Confirmed minutes, 1780 - 1801
Scope and Contents
Minutes of Board of Longitude meetings regarding, among other matters, the rates of various chronometers; Charles Hutton's tables of products, powers and roots of natural numbers; the voyages of HMS 'Resolution' and HMS 'Discovery' and the examination of their log books; John Arnold's improvements to his watches; a suitable site for the Board of Longitude's instruments after the burning of the cupola of the Greenwich Hospital where they had been kept; improvements to reflecting telescopes; the printing and publication of the observations and results obtained on Captain Cook's last voyage; Robert Blair's method of adjusting John Hadley's quadrant; the production of the 'Nautical Almanac'; experiments into the variations of compasses; lunar observations made in the East Indies; the instruction of the masters of the Royal Navy vessels in the use of the 'Nautical Almanac' and John Hadley's quadrant; a method of finding longitude by the Moon's passage over the meridian; correspondence with the Marquis de Condorcet of the Académie des Sciences, Paris; instruments to be lent for the making of the astronomical observations at Botany Bay; the loan of a timekeeper to HMS 'Sirius'; the observations made during the second voyage of HMS 'Dolphin'; an atlas of the Spanish Mediterranean from the Royal Observatory at Cadiz; Grenier's improved pendulum; a paper from Dr Higgins on the making of glass suitable for acromatic telescopes; a letter from Captain William Bligh regarding the loss of a chronometer after the mutiny on HMS 'Bounty'; work on magnetism; the survey of the north-west coast of America to be carried out by HMS 'Hecla' and HMS 'Griper'; the purchase of an altitude and azimuth instrument; the method of obtaining latitude by observing two altitudes of the Sun and the interval of time between them, invented by José Mendoza de Ríos; the invention of an artificial horizon by Henry Ould; the trial of two watches by Thomas Earnshaw; the loan of a time-keeper to Lord Hood; Thomas Mudge's petition to the House of Commons for reward, relating to his work on the construction of chronometers; an invention by Joseph Martin to show the real motion of the Earth and the cause of tides; the appointment of John Crosley as astronomical observer on expeditions to the north-west coast of America; a treatise on magnetism by Ralph Walker; a letter from Captain George Vancouver on the observations obtained during his voyage to the north-west coast of America; the invention of an instrument by J. Leslie for detecting moisture in the atmosphere; an account of and details relating to the bankruptcy of the Board of Longitude's printer, Christopher Buckton; William Dawes' observations in New South Wales; a deficiency of the Board's publications in the Library of the British Museum; the voyage of John Crosley to Australia; and various bills and accounts with tradesmen, including printers, booksellers and clock- and chronometer-makers.
Dates
- Creation: 1780 - 1801
Creator
- From the Management Group: Royal Greenwich Observatory (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Extent
1 volume(s) (1 volume)
Language of Materials
English
Former / Other Reference
Vol. VI
Original geographic information
Australia [subject]
Original geographic information
Botany Bay [subject]
Original geographic information
East Indies [subject]
Original geographic information
New South Wales [subject]
Original geographic information
Newfoundland [subject]
Original geographic information
North America [subject]
Original geographic information
Port Jackson [subject]
Original geographic information
Saint John's [subject]
Finding aid date
2006-05-02 10:24:28+00:00
Subject
- Arnold, Christoph, 1650 - 1695 (farmer and astronomer) (Person)
- Banks, Joseph, Sir, 1743 - 1820 (Baronet, naturalist) (Person)
- Hutton, Charles, 1737 - 1823 (mathematician) (Person)
- Bligh, William, 1754 - 1817 (Vice Admiral) (Person)
- Hadley, John, 1682 - 1744 (natural philosopher and mathematician) (Person)
- Mudge, Thomas, c1715 - 1794 (horologist) (Person)
- Crosley, John, 1762 - 1817 (astronomer) (Person)
- Arnold, John, c1736 - 1799 (watch and chronometer maker) (Person)
- Earnshaw, Thomas, 1749 - 1829 (maker of watches and chronometers) (Person)
- British Museum (Organization)
- Royal Navy (Organization)
- Cook, James, 1728 - 1779 (Captain, Royal Navy explorer) (Person)
- Ríos, José de Mendoza y, c1762 - 1816 (naval officer and astronomer) (Person)
- Vancouver, George, 1758 - 1798 (explorer) (Person)
- Blair, Robert, 1748 - 1828 (surgeon and maker of optical instruments) (Person)
- Dawes, William, 1762 - 1836 (astronomer and colonial administrator) (Person)
- Elmsley, Peter, 1736 - 1802 (bookseller) (Person)
- Walker, Ralph, 1749 - 1824 (engineer) (Person)
- Académie Royale des Sciences (Organization)
- HMS Hecla, bomb vessel (1815-1831) (Organization)
- HMS Resolution, sloop (1770-1782) (Organization)
- Higgins, Bryan, c1741 - 1818 (medical practitioner and chemist) (Person)
- Buckton, Christopher, fl1792 - 1807 (printer) (Person)
- Campbell, John, c1720 - 1790 (naval officer) (Person)
- Condorcet, Nicolas de ((1743-1794) philosopher and mathematician) (Person)
- Hood, Samuel, 1724 - 1816 (1st Viscount Hood of Catherington) (Person)
- Martin, Joseph, fl1793 (petitioner to the Board of Longitude) (Person)
- Ould, Henry, fl1794 (maker of mathematical instruments) (Person)
- HMS Bounty, collier (1784-1790) (Organization)
- HMS Dolphin (1751-1777) (Organization)
- HMS Griper (Organization)
- HMS Sirius, merchantman (c 1780-1790) (Organization)
- HMS Discovery (1774-1797) (Organization)
Repository Details
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