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NEVIL MASKELYNE, D.D., F.R.S.

MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, ETC.

Born October 6, 1732. Died February 9, 1811.

This most accurate and industrious astronomer was born in London, and was the son of Mr. Edmund Maskelyne, a gentleman of respectable family in Wiltshire. At the age of nine Maskelyne was sent to Westminster school, where he early began to distinguish himself, and to display a decided taste for the study of optics and astronomy.

The great solar eclipse, which occurred in 1748 was, however, the immediate cause of his directing his attention to these sciences, and from that period he devoted himself with ardour to the study of mathematics as subservient to that of astronomy. It is a curious fact that the same eclipse is said to have produced a similar effect upon the French astronomer Lalande, who was only three months older than his English contemporary.

Soon after this Maskelyne entered the University of Cambridge as a member of Catherine Hall, removing afterwards to Trinity, where he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts with great credit in 1754, and proceeded regularly through the succeeding stages of academical rank in divinity. In 1755 he was ordained to a curacy at Barnet, and in the following year obtained a fellowship at Trinity. In the year 1758 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, previous to which event he had become acquainted with Dr. Bradley, and had determined to make astronomy the principal pursuit of his life, feeling that it was perfectly compatible with an enlightened devotion to the duties of his own profession.

1761 marks the period when Maskelyne commenced his public career as an astronomer. During that year he was chosen by the Royal Society to undertake a voyage to the island of St. Helena, for the purpose of observing the transit of Venus; and in order to make the voyage as useful as possible, Maskelyne undertook to make observations upon the parallax of Sirius. He remained ten months at St. Helena, but the weather hindered his observing the transit to advantage, while the inaccuracy of his quadrant, which was of the same construction as was then usually employed, prevented his observations on the stars from being as conclusive as he had expected. His voyage was, however, of great service to navigation, by promoting the introduction of lunar observations for ascertaining the longitude; and he taught the officers of the ship in which he was in, the proper use of the instruments as well as the mode of making the computations.

On his return to England, Maskelyne published, in 1763, his

'British Mariner's Guide,' the earliest of his separate publications, in which he proposes the adoption of a Nautical Almanac according to the plan indicated by Lacaille, after his voyage to the Cape of Good Hope. In the same year he performed a second voyage to the island of Barbadoes, in order to determine the rates of Harrison's chronometers. In his report on the results of this voyage Maskelyne, while doing justice to the works of this eminent mechanician, decided in favour of the employment of lunar observations for determining the longitude, strongly supporting the cause of Professor Mayer, who had computed lunar tables for this purpose. The liberality of the British Government, however, bestowed on Harrison the whole reward that he claimed, while Maskelyne, having been appointed to the situation of Astronomer Royal which likewise made him a member of the Board of Longitude, was instrumental in procuring a reward of 5,000l. for the family of Professor Mayer, and a compliment of 3007. for Euler, whose theorems had been employed in the investigation.

*

When the merits of Mayer's tables had been fully established, the Board of Longitude was induced to promote their application to practical purposes by the annual publication of the Nautical Almanac, which, during the remainder of his life, was arranged and conducted entirely under Maskelyne's direction.

Maskelyne held the situation of Astronomer Royal for forty-seven years, during which period he acquired the respect of all Europe, by the diligence and accuracy of his observations, which he always, if possible, conducted in person, requiring the aid of only one assistant.

Up to Maskelyne's time the observations of the Astronomers Royal had been considered as private property; Flamsted publishing his own, while Bradley's were very liberally bought of his family, and afterwards printed by the University of Oxford. Dr. Maskelyne, on the contrary, obtained leave from the British Government to have his observations printed at the public expense under the direction of the Royal Society, who are the legal visitors of the observatory, appointed by the royal sign manual; and by thus causing the observations of the Astronomer Royal to be recorded publicly, he supplied a great want which had hitherto existed both in the English and French establishments. He also made several improvements in the arrangement and employment of the instruments used in the observatory, particularly, by enlarging the slits through which the light was admitted; by making the eyeglass of his transit telescope moveable to the place of each of the wires of the micrometer; and above all, by marking the time to tenths of a second, a refinement which had never been attempted before.

*20,000l., the reward offered for a chronometer sufficiently exact to correct the longitude within certain limits required by Act of Parliament.

Maskelyne received his doctor's degree in the year 1777, he also obtained the rare distinction of being made one of the eight foreign associates of the French Academy of Science. In consequence of an unsuccessful attempt made by Bouguer to measure the local attraction of a mountain in South America, Maskelyne determined, in 1772, to ascertain that of Schehallien in Scotland; and this latter undertaking, together with the determination of the lunar orbit from observation, and its application to navigation, may be considered as his most important contributions to the cause of science. In character Dr. Maskelyne was modest and somewhat timid in receiving the visits of strangers, but his ordinary conversation was cheerful and often playful, with a fondness for point and classical allusion. He inherited a good paternal property, and obtained considerable preferment from his college; somewhat late in life he married the sister and co-heiress of Lady Booth of Northamptonshire; his sister was the wife of Robert Lord Clive, and the mother of the Earl of Powis. Dr. Maskelyne died on the ninth of February, 1811, in his seventy-ninth year, leaving a widow and an only daughter.-Notice sur la vie et les travaux de M. Maskelyne par Delambre. London, 1813.-Memoir by Dr. T. Young, Encyclopædia Britannica.

HENRY MAUDSLAY.

Born Aug. 22, 1771. Died Feb. 14, 1831.

This distinguished mechanical engineer was descended from an eminent Lancashire family, who trace back their origin as far as the year 1200. His father in early life enlisted in the Royal Artillery at Norwich, and afterwards became store-keeper at the Royal Dockyard of Woolwich, where his son Henry was born and spent his boyhood, acquiring in the dockyard the first rudiments of that mechanical knowledge which has since made him so justly celebrated.

After being employed for two years as a 'powder monkey' in the dockyard, that is, in making and filling cartridges, Maudslay was placed, at the age of fourteen, in the carpenter's shop. He however infinitely preferred the blacksmith's shop, availing himself of every opportunity to escape from his proper place, and steal off to the smithy. His propensity was in fact so strong that it was thought better to yield to it, and he was accordingly removed there in his fifteenth year. He now made rapid progress, and soon became so expert a smith and metal-worker as to attract considerable notice.

Even in after life, when at the head of the well-known firm which he founded, nothing pleased him more than to set to work upon a difficult piece of forging and to overcome the difficulties which it presented, which few could do so well as he. The reputation which Maudslay acquired here, led to his introduction and ultimate employment by Bramah, who was at that time engaged in constructing his celebrated lock.

*

One of the chief obstacles which Bramah had to contend with in getting his lock into general use, was, the difficulty he experienced in having it manufactured with sufficient precision and at such a price as to render it an article of successful commerce. Maudslay's ability as a workman and sound mechanical knowledge was of great service to Bramah in this particular; the most difficult and delicate jobs were entrusted to him, and among others he constructed the identical lock, the picking of which so severely tested the skill and ability of Mr. Hobbs in the year 1851. He also, according to the testimony of Mr. J. Nasmyth, supplied Bramah with the key to the practical success of the hydraulic press, viz., the self-tightening leather collar.†

About the year 1797 Maudslay commenced business on his own account in Wells Street, Oxford Street, removing a few years afterwards to Margaret Street, Cavendish Square. Here he matured and carried out many improvements in tools connected with the mechanical arts, bringing into general notice and use planing machines and the slide rest. So great was the prejudice felt against this last named important adjunct of a lathe, that on the first introduction of the slide rest to the engineers of the period, it was received with great disfavour, and called by one in derision the 'Go Cart.' Maudslay also directed his attention to the subject of screw cutting. Previous to his time the tools used for making screws were of the most rude and inexact kind: each manufacturing establishment made them after their own fashion, and no system was observed as to the pitch. Every bolt and nut was a speciality in itself; and to such an extent was this carried that all bolts and their corresponding nuts had to be marked, any mixing of them together causing endless trouble and confusion. Maudslay changed all this-he brought screw-cutting into a proper system, and laid the foundation of all that has since been done in this important branch of machineconstruction, and many of those who afterwards became eminent in this particular branch of manufacture, acquired their first knowledge of the subject in his employ. While residing in Margaret Street he became acquainted with Sir Isambard (then Mr.) Brunel, who was in the habit of bringing drawings of small pieces of machinery

A very interesting account of Maudslay's introduction, &c., to Bramah is given by Mr. Smiles in his 'Industrial Biography.' London 1863. P.201-3. SeeMemoir of Bramah.'

In particular may be mentioned Joseph Clement and Joseph Whitworth.

for him to construct: this attracted Maudslay's attention, and at last he one day exclaimed to Sir Isambard, "Ah! I see what you are thinking of-you want machinery for making blocks:" this so pleased Brunel, that he became more open of communication, and in the subsequent completion of the beautiful block machinery afterwards erected at Portsmouth Dockyard, Mr. Brunel derived great advantage from the sound mechanical knowledge of Maudslay. The friendship commenced thus was never afterwards shaken, and when Brunel began the Thames Tunnel, he consulted his old friend relative to the construction of the shield, as it was termed, under shelter of which the excavation beneath the bed of the river, and the brickwork for forming the Tunnel were proceeded with.

In the year 1807 Maudslay took out a patent for improvements in the steam-engine, by which he much simplified its parts and secured greater directness of action. His new engine was called the Pyramidal, from its form, and was the first move towards direct acting engines. In 1810, finding his business getting too extensive for his premises in Margaret Street, he removed to the more capacious ones in Westminster Road,. Lambeth. Here he for many years carried on a large business, embracing the manufacture of all kinds of machinery, but more particularly of marine engines, to the construction and improvement of which he early directed his attention, foreseeing how important a branch of industry they would eventually become; and it may be interesting to record, that the engines (24 H. P.) of the 'Regent,' the first steamboat which ran between London and Margate, were made at this yard in the year 1816.

Mr. Maudslay held for several years the contract for supplying the Royal Navy with ship tanks, and this led to his making improved machinery for punching and shearing the iron plates used in their manufacture, reducing the cost of preparing the plates for receiving the rivets from seven shillings, to ninepence, per Tank.

Mr. Maudslay has been described by his friend Mr. James Nasmyth as the very beau-ideal of an honest, upright, straightforward, hardworking intelligent Englishman: he died in his 60th year from a severe cold which he had caught on his way home from a visit to France, and was buried in Woolwich churchyard, in a vault he had caused to be constructed there; the monument and tablet erected to his memory were of cast iron, and were made from a design of his own. Maudslay married when twenty years old Sarah Tindel, by whom he had four sons and three daughters, of whom now survive only one daughter, and one son Thomas Henry Maudslay.From particulars communicated by members of the present firm of Maudslay, Sons and Field.-Smile's Industrial Biography. London, 1863.