Greenwich Observatory notes

Martial Bourdin and the Greenwich Park explosion

2009-02-13T15:32:00.002Z

It was the afternoon of Thursday 15 February 1894. Martial Bourdin, a 26-year-old Frenchman, left his lodgings in Fitzroy Street, west of London’s Tottenham Court Road. He dined, then walked to the tram terminus at Westminster Bridge, near the Houses of Parliament. There, he climbed aboard one of the horse-drawn trams which ran every few minutes, buying a through ticket all the way to the end of the line at East Greenwich.

A little later, two of the Royal Observatory assistants – William Thackeray and Henry Hollis – were at work in one of the computing rooms, at the top of the hill overlooking the northern reaches of Greenwich Park. Also on-site at the Observatory besides the assistants was the gate porter, William McManus. All three men heard the explosion. Smoke was seen rising from the trees near the Observatory’s front terrace. McManus ran towards the explosion site, seeing Thackeray and Hollis do likewise.

First on the scene, though, were two local schoolboys. At the site of the explosion they found a man, later identified as Martial Bourdin, kneeling on the path by the railings, perfectly still. His head was bowed. The Park keeper on duty that afternoon was next to arrive, followed by McManus, Thackeray and Hollis. At that moment, Bourdin was seen to sink to the ground. The witnesses had by now discovered that the man’s left hand had been blown off; sinews and tendons were hanging down out of the bloody stump. He had a massive wound in his stomach, out of which some of his intestines were spilling, and he had a hole under his right shoulder blade with bone protruding. The gathered party took Bourdin to hospital where he died twenty-five minutes later from shock and loss of blood. He never said what had happened.

McManus, Thackeray and Hollis returned to the Observatory and performed a search of the area between its buildings and the path nearby, where Bourdin had been found. It was a gruesome experience. They found many fragments of his hand, including a two-inch piece of blackened finger-bone. Blood and clothing fragments littered the scene and, the following day, detectives discovered pieces of tendon wrapped around nearby railings, and two knuckle-joints from Bourdin’s left thumb. Martial Bourdin, an anarchist terrorist, had accidentally blown himself up with a bomb right outside the Observatory buildings.

This is an abbreviated extract from Ruth Belville: The Greenwich Time Lady, by David Rooney, published by the National Maritime Museum, 2008 ISBN 978-0-948065-97-2.

Staff of the ROG in 1894

2009-02-05T15:53:00.001Z

Astronomer Royal
William Henry Mahoney Christie

Chief Assistant
Herbert Hall Turner (retired 28 February 1894) and Frank Watson Dyson (succeeded 1 March 1894), responsible for general superintendence of all the work of the Observatory, with full power to act in the absence of the Astronomer Royal

First Class Assistants
George Stickland Criswick (photographic mapping of the heavens)
Thomas Lewis (time-signals and chronometers)
Edward Walter Maunder (spectroscopic and solar-photographic observations and reductions)
William Carpenter Nash (magnetic and meteorological branch)
William Grasett Thackeray (miscellaneous astronomical computations and meridian zenith-distance reductions)

Second Class Assistants
Walter William Bryant (transit-reductions and time-determinations)
Andrew Claude Crommelin (altazimuth and equatorial computations)
Henry Park Hollis (library and manuscripts, longitude reductions, miscellaneous correspondence)
(and two vacancies)

Clerk
Henry Outhwaite (from 21 May 1894)

Computers
12 astronomical branch
2 astrographic branch
4 spectroscopic and solar-photographic branch
5 magnetic and meteorological branch

Other staff
Gate-porter, watchman, gardener, foreman of works, 2 carpenters, 1 or 2 labourers, skilled mechanic and his assistant, charwoman.

Women at the Royal Observatory

2009-02-04T15:42:00.000Z

There was a brief experiment of employing women at the Observatory between about 1891 and 1895. They were employed as 'supernumary' computers, in other words in non-permanent roles. These positions had traditionally been take up by boys coming straight from the local schools. Christie had been concerned about the quality of the candidates he received in a time when astronomy and the calculations it involved were increasingly complex, and was occupied with trying to get the Admiralty to agree to the expansion of the permanent workforce and promotion of the best computers (see notes page on Christie's staffing scheme). While the Admiralty dithered, the idea of hiring women was a useful stop-gap as they could be paid at a very low rate despite having excellent qualifications. Women with ambitions in the world of astronomy did jump at the chance, although some were unimpressed by the wages. Like Christie's other computers, these women were trained to make observations with the Observatory's important instruments.

It is not clear why this experiment was not continued beyond the mid-1890s. Perhaps no more women put themselves forward, or perhaps Christie felt that his staffing reforms meant that he now had enough competent male computers. It was not until after the Second World War that women began to be employed on a more regular basis.

Altazimuth Pavilion

2009-02-03T13:31:00.000Z

The Altazimuth Pavilion was completed in 1896, having been designed by William Christie and William Crisp. It's design was in keeping with that of the New Physical Observatory, which was in the process of being built. It is named after the altazimuth telescope that it was built to house, an instrument designed to measure both altitude (position above the horizon) and the azimuth (position east along the horizon) of celestial objects. It was also known as the Universal Transit Circle and replaced the earlier altazimuth designed by George Biddell Airy. Christie's instrument no longer survives and the dome now contains a photoheliograph, a telescope used to photograph the sun.

Sheepshanks Equatorial

2009-02-03T13:10:00.000Z

The Sheepshanks Equatorial is a 6.7-inch refracting telescope with an object glass (OG) by Cauchoix of Paris and mounting by F. Grubb. The OG was donated to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich in 1837 by Richard Sheepshanks (1794-1855), an astronomer who was then Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society. It was used regularly for the observation of comets, occultations, double-stars and planetary measurement. It was placed in the South Dome, originally built for the Shuckburgh telescope in 1813. This dome can still be seen, just to the east of the Prime Meridian and the Airy Transit Circle. The telescope remained in this position until it was moved to the Altazimuth Pavilion in 1963 and it is now in the museum's stores. See the National Maritime Museum's Collections Online for a more detailed description of this telescope.

The Board of Visitors to the Royal Observatory

2009-02-03T12:52:00.001Z

The Board of Visitors were, essentially, inspectors of the observatory who visited annually in order to examine the buildings, instruments and work done over the previous year. George Biddell Airy, the 7th Astronomer Royal, began the tradition of delivering a report at each Visitation.

Originally set up by the warrant of Queen Anne in 1710, the Board of Visitors initially consisted of the President and selected Fellows of the Royal Society. They did not, in their early years, meet regularly. In 1830 the composition of the Board was changed and was thereafter made up of the President of the Royal Society and 5 FRS, the President of the Royal Astronomical Society and 5 FRAS, the Plumian Professor of Astronomy from Cambridge and the Savilian Professor of Astronomy from Oxford. In the 1850s the Hydrographer of the Navy also became an ex officio member of the Board.

In practice the Board of Visitors often acted to back the Astronomer Royals' requests for funds from the government, but the terms of the warrant gave them the power to direct the observing programme if they wished.

The Lassell Dome and Lassell Telescope

2009-01-29T15:06:00.000Z

The Lassell reflecting telescope, which had a 24-inch aperture and 20-foot focal length, was built in 1847 for William Lassell (1799-1880), a businessman and astronomer who lived in Starfield near Liverpool. With this telescope Lassell discovered Triton, Neptune's satellite in 1846. It was presented by his daughters to the Royal Observatory in 1883 and it was mounted in this newly-built, 30-foot dome, known as the Lassell Dome. The low-level structure was demolished in the 1890s to make way for the New Physical Laboratory, which reused the dome itself. The dome can therefore still be seen atop the Royal Observatory's South Building.

The Great Equatorial

2009-01-23T11:09:00.000Z

This image of the Great Equatorial Telescope at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, is from the Illustrated London News for 24 August 1861. The telescope was installed under the 7th Astronomer Royal, George Biddell Airy, in 1859 as the first of the large equatorially-mounted telescopes at Greenwich. It was a refractor with an aperture of 12.8 inches and an object glass made by Merz of Munich. The optical work was by Troughton & Simms. The enormous mounting was designed by Airy himself and made by Ransomes and Sims of Ipswich. It was mounted in a new, specially designed building, know as the Great Equatorial Building or the South East Dome, until 1891. At this date it was moved to make way for the new and more powerful 28-inch telescope, which reused the same mount. The Great Equatorial was subsequently mounted in the Lassell Dome for a few years before being attached to the Thompson 26-inch telescope as a guiding instrument and mounted with it in the dome of the New Physical Observatory. These telescopes were moved in the 1950s to the new home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Herstmonceux in Sussex. The telescope formerly known as the Great Equatorial can, therefore, still be seen at the Observatory Science Centre.

Rebekah Higgitt

28-inch telescope

2009-01-23T10:59:00.000Z

This image shows the 28-inch refracting telescope at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich in about 1894. The Assistant in charge of the Photographic and Spectroscopic Department, E. Walter Maunder, is at eyepiece of the half-spectroscope (designed by the Astronomer Royal, William Christie) and W. Bowyer is taking notes.

This telescope, with its large 28-inch aperture, is still the largest in Britain and the seventh largest telescope in the world. It is described in detail on the National Maritime Museum's website and the telescope itself can still be seen and used at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. It was built by Sir Howard Grubb of Dublin and mounted in 1893 on the same mount as that designed for the Great Equatorial telescope. It was designed with an objective glass that could in part be reversed in order to correct the focus for use with photography. In practice this was little done after Christie's 1894 trials and the telescope was mainly used for double-star observations. From the 1950s to 1971 the 28-inch was transferred to the Royal Greenwich Observatory's new home in Herstmonceux, Sussex. After the original Greenwich site became a museum the telescope was returned and put on public display.

Because the 28-inch was a larger telescope than the Great Equatorial in order for the same mount and building to be reused it was necessary to replace the dome. Originally drum-shaped, the now familiar onion-dome became a feature of the Greenwich skyline in 1893. This was badly damaged in the Second World War and the current dome is a modern replacement. See the 28-inch's photo history at the NMM website.

Rebekah Higgitt

Christie's staff

2009-01-15T11:39:00.001Z

Christie argued, from the beginning of his tenure as Astronomer Royal, that the existing staff was inadequate to deal with the work that the Royal Observatory was required and expected to do, especially as new forms of astronomy - equatorial observations, photography and spectroscopy - had been introduced. Christie believed that such work was important not to meet the Observatory's historical utilitarian purpose but to "maintain the character of the Observatory as a scientific institution" (Astronomer Royal's Report to the Board of Visitors, 1887). In 1888 there were 8 Assistants, superintending 15 human Computers.

The number of junior staff did slowly rise but by the 1890s Christie was demanding that the number of senior and supervisory staff should also be increased and that there should be more permanency among employees. Traditionally Computers had been employed on a temporary basis as boys, who subsequently left to find more regular clerical work. Under Christie, and because of the expansion of work done at the Observatory, many had begun to be taught to use the telescopes as well as to do their calculation work. Christie felt that it was a waste of talent and of these skills if the best were not given the opportunity to work towards better pay and a permanent position.

By the end of Christie's time as Astronomer Royal there were about 60 members of staff, including two (instead of one) Chief Assistants, six Assistants, one Clerical Assistant, eleven Established (i.e. permanent) Computers and 25 temporary staff, sixteen of which were qualified as Observers. Other staff included carpenters, labourers, mechanics, porters and so on. This was a great change in a short period of time, although Christie still felt that "The employment in an Astronomical Observatory of a temporary staff of boys so large relatively to the permanent staff is open to grave objection" (Astronomer Royal's Report to the Board of Visitors, 1909).

Rebekah Higgitt

Sir Henry Thompson and the Thompson telescopes

2009-01-05T10:37:00.000Z

Sir Henry Thompson, 1st Baronet (1820-1904) was a surgeon and amateur astronomer who donated several important telescopes to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Trained at University College London's Medical School, he had a brilliant and lucrative medical career, with a special interest in diseases of the urinary system. His other interests were wide and he was a painter and writer of fiction as well as having interests in music, gastronomy and a host of other arts and sciences. He was created Baronet in 1899.

He built an observatory at his home, Hurtside House at East Molesey, in 1880 and equipped it with large telescopes of the latest design. He subsequently presented these telescopes to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and paid for another. All were made by Sir Howard Grubb in Dublin. These were the Thompson 9-inch Photoheliograph (presented to the ROG in 1891), the Thompson 26-inch Photographic Refractor (paid for by the £5000 he offered to the ROG on 4 January 1894 and mounted in 1896) and the Thompson 30-inch Photographic Reflector (presented to the ROG in 1896 to act as a counterpoise on the same mount as the 26-inch refractor. The Photoheliograph was initially mounted in the Lassell Dome but from the late 1890s all three Thompson telescopes were mounted together under the dome of the New Physical Observatory. In the 20th century the 26-inch and 30-inch telescopes were moved to the Observatory's new home at Herstmonceux in Sussex, where they remain today on display to the public at the Observatory Science Centre.

Rebekah Higgitt

New Physical Observatory

2008-12-23T14:20:00.000Z

Building works were a constant feature of the Royal Observatory in the 1890s. The largest project was the New Physical Observatory (now known as the South Building). Building was begun in 1890 and continued, with interruptions, until 1899. This building was eventually to house most of the staff, including the Astronomer Royal and Chief Assistant, as well as other offices, much of the library, records, workshops, dark rooms, and an important group of equatorially-mounted telescopes under the central dome. It was designed by William Christie, the Astronomer Royal, and William Crisp, an architect based at the Admiralty's Department of Works.

Rebekah Higgitt

Astrographic Dome and Telescope

2008-12-19T21:14:00.001Z

In 1888 the Astrographic Dome was built above the new Computing Room on the first floor of what is now called the Meridian Building. This is made up of the series of buildings that were built throughout the 18th and 19th centuries to house transit instruments, and is located along the south side of the Royal Observatory's courtyard.

This dome housed a 13-inch astrographic refracting telescope, that was acquired in 1890 in order to contribute to the international Carte du Ciel project for the photographic mapping of the skies. It was made by Sir Howard Grubb of Dublin and contributed to a regular series of photographs. It was used on expeditions to view solar eclipses in 1903, 1922, 1927 and 1929 and its object glass was taken to Brazil in 1919 on the eclipse expedition that helped to prove the validity of Einstein's theory of relativity. The telescope was taken to Herstmonceux in Sussex, the new home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, in 1958. The telescopes left behind when the institution moved to Cambridge in 1990 can still be seen at the Observatory Science Centre.

Rebekah Higgitt