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Lawrence Neville Holden (8 February 1864 – 12 March 1940).
An interesting personal journal attributed to Lawrence Neville Holden. I suspect his friend Frank is actually his brother, Francis John Gerald Holden, who was an electrical engineer.
Neville Holden is mentioned in Memoirs of the BAA, 1897, in respect of the Norway visit – see page 33. Frank G Holden is on the same list.
For the other book, 165 copies were printed, so at least 165 exist (or did). Holden’s journal is a one-off, so should sell for a greater sum, but yes, priceyThe comet mentioned in your image of Lockyer’s notes was, at the time, known as “Rosa’s Comet”, having been discovered by Father Rosa at Rome on July 25, 1862. An image of the comet’s path in the night sky was produced in the Illustrated London News of August 16, 1862. On August 30 it was predicted to be between Iota Herculis and Alpha Corona; on September 2 between Alpha Herculis and Alpha Serpentis. Your image of Lockyer’s notes reports it to be on a line between Alpha Draconis and Gamma Ursae Minoris on August 22.
From St James Chronicle of Aug 7, 1862 (and other publications): “M. Temple of Marseilles, has sent the following letter to the journals concerning Father Rosa’s comet: – “The comet discovered at Rome on the 23 ult. by Father Rosa, is a new one, and not identical with that I observed here on the 2d ult. I perceived yesterday that his comet was still in the constellation of Camelopardalus ……”. “The comet of July 2, which M. Julius Schmidt, Director of the Observatory at Athens, discovered at the same time as I did, is now in the constellation of Virgo”. (23ult, elsewhere 25th).From: Descriptive Astronomy, George Frederick Chambers, 1867:
“280. Discovered by Schmidt and Temple on July 2; on July 4 it had a tail half a degree long, and was then visible to the naked eye: between July 3rd and 4th it traversed 24 degrees of a great circle”.
281 Discovered by H.P. Tuttle and Simmons, July 18; by Pacinotti, July 22; and by Rosa, July 25. Conspicuously visible to the naked eye for 2 to 3 weeks in August – September; with a tail, on August 27, as much as twenty five degrees long, according to Schmidt. An elliptic orbit; period assigned, 123 years”.
Tousaint appears to have discovered it on the same day as Pacinotti.Yes, the Natural History Museum(BM) has a superb collection of meteorites. Many years ago I was privileged to be able to view some of the stored specimens. A rare opportunity indeed. The NHM, however, is very much a working museum for scientific analysis and so most of the meteorite collection is not on display and cannot be accessed by the general public. There is however some information about meteorites on the museum website which you may find of interest if you haven’t read this already.
There are 4 stars near Hubble’s Star (V1), a Cepheid variable in M31. Is this Hubble’s constellation? Take a look at Jim Al Khalili’s The Beginning of the Universe on the BBC Channel 4, BBC iPlayer if you have not seen it. Take a look at 8 minutes in. The programme was shown tonight, so perhaps this prompted your posting.
V1 at RA 0.41 22.77 DEC 41. 9″ 35.08 on ESA website. It would make sense if a group of stars near the variable was labelled Constellation 1 for identification purposes, but that doesn’t prove anything, of course. Perhaps Constellation 1 is somewhere else.
The plaque in the picture gives a date c1865, but, having not seen the actual telescope it looks the finished article to me. I would therefore guess a little later – c1867. William Wray’s patent on Improvements in Achromatic Object Glasses was filed in 1866. See 920 of English Patents of Inventions, Specifications: 1866, 903-966. The witness to the September piece is J Turnbull, which I suspect is his brother-in-law, Joseph, who was also an optician.
Wray, however, was at Clifton Villas up to at least the spring of 1874, but he had changed his address to Laurel House sometime in 1875, so the telescope must date before then.The Science Museum Group website, incidentally, states the company name changed from W Wray to Wray Ltd after the merger with Aitcheson in 1908 and that the name became Wray Optical Works Ltd in 1950. However, the London Gazette shows the business name was Wray Optical Works Ltd as early as 1944.
In 1860, two years before he was elected FRAS, Wray visited Spain where he assisted James Buckingham in his observations of the 1860 solar eclipse on July 18. Also in the large group was the Astronomer Royal. Wray was also a member of the Microscopical Society.
Wray died at Laurel House on 31 December 1885 and was buried at Camden on January 4 the following year.Have you seen the obituary in the BAA Journal? Vol 74 pp79-80 Feb 1964 RLW
Purchased 7.5 inch photovisual by Cooke. Obtained 5.5 inch Zeiss photographic triplet of 28 inch focus for which he built a camera. Mounted it on 7.5 inch equatorial. Later bought 12.5 inch Calvin reflector which previously belonged to Hallowes. Became FRAS in 1920. Joined Varaiable Star Section in 1922. A keen musician running his own string quartet Played violin and piano. Sailed his own yacht.
Geoffrey Francis Kelleway
Profession was apparently farming.
Rediscovery of Comet Daniel (1909IV) seen by Kelleway on 30 Nov 1943 and mentioned in Nature 152 P747. Dec 25 1943.
Mentioned in History of the BAA Comet Section (M. Hendrie 1990). He operated a 0.14m aperture f5 Zeiss triplet. Independently discovered van Gent-Peltier-Daimaca in 1943 but a fourth name could not be added.
At billiongraves website: buried West Coker (St Martin of Tours) churchyard Nov 1962.I would also like to add my thanks to the team who put together the streaming of the Christmas Lecture. Having missed the last few due to rail engineering works and then SARs-Cov 2, it was a pleasure to have been able to watch this event live on-line.
As a supporting member of the Natural History Museum (BM) I feel privileged to have twice had the opportunity to join a small group visiting the behind-the-scenes work area at the NHM where the meteorite collection is kept. On both occasions we were shown specimens by Dr Caroline Smith who was excellent in her explanations of these different types of visitors from outer space.
Professor Sara Russell’s mention of the analysis of meteorites through the electron scanning microscope and the x-ray by-product from firing the electrons reminded me of another visit to the NHM where the group on that occasion was able to handle one of the solar panels from Hubble which was brought back to earth by the space shuttle. These panels, which are basically as thin as crisp or peanut wrappers, have small impact holes. The scientist fire the electrons at the impact holes which reveal the structure of those holes and from the x-ray by-product the scientist are able to tell if the impact material was natural or man-made. If the impact material was man-made it was likely to be rocket fuel and through the spectral analysis they could determine if it came from an American or Russian rocket due to the different chemical compositions of the fuel used. I forget the exact ratio of man-made material to natural material but, if memory serves me correct, it was around forty five percent to fifty five percent. My understanding is that rocket fuel is less of a problem nowadays due to most satellites being placed in geostationary orbits.
The talk by Professor Heymans was excellent and interesting Sky Notes as always.
Many thanks,
David C Rayment.
Found on Ancestry re visit to South Africa:
Arrived 15 February 1957 at Southampton from Durban. Travelled on board the Arundel Castle of the Union Castle Mail Steamship Co. Passport issued in Kenya.
harvard edu also gives reference to the BAA Journal: 1986 96, 5 P299 by Peter Johnson, so should be on the BAA archive DVD.
Apparently joined BAA in December 1940.
Belfast Telegraph Sat Feb 12 1938
“… in the desert limestone east of Gibeon [Namibia] is a whole valley simply peppered with small meteors. Some 40 or 50 have been dug up and are preserved at Windhoek where they have been made into a rockery in the public park”.
There is also a piece on Wikipedia: “Gibeon (meteorite)”.
There is a sample of the Gibeon meteorite in the meteorite collection of the Natural History Museum(BM): iron, Octahedrite. Date 1836. According to Wikipedia Captain J E Alexander collected samples and sent them to London where they were examined by John Herschel. Perhaps that’s where the NHM sample came from ? Herschel was a friend of John George Children, the father of Anna Atkins and assistant keeper of the Natural History Department of the British Museum.
Thanks for posting the picture – very interesting. I downloaded the image from the website and put it through Photoshop but unfortunately I am unable to make out any details on the shield. My first thoughts are it relates to Blethyn or, as I think more likely, it relates to the person who commissioned the making of the telescope. Either way, it’s a new angle to research. Is there a motto below the shield and if so what does it read? No need to translate. Having actually seen the item would you describe the dark red in the picture as purple? Do you know if the other two telescopes show a shield/crest etc, and is the colouring the same?
I think it may be worthwhile you contacting Jill Campbell, the archivist at Knebworth House. If you tell her you are writing an article about the telescope she may be able to tell you when and by what means Knebworth House obtained it. Often such places will itemise such objects in stock checks or keep a record of items given to them. To know the date it was first recorded as being at the house could prove useful, as would be the name of the donor, if there was one. I expect it would take her sometime to find that information, if she can. Her e-mail address is on the Knebworth House website. Go to, About Us/Archive. You could also ask her about the motto, which should be a quick and easy question to answer, if you do not already have that information.
Yes, you may well be right, especially as a Latin term is used after the name. I wonder what inscription is on the other two telescopes.
You say the telescope is signed with the name “Theodorus”. Interestingly, and at the risk of confusing matters, Wikipedia has “Theodorus” as the Dutch equivalent of the English and French “Theodore”. Welsh is “Tewdwr”. Is there a Dutch connection?
Did Theodorus actually make the telescope or does his name simply refer to the artwork? Does the type of art work give any clues to the telescope’s origin?
Blethyn mentioned above was baptized as Theodore, not Theodorus. However, “Theodorus” may have been used as a marketing ploy due to the popularity of telescopes in the Netherlands at the time.
Nature does not always play ball. However, there may be another child pre 1613 which I haven’t found.
IGI = International Genealogical Index. Back in the day this was a personal name index to mainly dates of baptism and marriage. It was on microfiche. In the UK it was arranged in sets by county and showed the parish where each event took place. The updated digital version can be accessed on familysearch.org. It is a very useful tool, but with the best will in the world errors do occur, so it is always best to check the original document where possible.
It would appear William (father of Philemon) was the first to only use the Blethyn surname instead of the previously used Bleddyn.
I first found Ann Blethin in the register on Ancestry when I was looking for another person. I made a note of 1614. When I went back to examine the entry more closely I could not find her, which is why I only entered 1614 above. She does not come up on the Ancestry index so if she is in the index she must be under a name other than Blethin or a close variant. That said I later found Ann Blethin on the IGI as being baptised on 30 May 1614, which confirms what I saw. As the other children were baptized within a few days of their birth, Ann is likely to have been born after May 20 during the same year as her baptism.
Which index did you search?
Further info: Philemon Blethin MA, is listed on the Clergy of the Church of England Database (1619 – 1642). Admission as vicar to Dorstone, Hereford is 12/10/1621. He married Susana Godwin on 21 April 1610, she being the daughter of Dr Godwin, possibly Franciscus Godwyne (1562-1633). Francis Godwin was later the Bishop of Hereford and he had associations with Matherne, Monmouthshire. Francis apparently wrote the first story about space travel in English literature: The man in the Moone: or A Discourse of a Voyage Thither by Domingo Gonsales, the Speedy Messenger, which was published posthumously in 1638 (source: Encyclopaedia Britannica). He was the great uncle of Jonathan Swift (Wikipedia).
Children of Philemon and Susana are:
1. Susana b. 21 July 1613; bpt. 26 July 1613
2. Ann b. 1614
3. Godwin b. 3 January 1615; bpt. 7 January 1615
4. Theodore b. 14 March 1616; bpt. 23 March 1616
5. Francis b. 22 February 1620?; bpt 3 March 1620
All Monmouthshire. Please treat these dates with a little caution as the entries do not appear to be in sequence with at least one date heading missing.
(source: Ancestry)
Further, there are papers listed on the National Archives index as being held at Lambeth Palace dated 16 October 1655. Title: Dorstone Vicarage Hereford. Description: James Whiting. The death of Philemon Blethin. Thomas Dainty, stationer, of St Michael Quern, London.
Dainty was also a bookseller – maybe a business connection with Theodore the bookbinder?
Of course, none of the above may relate to your telescope maker, but at first sight it does look rather promising and, without any other candidates, is worthy of further research.
A Theodore Blethin appears in Boyds Inhabitants of London (44802). Citizen and Fishmonger. Fishmonger after 1633. Free 1641. Bookbinder 1641 poll tax.
Further, entry #9 above mentions a Phileman as having a son Theodore who was baptized at Mathern. According to Alumni Oxonienses a William Blethin BCL (who was Bishop of Llandaff), is buried in the chancel of the church at Matherne Co Monmouth and he is noted as the father of Philemon. Philemon is noted as being of age 19 on 16 March 1601-02 (does not mean he was born on 16 March). William died 15 Oct 1590. This Philemon was last noted as vicar of Dorstone. Hereford in 1619. A note states “see Foster’s Index Ecclesiasticus.
