Papers of Francis Graham Smith

Francis Graham Smith was born in Roehampton, Surrey, on 25 April 1923, and educated at Downing College, Cambridge. He worked at the Telecommunications Research Establishment at Malvern during the Second World War before returning to Cambridge to complete his studies. On graduating he joined the radio research department at the Cavendish Laboratory, where he worked with Martin Ryle on radio wave emissions from the sun. From 1952 to 1952 he was employed at the Carnegie Institute in Washington D.C. He became Professor of Astronomy at Manchester in 1964, and worked at Jodrell Bank on radio astronomy until 1974. He was Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, 1976-1981, and during this time helped to establish the Northern Hemisphere Observatory at La Palma in the Canary Islands. Smith became Director of Jodrell Bank in 1981, and was Astronomer Royal, 1982-1990. He was subsequently emeritus professor at Manchester.

The collection is comprised of papers accumulated by F. Graham Smith during his time at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. There is a long series of items regarding the restructuring of the R.G.O. in the early 1970s, and a further set of papers covering different aspects of the Observatory's affairs. The remaining papers are comprised of collected items concerning the Science Research Council, Anglo-Australian Telescope Board, European Science Foundation Astronomy Committee and Joint Organization for Solar Observations, and a small set of written pieces by various individuals. Although the collection includes papers written by F. Graham Smith, much of the material is by other authors.

The majority of the papers became part of the Observatory's archives subsequent to F. Graham Smith's retirement from the Directorship. Additional items (TAN-239) were presented by Sheila Vaughan, Royal Greenwich Observatory, 14 February 1994.

In English, Fre

Please cite as Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives, Papers of Francis Graham Smith, RGO 13

There are additional papers relating to F. Graham Smith under review that are not currently available to readers.

A partial handlist is available in the Manuscripts Reading Room. Indexed

This description was created by Robert Steiner, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives.