Rossbank Observatory (1840 - 1854)

Summary

The Rossbank Observatory was established in Hobart Town in 1840 by the Lieutenant-Governor, John Franklin, and the commander of the British Antarctic Expedition, James Clark Ross. It was one of a series of such observatories set up in British colonies for the purpose of measuring the Earth's magnetic field. The study of terrestrial magnetism in the southern hemisphere and Antarctica was the principal part of the scientific program for the Expedition. Funded by the Royal Navy, the Observatory was largely staffed by naval officers, including Joseph Kay, who left the Expedition to become the Observatory's Director. Local citizens who participated in the observations included Francis Abbott. Kay was recalled when in 1853 the Navy ceased to fund the Observatory, which closed the following year. A number of reports on observations made at Rossbank were published by Kay and Abbott.

Details

Chronology

1840

Event - Founded by John Franklin and James Ross Clark

1853

Event - Observatory closed

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Abbott, Francis, Results of meteorological observations for twenty years for Hobart Town, made at the Royal Observatory, Ross Bank, from January 1841, to December 1854, and at the Private Observatory, from January 1855 to December 1860, inclusive (Hobart Town: Government Printer, 1861), 21 pp. Details

Conference Papers

• Savours, Ann and McConnell, Anita, 'Return to Rossbank: Magnetism and Meteorology at Hobart in Theory and Practice, 1840-54', in Colonial Observatories and Observations: Meteorology and Geophysics: Proceedings of a Conference held at St. Mary's College, University of Durham, 8-10 April, 1994 edited by Kenworthy, Joan M. and Walker, J. Malcolm (Durham: Department of Geography, University of Durham in collaboration with Royal Meteorological Society, 1997), pp. 49-58.. Details

Journal Articles

• Hogg, E. G., 'The Magnetic Survey of Tasmania', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1900/1901 (1900), 81-88. Details
• Kay, Commander [J. H.], 'Observations made for determining the geographical position of the magnetic Observatory at Hobart Town, Van Diemens Land', Report, papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemens Land, 1852/4 (1852/4), 264-87. Details
• Kay, Commander [J. H.], 'Meteorological tables, Royal Observatory, Hobart Town', Report, papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemens Land, 1852/4 (1852/4), 292-307. Details
• Kay, J. H., 'Description of the instruments employed at the Magnetic Observatory, Tasmania', Tasmanian journal of natural science, 1 (1842), 207-24. Details
• Savours, Ann and McConnell, Anita, 'The History of the Rossbank Observatory, Tasmania', Annals of Science, 39 (1982), 527-564. Details

See also

• Lambert, Andrew, Franklin: tragic hero of polar navigation (London: Faber and Faber, 2009), 428 pp. Details