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Correspondence on time signals, 1902 - 1936

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0180/RGO 8/146

Scope and Contents

Correspondence concerning time signals, including the following material:

Correspondence with E. Dent and Co. regarding irregularities in the Westminster Clock, tables of errors for the clock and newspaper cuttings relating to it, 1902-1906.

Correspondence regarding the installation of a wireless-telegraph receiving station at Greenwich, 1912-1914.

Correspondence of 1912-1915 regarding the inauguration of a wireless-telegraph time service from the Eiffel Tower and concerning the Paris conferences of 1912 and 1913 on the establishment of a Commission Internationale de l'Heure. The papers include a memorandum on the inauguration of the service; proposals, reports, projected statutes, etc., from the four commissions; draft and final reports and remarks and recommendations of the British delegates; a chart showing the time signal w/t stations to be established; Notices to Mariners, Nos 874 and 875, regarding Eiffel Tower signals; and a diagram illustrating the system of transmitting w/t signals.

Correspondence with the Admiralty, the General Post Office and the Marconi Company regarding transmitting time signals from the Poldhu W/T Station in case of interruption at the Eiffel Tower, 1914-1915.

General correspondence regarding w/t time signals, 1912-1914, comprised mainly of requests for advice and information on w/t apparatus and suppliers from other observatories, such as Liverpool, Kew and Hong Kong, and from members of the general public with a special interest in the Royal Observatory equipment. There are also letters concerning Indian sending stations, errors of time signals and experiments.

General correspondence regarding time signals and time balls, 1919-1924, including correspondence with the Hydrographer and Edinburgh Observatory relating to the sending of time signals by the Royal Observatory to the Rosyth Chronometer Depot and the return signals; correspondence with the Air Ministry concerning equipment; and correspondence with the Horological Institute relating to the publication of the Astronomer Royal's lecture.

Correspondence regarding the Mean Time Free Pendulum Clock, Shortt No. 49, 1934-1936, including correspondence with the Synchronome Company concerning its manufacture, including details, estimate, receipt, testing and problems; correspondence with the Hydrographer relating to the contract, testing and cellar for the clock; and correspondence with the Southern Railway Company regarding the performance of Shortt clocks Nos 3, 11, 16 and 49.













Dates

  • 1902 - 1936

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 bundle(s) (1 bundle)

Language of Materials

English