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Papers of William Ellis
| Title |
Papers of William Ellis |
| Reference |
GBR/0180/RGO 54 |
| Creator |
Ellis, William |
| Covering Dates |
circa 1856–1916 |
| Extent and Medium |
2 boxes; paper |
| Repository |
Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives |
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| Content and context |
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William Ellis (1828-1916) was born at Greenwich on 20 February 1828. He joined the Royal Observatory in 1841, where he was employed on reducing lunar observations before switching to observational work. After working as Observer at the University Observatory, Durham, 1852-1853, he returned to the Royal Observatory as a permanent member of staff. He took charge of the Chronometric and Galvanic Department in 1856, and became Superintendent of the Magnetical and Meteorological Department in 1875. He retired in 1893, and died on 13 December 1916.
RGO 54 contains correspondence, notes, and printed articles and lectures by Ellis, with a few other printed items and Ellis's tin box.
The papers were collected or compiled by Ellis and transferred subsequently to the R.G.O. Archives.
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Access and Use
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Please cite as Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives, Papers of William Ellis, RGO 54 |
| Further information |
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A handlist is kept in the Manuscripts Reading Room. Indexed
This description was created by Robert Steiner, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives. The biographical history was compiled with reference to the entry on William Ellis in 'Who Was Who', Vol. II, 1916-1928 (London, 1967), pp. 327-328.
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| Index Terms |
| Ellis, William (1828-1916) astronomer |
| RGO Archives/RGO 54 contains: |
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1
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Personal correspondence. Ellis's personal correspondence, including a letter sent by a French officer to Sir G.B. Airy regarding an enquiry on magnetic observations at Greenwich from 1576 to the present; a letter from Ellis to H.P. Hollis on the controversy over the discovery of Neptune, including reference to Airy, J. Challis, H.H. Turner, and an article in 'Nature' by 'W.E.P.'; a letter from Hollis providing information on the sidereal period of revolution of Venus, Jupiter and Saturn; Ellis's manuscript notes on a comparison of chronometers at Greenwich and Mokattaru (Cairo) made in November 1874; and a letter from E.W. Maunder, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, containing sunspot statistics derived from Wolf's 'Relative Numbers' and measurements of photographs of the Sun. (MISSING).
1 bundle. |
1888–1916 |
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2
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Notes. Miscellaneous notebooks and pages of notes:. 1. Notebook containing a list of printed papers by Ellis and a list of societies of which he was a member. 2 Notebook by Ellis containing calculations on solar and lunar eclipses in 1820, with an extract at the beginning from 'The Nautical Almanac' of 1820. 3. Handwritten memorandum by Ellis on the proposed Airy Memorial, January 1892. 4. Extract from the parish letter of St Alfege and St Mary's Church, Greenwich, April 1896. 5. Cutting from 'The Athenaeum', 8 February 1902, regarding a medallion bust of Sir G.B. Airy in the parish church of St Alfege, Greenwich. 6. Extract from 'Nature', Vol. XVIII, No. 470, 31 October 1878, pp. 689-692, including an article on G.B. Airy. 7. Privately printed document on the exchange of correspondence between G.B. Airy and Major-General E. Sabine, October 1862, regarding the systems of self-registration of magnetic phenomena at the Kew and Greenwich Observatories. 8. Copy of the remarks made by Ellis on a paper by Edward Hopkinson on 'Electrical Railways: the City and South London Railway' read at the meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 14 February 1893. 9. Copy of the remarks made by Ellis on a paper by F. Hope-Jones on the 'Electrical Time Service' read at the meeting of the Institution of Electrical Engineers on 14 December 1899. 10. 'The Discovery of Neptune', a manuscript draft of a letter to the Editor of 'The Observatory' magazine, undated. 11. Manuscript copy of 'Notes on the Annual Inequality in the Frequency of Magnetic Disturbance', printed in the 'Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society', June 1905, Vol. 65, p. 720. 12. Envelope containing 'Mr Nash's Notes' on publications of 1841-1906 relating to magnetic diagrams and meteorological results. 13. Envelope marked 'Autobiography of W. Ellis 1901 (America)', containing a copy of manuscript notes on Ellis. 14. Five sheets of miscellaneous notes.
1 envelope + 1 volume. |
circa 1856-circa 1916 |
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3
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Printed papers by Ellis. Reprints of and extracts from papers and lectures by Ellis published in 'The Horological Journal', 'Chambers's Journal', 'Philosophical Magazine', 'Popular Science Review', 'Nature', 'Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society', 'Journal of the Society of Telegraph Engineers', 'The Electrician', 'Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society', 'The Observatory', 'Symons's Monthly Meteorological Magazine' and 'Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'. There is also an obituary notice for Edwin Dunkin from the 'Yearbook of the Royal Society', No. 5, 1901, and an obituary notice for James Glaisher from the 'Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society', February 1904.
3 envelopes. |
1856–1916 |
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4
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Other printed papers. Miscellaneous publications and extracts from journals:. 1. Mounted biographical notice and photograph of Ellis, undated. . 2. Extract from 'The Observatory', No. 207, Nov. 1893, including Edwin Dunkin's letter to the Editors, 21 October 1893, regarding the J.C. Adams Memorial in Truro Cathedral (pp. 378-379). 3. 'The Observatory', No. 477, August 1914, including a report on Ellis's 85th birthday celebrations (p. 330). 4. 'Companion to the Observatory', No. 482, Vol. XXXVIII, 1915. 5. 'The Horological Journal', No. 687, Vol. LVIII, November 1915. 6. Extract from 'The Horological Journal', December 1915, pp. 43-44, including the anonymous article 'The Testing of Chronometers'.
1 envelope. |
1893–1915 |
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5
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Tin box. A tin box with a lock, inscribed 'Mr W Ellis'.
1 box. |
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