthday)

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William Christie, Astronomer Royal

RH says..... Readers may be interested to know that staff working at the ROG are still given a day off in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday (24th May). Since this Monday was a bank holiday, my four-day weekend has resulted in a slight delay in putting up posts.....

Thursday May 24, 1894

Writing Report &c. Readjusted tilt of 28ⁱⁿ O.G. pushing out S. part of crown lens very slightly.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... The Astronomer Royal's report was clearly quite a burden on top of normal work. For the year 1893-94 is was 27 pages long and, as usual, contained sections on all areas of the ROG's activities. The section-headings for this year are: the buildings, portable instruments and library; astronomical observations (with sections on observations made with each of the principal instruments); spectroscopic and photographic observations; magnetic observations; meteorological observations; printing and distribution of Greenwich publications; chronometers, time-signals and longitude operations; personal establishment (i.e. staff); and general remarks.

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In the general remarks Christie commented that "During the past year the work of the Observatory has been exceptionally heavy, and it has had to be carried out under conditions which have made it very difficult." His principal gripes related to lack of staff accommodation, on-going building works and the need for a reformed staff structure. His final paragraph reported that "The 28-inch Refractor has been mounted, and got into working order both for visual and photographic observation", though his continued fiddling with the lens might suggest otherwise.

Wednesday May 23, 1894

Writing Report to B of V. & preparing for Visⁿ, Meeting of Gov^t Grant Com^ee at R.S. at 4.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

Tuesday May 22, 1894

Writing Report to B of V. & looking up things for Visⁿ &c.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

Monday May 21, 1894

Adjusted tilt of 28ⁱⁿ O.G. pushing out S.W. part of crown lens slightly. Writing report to B. of V. Mr H. Outhwaite entered on his duties as Clerk.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal