Scope and Contents Various letters and copies of the royal appointments of the Astronomers Royal.1. Letter from the Royal Society, 5 March 1713, requesting the 1712 observations.2. A copy of the official royal appointment of Nevil Maskelyne as Astronomer Royal, with the signature of the Earl of Sandwich.3. A copy of the official royal appointment of James Bradley as Astronomer Royal, with the signature of Holles Newcastle.4. A copy of the royal warrant for employment and payment...

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With Mr Yorke's opinion dated 10 Nov. 1764.

Scope and Contents Computations of the positions of the Sun, Moon and planets performed by William Bayly and Reuben Burrow from observations taken when Nathaniel Bliss was Astronomer Royal.1. The Sun's right ascension and declination, clock errors, and longitude and latitude derived from observations and Johann Mayer's tables for 11 May 1765 to 10 May 1767.2. Moon's right ascension and declination, clock errors, and longitude and latitude derived from observations and Mayer's tables for 31 May...

Scope and Contents Minutes of Board of Longitude meetings regarding, among other matters, tables devised by José Mendoza de Ríos; correspondence with John Crosley (the astronomer with the expedition to New South Wales); a claim for a reward for Charles Mason's work on lunar tables; a report on the Arnold and Earnshaw chronometers going on the voyage of Captain Matthew Flinders; grants and awards to chronometer-makers; the observations of Nathaniel Bliss when he was Astronomer Royal; models of watch escapements...

Scope and Contents (1) Correspondence with individuals and institutions other than the Public Record Office and the National Maritime Museum regarding public records, 1963-1966, including correspondence with private individuals on historical matters connected with astronomy and the history of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. There is correspondence with Lord Thompson of Fleet concerning an exchange with the British Museum of the bust of Newton; a request to the Admiralty to publish a history of the R.G.O. by...

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Concerning a copy of Bradley and Bliss's Observations for the Cape Observatory.

Scope and Contents The microfilms were made before the papers had been organised, catalogued and assigned their present classmarks. As a result, the order of the records on the microfilms often differs from that found in the online catalogue. Consult the hard copy catalogues of these collections (available in the Manuscripts Reading Room) to obtain the classmark in use at the time of filming. RGO 3/15-29 were not filmed as they are fair and duplicate copies of items 1-14. RGO 3/46 was also not filmed as it was...

Scope and Contents Minutes of the Council of the Royal Society:14 December 1710: concerning a letter from the Queen, dated 12 December 1710, regarding the formation of a Board of Visitors for the Royal Observatory.30 May 1711: concerning a letter sent to the Revd John Flamsteed.16 October 1711: concerning a meeting with Flamsteed.12 June 1712: ordering a report by a 'Mathematical Instrument maker' on the number and condition of the instruments at the Royal Observatory.4...

Scope and Contents Memoranda and notes to staff concerning portable instruments and property of the Royal Observatory, 1875-1882.Letter of thanks to the Director of the Science Museum for the gift of a photograph of Harrison's chronometer No. 2, 1928.Correspondence with the State Research Institute of Geodesy and Cartography, Moscow, concerning an exchange of almanacs, 1933.Correspondence with Lord Bishop of Guildford, 1934, concerning his presentation of two sketches of the Royal...

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Print of a drawing from an engraving on an old pewter flagon.

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The collection contains a complete series of transit observations for Bradley's term as Astronomer Royal, supplemented by notes, calculations, tables and correspondence, with a smaller set of observations and other papers relating to Bliss. The observation ledgers for both Astronomer Royals feature the handwriting of Charles Green, who was Bradley's assistant and continued in his post under Bliss. The papers are written mainly in English, but also include Latin and one item in Italian.

Scope and Contents Papers on the archaeology of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1830-1848, including material on the transfer of the Observatory to the Admiralty Department and the formation of a new Board of Visitors. There is also H.C. Schumacher's 'ephemeris of Distances of the planets from the Moon's centre'; extracts from the reports of the Visitors, June 1815 - December 1818; and extracts from notes by J. Henry, 1812-1825, with a few words relating to buildings.Manuscripts of the Board of...

Scope and Contents Correspondence relating to the missing volume of minutes of the Board of Visitors for the years 1784 to 1830. There is also correspondence on the extraction of minutes relating to the Royal Observatory from the Council Minutes of the Royal Society. The letters date from 1861.Letter and notes on the burial place of John Flamsteed, 1863.Note by J. Carpenter concerning the 'Old Equatorial', 1864.Memorandum concerning the supposed location of James Bradley and Nevil...

Scope and Contents Various loose papers concerning the Visitors to the Royal Observatory.1. Accounts and breakdown of a £1000 grant showing how it was spent, 12 January 1748. There is also an inventory of the instruments at the Observatory, signed by Nathaniel Bliss, 18 August 1762.2. Report from the Royal Society committee on the refurbishment of the Observatory, 26 May 1726, including accounts.3. The case presented by the Royal Society on the validity of the orders creating the Board...

Scope and Contents Correspondence and other papers relating to different aspects of the history of the Royal Observatory:Copy of John Flamsteed's will.Copy of Edmond Halley's will.Correspondence from F. Streatfield asking for a list of Astronomers Royals and other information, and a letter from W.S. Granville Richards asking for any information about T. Taylor in the Royal Observatory records, 1878.Correspondence with Captain S.P. Oliver on the subject of Halley's monument,...

Scope and Contents Various loose papers concerning the Royal Society.1. Dates of meetings of the Board of Longitude and Council of the Royal Society in which James Bradley's papers were mentioned, and a description of attempts by the Royal Society to recover Bradley's observations.2. Regulations for the execution of the office of Astronomer Royal.3. Letter from William Kirkby to Mr Da Costa at the Royal Society, 18 September 1764, regarding the death of Nathaniel Bliss, mentioning that...

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Reduction of quadrant observations by applying refraction, the parallax of the Sun and nutation, 24 August 1762 - 7 March 1764. There are also observations of the intervals of transit telescope wires used by Nathaniel Bliss, 1762-1764.

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Daily rate of the transit circle clock deduced from the transits of the fixed stars, 29 August 1762 - 19 March 1765. The volume has notes and rules on calculating these figures. The observations were performed by Nathaniel Bliss until 22 September 1764, and by Charles Green from then until 15 March 1765.

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Copy of king's warrants of priory seal issuing payments to Dr James Bradley (15 Feb. 1752) and to Nathaniel Bliss (11 Aug. 1762) for their roles as Astronomer Royal.