George Lyon Tupman (1838- 1922) was born at Boulogne on 7 September 1838. He was educated at the Royal Naval School, New Cross, and then joined the Royal Marine Artillery as a Second Lieutenant, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel by the time of his retirement in 1880. Tupman was interested in astronomy from a young age. His early work included estimates of the velocity of meteors and a catalogue of meteor radiants based mainly on his own observations in the Mediterranean. He is best known, however, for his work on the Transits of Venus of 1874 and 1882. In 1874 he took charge of the expedition to observe the Transit of Venus from Honolulu, organising the observers, equipment and shipping, and overseeing the setting up of the telescopes at the different stations. During the expedition, Tupman was based at the Sandwich Islands, where he carried out many vital preliminary observations. After his return, he spent four years as a volunteer at Greenwich working on the reduction of the observations, at the request of Astronomer Royal, George Airy. In 1882 he observed the Transit of Venus at Christchurch, New Zealand, and also set up the Hillfoot Observatory at Harrow, where he made many observations of faint stars on the meridian, as well as lunar occultations of comets and minor planets. Tupman's other interests included geology, microscopy, natural history, archaeology. He was also interested in wireless telegraphy, and had a wireless station at his home until 1914, when it was removed by the Postmaster-General. He married Rebecca Wetherill of Philadelphia, USA, in 1876. The couple had no children. Tupman died on 3 November 1922.