Papers of the Board of Longitude

Acts of Parliament relating to the Board of Longitude, Orders in Council and correspondence on the payments of rewards:

Report and proposals concerning the Gunpowder Plot and the Oaths of Obedience, 1605.

Acts relating to the formation of the Board of Longitude and the proposal of a reward for the discovery of an accurate method of finding longitude at sea, 1713-1821. There are Supplementary Acts regarding navigation and surveying the chief ports and headlands of Great Britain and Ireland; J. Harrison and his chronometer; and discovering a northern passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and for making a journey to the North Pole.

Recommendations by members of the Board of Longitude on the nature and conditions of the reward to be offered for the finding of longitude at sea, 1818-1819. The correspondents include D. Gilbert, Professor A. Robertson and Captain H. Kater.

Papers regarding the proposed rewards for discovering a north-west passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, 1819-1821, including correspondence with His Royal Highness the Prince Regent.

Correspondence regarding a reward granted to the officers of H.M.S. 'Hecla' and H.M.S. 'Griper' for their efforts in searching for a north-west passage, 1820, including questionnaires completed by the chief officers.

Correspondence regarding the claim by M.V. Mayer, widow of T. Mayer, for the reward owed to her late husband for his invention of the lunar tables for determining longitude at sea, 1763-1765, including a declaration in German signed by Mrs Mayer.

Correspondence regarding J. Crosley's expedition to the north-west coast of America to make nautical, astronomical and trigonometrical observations for the Navy and the rewards and remuneration for losses owed to him, 1797-1806.

Correspondence relating to the payment of £100 to J. Inman for his passage from China, 1804-1811, including the regulations of the East India Company regarding the sums to be paid by passengers to and from India on the Company's ships.

Letter from W. Hardy, clockmaker, to the Board of Longitude, regarding an award of £5 for his work and a proposed clock for the Royal Observatory, 1808.

Correspondence regarding the award of £150 to H. Andrews for his work on the calculation of the 'Nautical Almanac', 1815.

Correspondence regarding the award of £120 to J. Mendoza y Ríos for his work on nautical astronomy, 1815.

Letter from J. Barrow regarding the award of 100 guineas to Dr Franks for his work in determining the longitude of the island of Madeira, 1822.

Correspondence regarding the award of £500 to P. Barlow for his examination of the Navy's sidereal compasses, 1824.

Correspondence regarding the appointment of T. Young, E. Sabine and M. Faraday to the Resident Committee after the dissolution of the Board of Longitude, 1828-1829.

Order to lay the accounts of the Board of Longitude before the House of Commons, 1829.

Indexed