Early Years
Fearon Fallows
The first astronomer sent out to South Africa was Fearon Fallows. He arrived at the Cape on 12 August 1821.
On 30 November 1821 the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, returned to the Cape to replace Acting Governor, Sir Rufane Donkin. He was a very colourful character to say the least, as well as a vindictive person. There was no love lost between Donkin and Somerset. Somerset opposed Donkins actions and ostracised his friends, including Fallows. Fallows committed “a sin not to be forgiven” when he was reported to have paid his respects to Donkin as the latter embarked for England. [Warner – Astronomers, p. 9.]
His first task was to select a suitable site for the observatory, and there were three conditions to be met. [Laing, p. 9.]
1. It had to be within sight of Table Bay in order to pass on visual time signals to ships anchored in the Bay.
2. It had to be sufficiently far to the East of Table Mountain so as to have an unobstructed meridian.
3. It had to be on Government land.
“…various hazards to be borne in mind. The worst of them was sand – sharp, cutting, siliceous sand, blown by the winds and whirlwinds of the many storms, which affect the Cape. Therefore, Fallows had to find a place which was as free as possible from the effects of abrasive sand”. [Copied from Moore, p. 44.]
On explaining that he wanted to establish the Observatory on a hill, the Colonial Government, “considering that the proximity to stars was sine qua non”, offered him a site on Table Mountain so he could be closer to the stars. (Table Mountain is for a great part of the year either covered by cloud or plagued by strong winds.) After extensively scouting around quite afar in all directions Fallows settled on a hill known as Tygerberg, only to change his mind again. [Warner – Astronomers, pp.10 – 11.]
The site Fallows chose is the site we know today as the headquarters for the S.A.A.O. “After much deliberation, he (Fallows) finally selected a site on rising ground four miles east of Cape Town, on a low tract of land which connects the mountainous peninsula on which Cape Town itself stands, together with Table Mountain, to the main continent. The terrain was known as Slangkop (Snake Hill) at the confluence between the Black and Liesbeek rivers. The observatory was duly built, on a green stone foundation with a firm upper soil of clay. It stood like an island amid all the evils that Fallows had been at pains to avoid. The cloud of red dust, seen daily as it rolled along the high road on its way into Cape Town left the observatory untouched. The mighty clouds of white sand, blasting their way across the plains of the flats and destroying all the vegetation in their paths toward Table Bay, approached from the other direction – and they too left the observatory and its grounds unscathed. It was true that the land at the foot of the prominence was marshy, lying as it did between two rivers. … Some of the later astronomers said hard things about Fallows, and one of them – his immediate successor – nicknamed the site the “Dismal Swamp”. And yet it was the best that could be done, and the horizon was almost unobstructed, except for part of the west. [Copied from Moore, pp.44 – 45]
Having settled on a site it only remained for the Colonial Government to acquire the land for the Admiralty, and for the plans to of the building to arrive, in order to start construction. However nothing happened for nearly two years. One of the reasons for the delay was that the plans were drawn up, and then “filed” and lost. [Warner – Astronomers, p. 11.]
The building, based on a design by J. Rennie, was completed in June 1827. The building style was neo-classical. [Laing, p. 9] Note: There is a common misconception amongst Capetonians that Thomas Telford, famous builder of the Menai Bridge, designed the building. This erroneous information appears to have originated in “The Guide to Cape Town” for 1890. [Warner – Astronomers, pp.5 – 6.]
The plans were drawn up, and then redrawn. Construction was contracted out to local builders who proved to be “unsatisfactory” as well as thieves. Finding suitable building material was a constant problem and hampered by the Burmese Wars, as Burmese Teak was used in the construction. The Admiralty’s insistence on economising in 1827 also did not help. All these factors and more led to endless delays. Unbeknown to Fallows the Admiralty decided to appoint a Clerk-of-Works, a very capable person by the name of John Skirrow. He arrived in Cape Town on 22 February 1825 and saved the day. He ended staying in Cape Town and supervised the construction of a number of buildings, such as the original St. Georges Church. For much more information on the construction process read Warner’s book Astronomers at the Royal Observatory Cape of Good Hope, pp. 11 – 25.
Fallows set up his portable instruments on the site where the observatory was to be build and “Afterwards on several successive nights, by observations on high and low Greenwich stars, I obtained my meridian line very exactly. This being done, the lines of the building as marked in the Plan was easily set off to the utmost accuracy.” The portable instruments were a transit instrument, circle and a clock. [Warner – Astronomers, pp.5 – 6, p.8.]
On 1 January 1828 the building was completed sufficiently for the Fallows to take up occupation”- seven years after Fallows and his bride had arrived. The couple took up residence in that part of the building which is now called Fallows House, and its large drawing-room was used as the first Anglican chapel in South Africa.” [Copied from Moore, p. 45]
“The instruments were installed by the end of 1828. They were the Dollond transit instrument and a Jones mural circle. The Jones mural circle was constructed with an error, and dropped during transit. Since nobody knew of the construction error it was assumed to have been damaged in transit. That there was a problem was only discovered after installation. The Observatory also received a new Harrison clock. [Laing, p. 9.] (Harrison was the person who solved the longitude problem for navigators: Read Longitude by Dava Sobel) Fallows also brought a 14 ft. telescope with him that was purchased from the Herschel family. However Fallows never assembled the Herschel 14 ft. telescope.
In the early years the terrain was fairly wild:
-“… more-over there were hippopotami in the rivers, and the original name of the hill, Slangkop or Snake Hill, indicated another form of life which could well be encountered. Leopards were also in evidence” [Copied from Moore, p. 44.]
-The story is told that one night the observer could not get the roof shutters over the transit circle open. On going up the tower and stepping out on to the roof he came face-to-face with a leopard. It is not known who departed the quickest. [Smits]
Initially the observatory had a few assistants during Fallows directorship. His initial assistant who accompanied him to the Cape, James Fayrer, married the maid Sarah Bootle, both who turned out to be lazy and drunkards. He fired Fayrer and employed Reverend Patrick Scully in November 1822. Scully was the colony’s first Catholic Chaplain, a well-educated man who was better suited than Fayrer for the job. In 1824 Fallows however caught Scully in bed with a 17-year-old girl. He dismissed Scully. The British Admiralty appointed the next assistant, Captain William Ronald, who arrived at the Cape only on 19 November 1826. Ronald became ill, left for sick leave on 18 October 1830 and never returned. Now Fallows made use of his wife Mary to assist him. On 1 December 1830 Fallows hired a youth, James Robertson who assisted him until the Admiralty appointed a new assistant [Warner – Astronomers, pp.13 – 14, p.20, p.25, p.27.]
By 1828 when the instruments were finally installed Fallows and the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, were not on speaking terms anymore. Then the new Governor arrived, Sir Lowry Cole. Fallows decided to use this opportunity to officially open the Observatory by inviting Cole to attend the laying of the final stone for the Mural Circle pier. The following document was found in the pier:
| Present at the laying of this Stone |
October 29th 1828 |
| Mrs Fallows |
Manuel John Johnson |
| Mrs Ronald |
John Skirrow |
| Reverend Fearon Fallows |
Sir Lowry Cole (lately arrived Governor) |
| Captain Ronald |
John Bell, Colonial Secretary |
(Fallows inserted this document in the pier of the Mural Circle in 1828. When the Circle was removed and alterations were made to the room in 1854 the document was discovered and reinstated [Warner – Astronomers, p.23, p.66.])
As soon as the permanent instruments were installed, even before the building was completed, Fallows started with serious observing. The damaged Jones mural circle required a few extra steps to get accurate results, which slowed down the observation process. Still Fallows managed to do very important observations, for which he never received due credit because it was not published during his lifetime. Just as he managed to get the observatory operational and did his important observations, Fallows contracted scarlet fever and died on 25 July 1831. His wife Mary send all his observations to Greenwich and the Astronomer Royal, Sir George Airy, published the observations twenty years after Fallows death, in 1851, in the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. [Warner – Astronomers, pp.29 – 30.]
The first Assistant Director was William Meadows. Meadows was appointed by the admiralty as Assistant Director, and left England after Fallows died. In England they received word that Fallows was very sick, and only when Meadows arrived in Cape Town did he learn of Fallows death. On paper Meadows was assistant to Fallows, Henderson and Maclear, but in reality he was assistant only to Henderson and Maclear.
Thomas Henderson
Upon receiving the news of the death of Fallows the Admiralty started looking around for suitable candidates for the post of Director. One candidate was George Biddell Airy (mentioned above), who became Senior Wrangler at Cambridge University in 1823. Airy declined the appointment to become the new Director of the Cape Observatory, and later years went on to become the Astronomer Royal at Greenwich Observatory. Another candidate was Thomas Maclear, who was passed over this time but who was to become a director at the Cape at a later stage. Continuing their search the Admiralty considered two persons to be the most eligible: William Richardson and Thomas Henderson. Henderson was chosen to be the new Director and Meadows was already at the Cape as his Assistant Director. [Warner – Astronomers, p.31.] Henderson was appointed on 15 October 1831.
Henderson reluctantly came to the Cape, hated it and stayed only a year. Yet it is a mark of his exceptional qualities that during his brief tenure of office he made five or six thousand observations of the places of southern stars, observed Encke’s and Biela’s Comets and the transit of Mercury of 5 May 1812; he studied stellar occultation’s and the eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites, as well as making special parallax’ observations of Mars and the Moon. [Koorts – British, p.36] Note: According to Warner- Astronomers, p.32 Henderson measured nearly ten thousand positions of stars (not six thousand as Koorts states). These constituted the first large body of accurate fundamental positions in the Southern Hemisphere.
Early in 1833 Henderson started a new time service. With a brass barrel percussion pistol and a pocket chronometer he climbed each night onto the roof of the Observatory and fired a charge of black powder at an advertised time. The flash was bright enough for any sailor to see (if his telescope was correctly aimed). The brass pistol, and its powder flask, is now in the South African Museum.
“During these early times and for many years afterwards the Admiralty provided no funds for the layout or maintenance of the grounds. As a result, it was a very barren site. A poem by the wife of Lieut. William Meadows, who was appointed Assistant at the Royal Observatory and, who, with his wife arrived there in 1831, tells the story well. It was found in 1989 preserved among the private papers of the late Sir Thomas Maclear.
Lines in the Handwriting of a Lady, found on a Table in the Cape Observatory, Cape of Good Hope (1832)
Description of the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope:
Should I call on my pen to describe in detail?
The aspect around us, its effort would fail
Since the task is so hard a just picture to make
When a negative scene for our subject we take-
We mix not in the stir of a city or town
For us their allurements and cares are unknown,
Nor live we where nature exhibits her store
But to wed us to rural attractions the more
Nor move we on ocean with proud sail unfurled,
To gain knowledge or wealth from the Old or New World.
No, it is not like land and it is not like sea
But lest it be asked where this strange home can be?
‘Tis well to confess that it stands on a plain
Over which the eye wanders for beauty in vain
No tree lends its foliage, – no warbler is heard
For green are the haunts of the sweet singing bird;
The owl screams at night round the pond’rous Pile
And the terrified frogs cease their croakings the while
Dread serpents dispute our just claims to a place
Which ages ago was assigned to their race.
And they lurk in our pathway, our chambers molest
No pleasant associates; it must be confest.
(Old Eolus) Father Boreas for pastime delights to whirl round
The vanes of ten mills we see from “Snake Mound”.
The “Slough of Despond” intercepts our main road,
And near “Dismal Swamp” stands our tasteless abode.”
[Copied from Warner-Astronomers, pp.34-35; MNASSA Vol. 48. (There are some minor differences between the two sources.)]
The Admiralty were loath to spend money on the Observatory. Henderson asked to have so improvements done, and the Admiralty refused his request. In a fit of rage Henderson resigned his post in May 1833 without troubling to make more than a flimsy excuse, and lost no time in returning to his native Scotland. |
Development of the Cape Observatory
Thomas Maclear
Thomas Maclear arrived at the Cape on 7 January 1834 as the next Director of the Observatory. The era of Maclear is marked by additions made to improve the comforts and general functionality of the Observatory. Maclear was helped by the fact that his whole attitude was different to Henderson and he build up a better working relationship with the Admiralty. He also had the help of a very influential friend, John Herschel. Great was the improvement when water closets were installed. A boundary fence brought greater control and kept cattle from messing the terrain and cause damage to the buildings. (Cattle came into the shade of the building and pocked their horns through the windows and damaged the shutters. Before the fence went up Maclear had at least sixty cattle impounded.) Various pumps were installed and the barren terrain was soon transformed with vegetation, especially due to the initiatives taken by his new assistant, Charles Piazzi Smyth. (Assistant Director Lieutenant Meadows resigned after a dispute with Maclear and was replaced in 1835 by the very capable Smyth) Hedges of trees were planted to break the wind speed. Stables, workshops and living quarters were added. In 1842 a wooden bridge was build across the Liesbeeck River, vastly improving access to the observatory. [Warner – Astronomers, pp. 46 – 49, p.59, pp. 60 – 61.]
Maclear expanded the time service. Henderson pistol was improved upon by firing cannon from Signal Hill at 9 p.m. (21h00). In 1836 a time ball was erected at the observatory. This came about due to the new Admiral posted to the Cape, Patrick Campbell. His flag Captain (and brother-in-law) was Robert Wauchope, the inventor of the time ball, a device that when dropped at an advertised time the ships in the harbour and public at large can set their chronometers (watches) to the correct time. The first time ball was set up at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1833. Campbell and Wauchope convinced Maclear that the time ball method was superior to the flash of cannon. [Warner – Astronomers, p.47.]
In 1751-3 Abbe De La Caille was send by the Paris Academie of Science to Cape Town in order to measure the curvature of the Earth. Something went wrong and the measurement showed the Earth to be pear shaped, not round like an orange. This put the scientific community in a conundrum and now, 80 years later, the Admiralty wanted a conclusive answer and the mystery solved. Maclear was tasked to re-measured La Caille’s Arc of the Meridian. It was probably the most important project Maclear ever did. This was the start of Land Surveying in South Africa as Maclear set the standard length measure. With a bit of poetic licence it can be said he proved that the earth is round. For the complete story, click here.
One of the instruments that Fallows brought with him was a Herschel 14-ft. It was however never assembled and now Maclear took it out of its packing case for the first time. This instrument was periodically used between 1835 and 1850’s. There was a problem with the site where the telescope was housed. The telescope was dismantled and forgotten about. In 1987 the mirror was rediscovered. [Smits; Warner-Herschel Telescope; Warner-Astronomers. p.53, p.58.]
A great and influential friend of Maclear was John Herschel. He came to Cape Town between 1834 and 38 and set up a private observatory called Feldhausen. Herschel used his “considerable” influence to help Maclear and further the cause of the Cape Observatory. Upon Herschel’s return to England he applied on behalf of the observatory for additional telescopes and another assistant. These were granted.
The Second Assistant was William Mann. He arrived at the Cape on 22 October 1839 bringing with him much-needed new instruments. Other instruments that arrived separately over time were the Greenwich Mural Circle (July 1839) to replace the problematic Jones Mural Circle, the Bradley Zenith Sector (9 December 1837) as well as very accurate Theodolites in order to complete the Arc of the Meridian project. [Warner-Astronomers. pp.53 – 56.]
In 1840 the Observatory obtained a small piece of land extending the south- eastern corner of the property. In 1841 a new addition was made to the Cape Observatory, a Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory that was housed on the new piece of land. It was run and administered by the Royal Artillery, quite separately to the Astronomical Observatory, which was administered by the Admiralty. Their commanding officer was Lieutenant Frederick Eardley-Wilmot. Maclear was deeply dissatisfied with this intrusion to his kingdom but there was nothing he could do about it.
In 1846 the Observatories were transferred to the Admiralty and Maclear had to continue their work. As part of the transfer Maclear gained a third assistant. The post was initially filled by George Robert Smalley, who resigned in October 1851 to become Professor of Mathematics at the South African College (S.A. College later became the University of Cape Town.) The replacement was Pierce Morton, a Cambridge mathematician and one-time student of Airy. The third assistants were thus men of quality. Maclear nevertheless bemoaned the time the new responsibilities took away from his other duties. [Warner – Astronomers, pp.59 – 60.]
For the new observatories buildings were added on the new piece of land. They build cottages for accommodation, huts to house the instruments, and a “Wind Tower” for the Meteorological section. The Wind Tower, a copy of the Tower of Winds in Athens, was considered very picturesque and appropriate to the Grecian style of the main building.
Less attention was paid to the magnetic work after 1857 as Maclear steered the resources more in the direction of Astronomical work. After Maclear’s retirement in 1869 no further magnetic work was carried out, but meteorological observations continued. [Warner – Astronomers, p.60.]
During the time of Maclear as Director the Observatory was tasked with routine astronomical and land surveys, meteorological, tidal and magnetic observations. [Laing, p. 11.]
The previous director to Maclear, Thomas Henderson, now Astronomer Royal for Scotland, died on 23 November 1844. Charles Piazzi Smyth, assistant director to Maclear was offered, and accepted, the post as Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Piazzi Smyth however stayed on for another year at the Cape to help Maclear finish the surveying work for the Arc of the Meridian. William Mann was promoted to assistant director and George Childe now filled his post, second assistant. Childe held the post from 1845 to 1852 when he accepted the post of Professor of Mathematics at the South African College. (Later renamed the University of Cape Town.) [Warner – Astronomers, pp. 60 – 62.]
A note on life at the Cape Observatory: Piazzi Smyth stated that serious work in the main building was continually interrupted since families with children lived on the grounds. “The consequence is, that while there may be a family of no more than ordinarily rackety children, transit observations are continually interfered with for 12 hours of the 24, a noise of passage as if made in the room; they find their way in & play with the mercury (in the artificial horizon troughs), & at hide & seek behind the instruments, & up and down the steps.” [Warner – Astronomers, p.60.]
At the Cape Observatory the main building were designed with a Transit Room and a Circle Room. The instruments were installed and worked well. Two domes were also mounted on the roof of the building, and the rooms under the domes were located on the second floor, had wooden floors and no supporting pillars. Maclear installed the Herschel 14 ft telescope under one of the domes but observation was impossible due to the vibrating floors (Already mentioned). In order to be able to use other instruments Maclear embarked on a program to build new domes separate from the main building. He got out his auxiliary telescopes. For the Dollond 3-inch telescope a temporary dome was erected in 1844 and in 1847 a permanent dome was constructed 52 yards (47.5 meters) north of the East Wing of the main building. For the Jones 3 ½ -inch telescope a site was planned but never built, and the instrument was eventually used as a collimator for the Airy Transit Circle. In approximately 1849 a Mertz 7-inch telescope arrived at the Cape, due to the influence of Herschel. A new dome was built, 14 ft (4.2 meters) in diameter, in an almost symmetrical setting, 53 yards (48.5 meters) to the north of the East Wing. The framework for the dome was sent out from England, and overlooked when the vessel docked at the Cape. It was found and retrieved from Madras in India seven months later. The dome rotated on three cannon balls. [Warner – Astronomers, p.63.]
By 1853 Cape Town has expanded so much that the ships in the harbour could not see the time ball on the Observatory grounds anymore. Two new time balls were added to the time service, one at Signal Hill and the other at Simon’s Town. By 1861 telegraph lines were installed in the Cape Colony and the drop of the balls were now done electrically from the Observatory. Batteries had to be installed and were housed next to the Mertz building. In 1865 another time ball was added to the system, in Port Elizabeth, 500 miles (+/- 750 km) distant, in “a feat without parallel in the electric work.” [Warner – Astronomers, pp.63 – 65.]
In 1860 he was knighted. Maclear published the results of his re-measurement of the Arc of the Meridian in 1866, for which he received the French Lalande Medal and the Royal Society Gold Medal. Maclear retired in 1870 at the age of 76.
Maclear had been a very popular person at the Cape. He received great accolades from the public and the local Government at the time of his death. [Warner – Astronomers, pp.71 – 72.]
All the abovementioned accolades aside, Maclear was send to the Cape for a specific purpose. It was required of him to prepare a catalogue of Southern Hemisphere Stars. He was a prolific observer and made an incredible amount of observations, but with all his other activities he never got around to reducing the data. Nearly four decades after Maclear was send to the Cape to fulfil this specific instruction he still could not show results. [Warner – Astronomers, p.73.]
It is known that during Maclear’s time the observatory were opened to the public on visitor’s nights. However, during the last few years of Maclear’s directorship he gave less attention to the upkeep of the Observatory and at the time of his retirement the grounds started to look un-kept. [Warner – Astronomers, pp.74 – 75.]
Edward Stone
Maclear was tasked with preparing a catalogue of Southern Hemisphere Stars. He made an incredible amount of observations but not the reductions. When Maclear retired nearly four decades after the request, the catalogue was not even close to completion. The first priority for the British Admiralty was to find a person who could complete the star catalogue. To Airy the logical choice was Stone.
Stone was appointed as director of the Cape Observatory June 1870; they arrived at Cape Town on 13 October 1870 and took up residence at the Observatory on 22 October. [Warner – Astronomers, pp.73 – 74.]
The appointment of Stone was not a very popular one amongst Capetonians for Maclear wanted William Mann (his son in law) to be his successor. As Maclear was very popular and an influential person who retired in Cape Town, the public was more willing to accept Maclear’s viewpoint than that of Stone, an outsider nobody ever heard off. Stone was withdrawn by nature, and came to the Cape Observatory to do a job. He discontinued the popular public viewing evenings at the Observatory. Stone’s leadership style was to commanded, rather than earned respect. This made him unpopular with the staff.
Stone suffered from ill health. Observation in the cool of the night did not agree with his constitution. As a brilliant mathematician his talents lay more in the theoretical aspects of astronomy and he specialized in distance calculations (Astronomical Unit). In short, Stone did not like to observe as the chill evening air did not agree with him. Focussing his energy by staying indoors and doing the reductions of observations made by Maclear suited him well.
For the task the Admiralty prioritised, the Catalogue, Stone was the best choice. He got all the staff to work nearly exclusively on the task and the in 1875 Stone went on a short visit to organise the publication of the catalogue and other research. In May 1879 the task was completed. The catalogue of Southern Hemisphere Stars contained 12 441 stars and it was published in 1880. Thus the catalogue the Admiralty requested from Maclear in 1834 took nearly half a century to complete. Stone was awarded the Lalande Medal of the Paris Academy of Sciences for producing the Catalogue. [Warner – Astronomers, pp.77 – 79.]
To great credit for Stone he also accomplished quite a bit besides the Catalogue. Spectroscopy was a relative new science at the time and Stone decided to try his hand at it. He brought with him a personal instrument from England, a Browning spectroscope. With this spectroscope Stone went to Namaqualand to observe the total solar eclipse of 16 April 1874. He made the first ever scientific spectroscopic observations in Southern Africa, and confirmed Young’s spectroscopic observation of “reversing layer” above the sun’s bright surface. Stone also involved the amateur astronomer fraternity and motivated them to make drawings of the corona. The results were published in the Memoirs of the Royal Society. [Warner – Astronomers, p.76.]
New Magnetic equipment was send to the Cape Observatory to enhance the Magnetic Observatory at the Cape. During the eclipse expedition mentioned above Stone took the Magnetic equipment along and produced the first set of magnetic observations of Namaqualand. [Warner – Astronomers, p.76.]
H.M.S. Challenger was on the first major oceanographic expedition around the world and the second in command of the vessel was Jack Maclear, son of Thomas Maclear. In 1874 the vessel arrived at the Cape and Jack was granted permission to use the magnetic observatory to make measurements. [Warner – Astronomers, pp.76 – 77.]
Stone also made great contributions to Transit of Venus observations. After the disappointing results from the 1874 transit he reviewed the British report and noted serious discrepancies. By reworking the data he estimated a more accurate value for the Sun-Earth distance. [Koorts – British, pp. 36 – 37]
As a result of Stone’s visit in 1875 to England to organise the publication of the Catalogue he brought back with him a De La Rue type photoheliograph made by Dallmeyer. With this instrument he intended to take two photographs of the Sun everyday. It was installed in a wooden hut with an attached darkroom, the only building that was erected during Stone’s tenure as director. After an enthusiastic start of Observations on 12 February 1876 interest slowly waned and only a very few photographs were actually taken. [Warner – Astronomers, p.77.] This is a significant credit to Stone as his successor, David Gill, is seen as one of the fathers of Astrophotography. Still to be discussed later, Gill took a photo of a comet in 1882 and this started him, and the Astronomical World on taking photos of the night sky.
During Stone’s tenure as director the Observatory was not a happy place to work at. The work to reduce Maclear’s data was not very exiting. Added to this situation was remuneration. “The salaries of the observatory staff have been fixed much below the Colonial Standard [since it was paid by the Admiralty] and young men of ability can get appointments under the Colonial Government at higher salaries for less work and less drain upon the brain”. Thus there was a high turnover of personnel. Stone appealed to no avail to the Admiralty to improve the salaries. [Warner – Astronomers, p.77.]
In 1878 the Radcliffe Observer at Oxford, Robert Main, died and Stone was one of five applicants for the post. In December 1878 Stone was appointed Radcliffe Observer in Oxford, England with the provision that he stays on at the Cape and finish the catalogue. The catalogue was finished in early May 1879 and he sailed for England on 27 May1879.
In his last years as director Maclear did not pay much attention to the upkeep of the Observatory grounds and it fell into slight disrepair. When Stone took over he was totally focused on producing the catalogue and little else. As Professor Warner so apply states: “Although Stone gathered no moss, the Observatory certainly did”. Thus at the end of his tenure the grounds were in a state of total disrepair, and as Stone himself wrote: “My successor will find things in a great mess. I have devoted my last month to a general cleaning up which is much required, and to putting away all the books of the observations and the books of the reduction accumulated here during my term of office in the Record Room”. His successor, David Gill, indeed had a momentous task ahead of him. [Warner – Astronomers, p.78.] |
