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The Astronomer Royal, the Hydrographer and the time ball: collaborations in time signalling 1850–1910

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2009

CAITLIN HOMES
CAITLIN HOMES
Affiliation:
68B Wisteria Road, London, SE13 5HN. Email: caitlinhomes@hotmail.com.
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Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the Admiralty and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, by studying the roles of the Hydrographer and the Astronomer Royal as they worked together on the problem of communicating accurate time to ships. The collaboration between the Astronomer Royal and the Hydrographer directed the development of time balls and other visual signals throughout their period of use in Britain and its colonies. This paper focuses on the time ball and clock developed by the Astronomer Royal William Christie and the Hydrographer William Wharton as a key example of significant and productive collaboration between the two institutions. The paper also highlights the importance of the telegraph system to visual time signals. The ability to drop a time ball at a distance from an observatory created significant opportunities to improve the time signal service to mariners and stimulated further innovation in this field.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal for the History of Science , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , September 2009 , pp. 381 - 406
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 British Society for the History of Science

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References

1 See, for example, Wood, C., ‘A time ball on the Calton Hill’, Clocks (1997), 20, 8–9Google Scholar,14; Combridge, J., ‘The Shanghai time ball of 1884’, Antiquarian Horology (1989), 18, 381–3Google Scholar; and Beresford, C. F. C. and Combridge, J., ‘The Deal time ball’, Antiquarian Horology (1990), 19, 33–43.Google Scholar

2 D. Howse, Greenwich Time and the Longitude, 2nd edn, London, 1997, 82–5, 95–105.

3 Bartky, I. and Dick, S. J., ‘The first time balls’, Journal for the History of Astronomy (1982), 12, 155–64CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Bartky and Dick's research also linked Wauchope directly with the establishment of the Greenwich time ball and several others around the world.

4 This paper is limited in focus to Britain and its colonies. For work on the time ball in North America in a broader context see I. Bartky, Selling the True Time: Nineteenth-Century Timekeeping in America, Stanford, 2000; and S. J. Dick, Sky and Ocean Joined: The U.S. Naval Observatory, 1830–2000, Cambridge, 2003. The latter has significant parallels with the history of the Royal Observatory and its relationship with the Admiralty. Alexis McCrossen has also dealt more broadly with time balls in ‘Time balls: marking modern times in urban America, 1877–1922’, Material History Review (2000), 52, 4–15.

5 See Howse, op. cit. (2); also A. J. Meadows, Greenwich Observatory, Volume 2: Recent History (1836–1975), London, 1975, 37–8, 69–70.

6 For Airy's correspondence on early time balls and time signals see the Royal Greenwich Observatory archives, Cambridge University Library, Cambridge (subsequently RGO), boxes RGO6/612–18. For Christie's general correspondence on time balls and time signals see RGO8/147.

7 This clock, first used in the Devonport Dockyards, is currently on display at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, alongside three others modelled from it and established in Singapore, Gibraltar and Rothesay.

8 Bartky and Dick, op. cit. (3), 156.

9 The story of the development by John Harrison of clocks accurate and reliable in sea conditions in order to solve the problem of calculating longitude can be found in Howse, op. cit. (2), 71–8, 193 (sources listed in reference 46). A clear and concise description of the procedure for observing and calculating the chronometer error is provided in Bartky and Dick, op. cit. (3), 155 and note 2.

10 Copy of letter, Master Attendant C. Q. G. Crauford to the Colonial Secretary, 3 December 1888, RGO8/147.

11 Howse, op. cit. (2), 33–43.

12 Morris, R. O., ‘The Royal Naval Hydrographic Service, 1795–1995’, Hydrographic Journal (1995), 77, 3–9Google Scholar, 3.

13 E. G. Forbes, Greenwich Observatory, Volume 1: Origins and Early History (1675–1835), London, 1975, 163.

14 A. Day, The Admiralty Hydrographic Service 1795–1919, London, 1967, 33.

15 Forbes, op. cit. (13), 164.

16 G. S. Ritchie, The Admiralty Chart: British Naval Hydrography in the Nineteenth Century, 2nd edn, Durham, 1995, 115–16.

17 Ritchie, op. cit. (16), 3 and 308–9.

18 A. H. W. Robinson, Marine Cartography in Britain, Oxford, 1962, 114–26.

19 See M. H. Edney, Mapping an Empire: The Geographical Construction of British India, 1765–1843, Chicago and London, 1997, 1–3.

20 E. W. Maunder, The Royal Observatory Greenwich: A Glance at Its History and Work, London, 1900, 149; and Howse, op. cit. (2), 136.

21 Ritchie, op. cit. (16), 343.

22 Howse, op. cit. (2), 95–105; and Meadows, op. cit. (5), 37–8, 69–70.

23 Reprinted in Howse, op. cit. (2), 96.

24 G. Airy, Autobiography (ed. W. Airy), Cambridge, 1892, 124–5.

25 Francis Beaufort, 17 June 1847, United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (subsequently UKHO), Taunton, Minute Book 6 (subsequently MB), 116.

26 Howse, op. cit. (2), 95–100; and Meadows, op. cit. (5), 37–8, 69–70.

27 Howse, op. cit. (2), 97. The Greenwich time ball was dropped by an electric signal from the new Shepherd master clock for the first time on 16 July 1852.

28 Captain C. Shadwell, Notes on the Management of Chronometers and the Measurement of Meridian Distances, London, 1855, 58. The insertion in the quotation constitutes a footnote in the original.

29 W. Wharton, Hydrographical Surveying, London, 1882, 218.

30 The data exists in the Royal Observatory's annual reports to calculate the percentage error of the time balls it managed directly and for which it recorded a return signal, but it would be more difficult to provide a comparison with others.

31 Howse, op. cit. (2), 101–2. In 1852 the ETC had set up a time ball above its office on the Strand which was the first to be dropped by a Greenwich time signal at a distance.

32 Meadows, op. cit. (5), 73.

33 Beresford and Combridge, op. cit. (1), 33.

34 George Airy to John Washington, 5 February 1856, RGO6/613 File 1, 6–11.

35 George Airy to Alexander Becher, 28 August 1856, RGO6/613 File 1; and Airy, op. cit. (24), 228.

36 George Airy to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 15 November 1856, RGO6/613 File 1, 38–9.

37 R. B. Osborne, Secretary to the Admiralty, to George Airy, 6 February 1857, RGO6/613 File 1, 40.

38 George Airy to John Washington, acknowledging the latter's suggestion, 17 February 1859, RGO6/614 File 1, 5.

39 George Airy to John Washington, 15 December 1859, RGO6/614 File 1, 10.

40 George Airy to Stephen Leach, Secretary, Thames Conservancy Board, 4 August 1860, RGO6/614 File 1, 31.

41 Stephen Leach to George Airy, 18 August 1860, RGO6/614 File 1, 33. There is no further correspondence at this point, so it remains unclear whether the time signal plan was approved and, if so, what form of signal was used.

42 Airy, op. cit. (24), 230.

43 George Airy to the Secretary of the Admiralty, 21 December 1861, House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (502) (subsequently HoC PP), 3–5.

44 Board of Visitors of the Royal Observatory, Memorial, on or about 16 June 1862, HoC PP (502), 6–7.

45 The Secretary to the Marine Department, Board of Trade, to the Secretary of the Admiralty, 31 December 1862, HoC PP (502), 8–9.

46 Airy, Report of the Astronomer Royal to the Board of Visitors of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 4 June 1864, HoC PP (502), 13.

47 George H. Richards, Minute, 9 June 1864, UKHO MB 12, 264–7. This was cancelled in the minute book, and replaced with the text on pages 271–2 that was then reproduced in George H. Richards, Memorandum, 16 June 1864, HoC PP (502), 13–14.

48 George H. Richards, Minute, 9 June 1864, UKHO MB 12, 266.

49 Day, op. cit. (14), 81.

50 George H. Richards, Memorandum, 16 June 1864, HoC PP (502), 13–14.

51 Airy, op. cit. (24), 309.

52 George H. Richards, Memorandum, 16 June 1864, HoC PP (502), 13.

53 Bartky, I., ‘The bygone era of time balls’, Sky and Telescope (1987), 73, 32–5Google Scholar, 33.

54 George Airy to Frederick Evans, 29 August 1879, and George Airy to Edward Stone, 29 August 1879, RGO8/147.

55 George Airy to the Foreign Office, 11 September 1879, RGO8/147.

56 Frederick Evans to George Airy, 13 February 1880, RGO8/147.

57 George Airy to Frederick Evans, 14 February 1880, RGO8/147; underlining in original. It was perhaps harsh of Airy to assume that his format for the report had been plagiarized. The key points of information are the same, but the structure is not completely identical. By 1879 there were seven time balls in operation on the German coasts, and the naval authorities are likely to have been aware of what it would be useful to know about them. Airy had, however, been the reference source for the German time ball system, having been approached for plans and information through the Board of Trade in 1873 (Airy, op. cit. (24), 302). All of the seven time balls used in Germany were black and five feet in diameter, just like the one in Greenwich.

58 Frederick Evans to George Airy, 17 February 1880, RGO8/147.

59 Further research abroad might show whether it was the German request for information about their time balls that inspired the US Hydrographic Office to print such a list themselves.

60 Admiralty, Hydrographic Department, List of Time Signals Established in Various Parts of the World, London, 1881. The List does not include time signals in operation in town centres or inland cities, these being of no use to a ship's captain.

61 See Bartky, op. cit. (53), 33, for a list of the earliest time ball locations and their dates.

62 See RGO8/147 for Christie's general correspondence on time balls.

63 William Christie to Henry Montagu Hozier, Secretary, Lloyds, 27 October 1884, RGO8/147. ‘The late Captain Woolarth of Trinity House’ is given credit for the suggestion.

64 William Christie to Henry Montagu Hozier, 27 October 1884, RGO8/147.

65 Henry Montagu Hozier to William Christie, 28 October 1884, RGO8/147.

66 E. Graves to William Christie, 4 November 1884, RGO8/147.

67 William Christie to E. Graves, 5 November 1884, RGO8/147.

68 E. Graves to William Christie, 6 November 1884, RGO8/147.

69 See, for example, William Wharton to William Christie, 2 November 1886, RGO7/257 ‘Devonport Time Ball’, 22 June 1885, RGO6/640 Box 1, File 4, 281, and 16 July 1888, RGO6/640 Box 2, File 7, 437; and William Christie to William Wharton, 3 November 1886, RGO7/257 ‘Devonport Time Ball’, and 17 July 1888, RGO6/640 Box 2, File 7, 438.

70 See William Wharton to William Christie, 8 August 1885, RGO6/640 Box 1, File 4, 317–19; William Christie to William Wharton, 8 August 1885, RGO6/640 Box 1, File 4, 320; and William Wharton to William Christie, 10 and 11 August 1885, RGO6/640 Box 1, File 4, 305–6.

71 A. G. Tate to Frank Dyson, 8 November 1910, RGO7/257 ‘Portsmouth and Devonport Time Balls’.

72 Notes, Thomas Lewis to Frank Dyson, between 8 and 15 November 1910, RGO7/257 ‘Portsmouth and Devonport Time Balls’.

73 William Wharton to William Christie, 11 February 1885, RGO7/257 ‘Devonport Time Ball’.

74 William Christie to William Wharton, 12 February 1885, RGO7/257 ‘Devonport Time Ball’; underlining in original.

75 William Wharton to William Christie, 23 and 28 February 1885, RGO7/257 ‘Devonport Time Ball’.

76 William Christie to William Wharton, 26 February 1885, RGO7/257 ‘Devonport Time Ball’.

77 William Christie, RGO 17/4, Report of the Astronomer Royal to the Board of Visitors, 1884–5, 15.

78 William Christie to Duncan Forbes, Southampton Town Council, 17 April 1885, RGO8/147.

79 Christie, op. cit. (77), 15–16.

80 RGO7/257 ‘Devonport Time Ball’. Correspondence regarding the clock begins on 12 March 1885 and continues until 27 October 1886, when Christie authorized Dent to remove the clock from the Royal Observatory and erect it at Devonport.

81 Osborn to William Wharton, 18 May 1887, UKHO Surveyors Papers Miscellaneous Series (subsequently S Papers Misc Series), ‘1887 Mount Wise’.

82 Osborn to William Wharton, 10 December 1886, UKHO S Papers Misc Series, ‘1887 Mount Wise’.

83 Osborn to William Wharton, 8 February 1888, UKHO S Papers Misc Series, ‘1888 Mount Wise Time Signal’.

84 Admiralty, Hydrographic Department, List of Time Signals Established in Various Parts of the World, 2nd edn, London, 1888, 4–5.

85 Osborn to Wharton, 13 February 1888, UKHO S Papers Misc Series, ‘1888 Mount Wise Time Signal’.

86 See, for example, William Christie, RGO 17/4, Report of the Astronomer Royal to the Board of Visitors, 1887–8, 17.

87 E. J. D. Hewitt, Secretary, Standard Time Company, to William Christie, 31 October 1901, RGO7/253 ‘Correspondence with the Public’.

88 William Christie to E. J. D. Hewitt, 4 November 1901, RGO7/253 ‘Correspondence with the Public’.

89 E. J. D. Hewitt to William Christie, 17 February 1902, RGO7/253 ‘Correspondence with the Public’.

90 Notes, Thomas Lewis to William Christie, early November 1901, RGO7/253 ‘Correspondence with the Public’.

91 William Christie, RGO 17/4, Report of the Astronomer Royal to the Board of Visitors, 1893–4, 22.

92 See, for example, Christie, op. cit. (86), 17.

93 Bartky and Dick, op. cit. (3), 156.

94 Edgerton, D., ‘From innovation to use: ten eclectic theses on the historiography of technology’, History and Technology (1999), 16, 111–36, 123–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

95 See Howse, op. cit. (2), Appendix II, for a detailed explanation.

96 William Wharton to William Christie, 22 June 1885, RGO6/640 Box 1, File 4, 281.

97 William Wharton to William Christie, 7 November 1903, RGO7/257 ‘Time Observations at Malta’.

98 Admiralty, Hydrographic Department, List of Time Signals Established in Various Parts of the World, 7th edn, London, 1904, 17.

99 William Wharton to William Christie, 9 November 1903, RGO7/257 ‘Time Observations at Malta’.

100 RGO7/257 ‘Time Observations at Malta’, Training Notes: 17 November–23 December 1903.

101 A. Mostyn Field to William Christie, 3 May 1905, RGO7/257 ‘Time Observations at Malta’.

102 William Christie to A. Mostyn Field, 26 July 1905, RGO7/257 ‘Time Observations at Malta’.

103 William Christie to A. Mostyn Field, 21 November 1905, RGO7/257 ‘Time Observations at Malta’.

104 RGO7/257 ‘Time Observations at Malta’, c.24 May 1906.

105 A. Mostyn Field to William Christie, 28 September 1906, RGO7/257 ‘Time Signals at Malta’.

106 RGO7/257 ‘Time Signals at Malta’, November 1906–January 1907.

107 Francis Hanning-Lee to H. P. Hollis, 9 February 1907, RGO7/257 ‘Time Signals at Malta’.

108 William Wharton to William Christie, 25 January 1889, RGO8/147, including copy of letter from W. H. Preece to William Wharton, 14 December 1888.

109 William Christie to William Wharton, 29 January 1889, RGO8/147. There was no research into the costs of laying a wire to Prawle Point, which was closer and potentially cheaper. If this had been possible, Airy's original plan for a time ball at the Start Point would have been just about achieved – the time ball being controlled from a clock at Devonport that was regulated by Greenwich.

110 Henry Montagu Hozier to William Christie, 21 August 1896, 16 November 1896, and 3 May 1899, RGO8/147. William Christie to Henry Montagu Hozier, 18 November 1896 and 9 May 1899. In 1896 Christie was away in Japan observing a total eclipse and did not want to go into the matter without due consideration. In 1899 the proposal was to set up a time ball in Gibraltar which involved underwater cables and possible associated signal retardation problems.

111 William Wharton to William Christie, 23 November 1892, RGO7/257 ‘Portsmouth and Devonport Time Balls’.

112 There is a substantial set of correspondence regarding the Singapore Time Ball in RGO8/147, beginning 12 February 1889 and ending 2 July 1892.

113 William Wharton, Minute, 12 March 1890, UKHO MB 34, p.154

114 William Christie to Portmaster, Brisbane, 23 July 1891, RGO8/147.

115 William Christie to the Crown Agents, 25 July 1906, RGO7/257 ‘Time Ball at Ceylon’.

116 The 1908 List of Time Signals (8th edn) says that the Gibraltar time ball was dropped at each hour of daylight rather than just at 1 p.m., so there was no need for a captain to signal a request for it to be dropped at a different time.

117 A. Mostyn Field to William Christie, 5 December 1904, RGO7/256.

118 The 10 a.m. signal was regarded as less reliable than the 1 p.m. signal as the latter was given after a further time check at noon.

119 William Christie to A. Mostyn Field, 2 October 1906, RGO7/257 ‘Time Signals at Malta’.

120 A. Mostyn Field to William Christie, 16 November 1906, RGO7/257 ‘Time Signals at Malta’.

121 Day, op. cit. (14), 221.

122 Christie, op. cit. (86), 20. My emphasis.

123 Meadows, op. cit. (5), 26.

124 H. P. Hollis, Obituary of W. H. M. Christie, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (1923), 83, 232–41, 235.