Rümker, Christian Carl Ludwig (1788 - 1862)

Summary

Carl Rümker was an astronomer who came to New South Wales in 1821 to take a position at the Parramatta Observatory, established by Governor Thomas Brisbane. Working with colleague James Dunlop, a number of significant observations were made, including of the comet Encke which attracted international attention. After a dispute with Brisbane, Rümker retired to his farm at Picton, only returning to the Observatory in 1826 after the Governor's departure from the colony. Appointed Government Astronomer by Governor Darling in 1828, Rümker travelled to the United Kingdom in 1829 to acquire new instruments. While there, he was involved in a dispute over the publication of observations made at Parramatta, and was dismissed as from his position of Government Astronomer in 1830. He never returned to New South Wales. Between 1833 and 1857 he was Director of the Observatory in Hamburg, Germany.

Details

Chronology

1807

Education - Passed examinations as builder, Builders' Academy, Berlin

1807 - 1809

Career position - Teacher of mathematics, Hamburg, Germany

1809 - 1811

Career position - Midshipman, East India Company

July 1813

Military service - Press ganged into the Royal Navy

1819

Life event - Returned to Hamburg to teach navigation

1819

Life event - Discharged from the Royal Navy

November 1821

Life event - Arrived in New South Wales

1822

Career position - Member, Philosophical Society of Australasia

1822 - 1823

Career position - Astronomer, Parramatta Observatory

1823 - 1826

Life event - Resident on his farm at Picton, New South Wales

1827 - 1830

Career position - Government Astronomer, Colony of New South Wales

1829

Career event - Travelled to London to acquire instruments for Parramatta Observatory

1833 - 1857

Career position - was Director of the Observatory, Hamburg, Germany

1854

Award - Gold Medal, Royal Astronomical Society

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Christian Carl Ludwig Rümker - Records, 1950 - 1959, MS 050; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Christian Carl Ludwig Rümker - Records, c. 1822 - c. 1825, ML MSS 577; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Christian Carl Ludwig Rümker - Records, 1825 - 1845, MS Q569; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Christian Carl Ludwig Rümker - Records, c. 1830 - c. 1849, ML MSS 419/2; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Phillip Parker King - Records, 1848 - 1856, MS Q299; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Archives of Australia, Sydney Office

• Christian Carl Ludwig Rümker - Records, 1822 - 1836, CRS C93; National Archives of Australia, Sydney Office. Details
• Christian Carl Ludwig Rümker - Records, 1835 - 1836, CRS C94; National Archives of Australia, Sydney Office. Details
• Christian Carl Ludwig Rümker - Records, 1836, CRS C95; National Archives of Australia, Sydney Office. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

• Christian Carl Ludwig Rümker - Records, 1840 - 1865; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, Melbourne, 2012, https://www.eoas.info/exhibitions/basser/basser_browse.html. Details

Books

• Rümker, Christian Carl Ludwig, Preliminary catalogue of fixed stars intended for a prospectus of a catalogue of the stars of the Southern Hemisphere included within the Tropic of Capricorn now reducing from the observations made in the observatory at Paramatta [sic] (Perthes and Besser: Hamburg, 1832), 20 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Bergman, George F. J., 'Rümker, Christian Carl Ludwig (1788-1862), astronomer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 2: 1788 - 1850 I-Z, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1967), pp. 403-404. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020359b.htm. Details
• Rumker, Charles Stargard, 'On the astronomy of the southern hemisphere' in Geographical memoirs on New South Wales, Barron Field, ed. (London: John Murray, 1825), pp. 255-68. Details

Journal Articles

• Bergman, George F. J., 'Christian Carl Ludwig Rumker (1788-1862). Australia's first Government Astronomer', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 46 (5) (1960), 247-288. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Some Scientific Aspects of Parramatta Observatory', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 145 (2012), 111-27. Details
• Letchford, Roderick R.; White, Graeme L.; and Ernest, Allan D., 'The southern double stars of Carl Rümker I: history, identification, accuracy', Journal of double star observations, 13 (2) (2017), 220-32. Details
• Letchford, Roderick R.; White, Graeme L.; and Ernest, Allan D., 'The southern double stars of Carl Rümker II: their relative rectilinear motion', Journal of double star observations, 14 (2) (2018), 208-22. Details
• Rümker, Charles, 'Astronomical observations made at the Observatory Paramatta [sic] in New South Wales', Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London, 119 (3) (1829), 1-152, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstl.1829.0002. Details
• Russell, H.C., 'Astronomical and Meteorological Workers in New South Wales, 1778-1860', Report of the first meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1 (1888), 45-94, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15813133. Details
• Saunders, Shirley D., 'Sir Thomas Brisbane's Legacy to Colonial Science: Colonial Astronomy at the Parramatta Observatory, 1822-1848', Historical Records of Australian Science, 15 (2) (2004), 177-209. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR04009. Details
• Tyler, Peter J., 'Seeing Stars in the City: a History of Early Astronomy in Sydney', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 142 (3/4) (2009), 1-14. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q70272. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/5276841. Details
• 'Rümker, Christian Carl Ludwig (1788-1862)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1462214. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Rümker, Christian Carl Ludwig - Ms 50', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/basser/manuscript-collection/ms050.html. Details
• 'Rumker, Christian Carl Ludwig', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000762p.htm. Details

See also

• Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/index_r.html. Details
• Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details