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Old 01-07-2021, 01:30 PM
gary
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Article about the sky survey Pennant Hills Observatory of 1898-1931

Anyone who has driven up and down Pennant Hills Road in Sydney
will no doubt be familiar with the triangular piece of parkland with
towering Sydney Blue Gums at the intersection of Pennant Hills Road
and Beecroft Road at Pennant Hills.

This small public park is called "Observatory Park" and page 18 of the
March 2021 edition of the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai post contains a nice
article including photos about the observatory that was once there.

In 1887 the Congress of International Astronomers set forth a project to
photographically map the entire southern hemisphere night sky.

The project would eventually produce the Carte du Ceil: the Astrographic Catalogue.

The NSW government funded the project and on 21 October 1893 set aside 5
acres (2 hectares) on the corner of Pennant Hills and Beecroft Roads
for the construction of an observatory. The Pennant Hills Observatory
was completed in 1898.

The Pennant Hills site, known at the time as Red Hill, was chosen as it
was a high point at 615 feet (190 metres) above sea level and free of
wood fire smoke, with easy access to Sydney by road or railway.

The observatory, a circular building with rotating dome and 330mm telescope,
was operated for 32 years by James Short of Sydney Observatory.

One of the assistants at Red Hill was Lawrence Hargrave, who went on
to experiment with airfoils and develop the basis for aircraft wing designs
at Stanwell Park. Australians will be familiar with his image on the old $20
bills.

In 1922, I believe a large logistical exercise was performed and the entire astrograph
was relocated to Goodiwidini in southern Queensland, some 730km away, to try and capture
the solar eclipse. A temporary observatory was set up there and then the astrograph
moved back to Pennant Hills.

In 1930, with Short set for retirement and no funding to replace him, plus
with increasing light pollution and traffic on Pennant Hills Road, the
observatory was closed and in 1931 the telescope was moved back to
Sydney Observatory.

The Astrographic Catalogue was ultimately published in the 1960s,
with over a million star positions plotted.

Newspaper here, turn to page 18 :-
https://cog-aap.s3-ap-southeast-2.am...Post202103.pdf

An image of the observatory building :-
https://hornsbyshire.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/1796

A view of the observatory from the intersection of Pennant Hills Road and Park Avenue :-
https://hornsbyshire.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/2484

An image taken perhaps during the observatory construction. The figure sitting on the ground is said to be James Short :-
https://collection.maas.museum/object/372786

An image whose hand-written caption reads, "The horse team moving the telescope from Pennant Hills Observatory to Hornsby Goodsyard for Goondiwindi'.
There was a solar eclipse at Goondiwindi in 1922 and I believe the entire astropgraph may have been moved there to capture the event :-
https://collection.maas.museum/object/372804

An image of the astrograph survey telescope :-
https://hornsbyshire.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/1712

Setting up the astrograph at Goondiwindi in 1922 for the solar eclipse. Would have been a big exercise to move it there and back:-
https://collection.maas.museum/object/372810

The construction of the temporary observatory at Goodiwindi with the astrograph inside for the 1922 eclipse :-
https://collection.maas.museum/object/372812

The temporary observatory at Goondiwndi in 1922 :-
https://collection.maas.museum/object/372813

The temporary observatory and accommodation at Goondiwindi where the instrument was moved for the solar eclipse :-
https://collection.maas.museum/object/372826

Images of the 1922 eclipse and information about the temporary observatory at Goondiwindi :-
https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/tota...-1922-and-2012

Last edited by gary; 01-07-2021 at 02:07 PM.
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Old 02-07-2021, 05:12 AM
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Thanks Gary
I found your post very interesting particularly as I know the park so well as my business was on Beecroft Road a little South of the park and my house in Sydney (the one that belonged to my parents) is also close by.

There is a very large house South of the park which was built by a judge, and I cant recall his name but he had the nick name "the hanging judge" and he built the house next door to the East for his daughter. I have had the privilege of looking through both of these houses and each quiet impressive but the judges house very much so...
Whenever I drive to Sydney when I turn off to the left into Beecroft Road at the park it is then that I feel like I have arrived and as I pass it when leaving Sydney I feel my journey North has started, except if I am going to Hornsby for a shop It has always felt like the front gate to my homeland.
So yes I know the park quiet well and although I knew a little of its history I found your post very informative such that I certainly now know a great deal more.
Thanks so very much.
Alex
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Old 02-07-2021, 11:35 AM
gary
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Hi Alex,

Thanks for the response and wonderful you enjoyed reading the post.

It's hard to believe now as you wait at the traffic lights at one of
the busiest stretches of road in the country that it once housed an
internationally important sky survey observatory.

These days it is magnificent in its own way because of the towering
Sydney Blue Gums. I must admit I look beneath the canopy and ask
myself if anyone has the foresight to plant the next generation beneath
them. They are all about the same height and I would assume will all
die around the same time.

Whilst looking for information on the net, I stumbled across the images
of the solar eclipse at Goondiwindi, the images of the
astrograph being transported and its setup there but little else in way of
a surrounding narrative, but that will be out there somewhere.

But it must have been a helluva logistical exercise moving that thing
and not without a great deal of trepidation.

It's a bit like saying, "Yeah, I am coming up to Queensland Astrofest
but first let me dismantle this giant telescope, get a bunch of horses,
carts and drivers, I will get some block and tackle and hoist it up,
drive the horses up Pennant Hills Road to Hornsby railway station,
more block and tackle whilst I load it on a train - hang on - you do have
a carriage long enough? - go 740km, unload it off the train, build an
observatory, build temporary accommodation then hope like hell it is
not cloudy or raining for the eclipse. The eclipse lasts a few minutes and
I pack it all up and ship it back down to Pennant Hills again.

I recollect you were involved in real estate? There must be gems of places
across the north shore that would be fascinating to peek inside.
"Hanging judges" as you mentioned and ancestral homes built on
family fortunes in manufacturing, retailing, trading, pastoral barons
from the early days and so forth. Not quite the historical legacy of
somewhere like England, but a fascinating insight nevertheless into
money and power from the early days of the colony and Australia as a nation.
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Old 02-07-2021, 12:10 PM
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1 million stars cataloged, He got pretty busy!
That picture with him having a cuppa sitting in the mud cracked me up though. He looks happy.
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Old 02-07-2021, 04:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb View Post
That picture with him having a cuppa sitting in the mud cracked me up though. He looks happy.
Hi Marc,

New assignment. New observatory being built.
He does look as happy as a pig in mud.
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Old 02-07-2021, 04:31 PM
gary
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Also this link has an interesting short note on Short :-
https://collection.maas.museum/object/348188

Quote:
Originally Posted by MAAS Museum
This magazine was owned by James Short, who was was in charge of the astrographic telescope at Sydney Observatory's Red Hill Branch from July 1890 until his retirement in 1930. He made important contributions to the work of the Observatory while his turbulent relationships with the various Government Astronomers add colour to the Observatory's history. Items associated with Short are an important addition to the material documentation of the history of Sydney Observatory. There are many mentions of James Short in the Observatory's records, especially in connection with his poor relationship with the Government Astronomer WE Cooke.
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Old 02-07-2021, 08:03 PM
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Hi Gary

Sold Arnotts home that was a feather in my cap...and one rather neat home that at one stage was owned by Sir Garfield Barwick...that was the sale that made me famous in our little world...the sale made SMH front page cause of the record price...$215,000-00 One of those auctions with folk in tears for missing out...and the funny thing was I sold the buyers house to the vendors...after those sales because these folk were rather influencial I was set.

But an interesting role one plays...cause I was dealing with professional folk used to telling others what to do and you had to take control and help them in perhaps one of the most emotionally charged times in their life..selling their home.

I could sell anything to anybody but never used my power for evil but only to help people..in my first year I sold the first house I showed a buyer with all my sales...but yes I have seen inside many jaw dropping homes and met many many interesting people...

It is hard to imagine moving all the gear by horse and cart but back then it would not have been a big deal...when I was a kid we would gather beer bottles to cash in using a huge cart and a draught horse, ...another place my grandfather's...we took the cream produced on the farm using a sled drawn by a draught horse to the pick up spot...for butter...we even went to town, Casino, in a horse and cart cause no car

I still see the old farm when going to town...I would knock on the door and buy it but they put a great big ugly electrical sub station in the valley which spoilt it for me.

Alex
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Old 06-07-2021, 03:46 PM
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Hi Gary,

A possible correction:

As I understand it Lawrence Hargrave came to Sydney Observatory in 1878 after his arrival from England a few years earlier.

I'd check your source on the info that he worked as an assistant at Red Hill. From my own earlier research (for an article I wrote for AS&T over a decade ago) Hargrave retired and resigned from Sydney Observatory in the early/mid-1880's after having come into his inheritance following the death of his father (who was a Barrister, MLC and Judge). Hargrave then moved to Stanwell Park to concentrate on the problems of constructing a heavier than air flying machine. His father owned (via government grant) most of what is now Stanwell Tops and Stanwell Park. The family "holiday house" is still there at Stanwell tops and Lawrence lived for some time there with his brother Ralph. He died in 1915 from peritonitis (following an appendix operation) shortly after his son Geoffrey was killed in action at Gallipoli.

Nearly all of Hargrave's work at Sydney Observatory concerned the re-measuring of John Herschel doubles found at the Cape Observatory which took several years. He worked mainly in the (then new) north dome with the 7" Merz refractor and discovered a small number of new pairs (most of which aren't terribly exciting or interesting) during the course of that project. Russell and Hargrave worked together in reducing and publishing that data and not long after, Hargrave left. Hargrave was also involved in the 1882 transit of Venus expeditions.

I am forced to speculate that a probable part of the reason behind his leaving was the somewhat aloof, abrasive, patrician and overbearing personality of Russell who, while an important and well-credentialled astronomer, was apparently an industrial-grade pain in the neck to work for (or with). It wasn't for naught that Russell was twice assaulted by workmen at the observatory and was once the subject of an attempted bombing by his employed messenger.

Then of course there is his (Russell's) well documented point-blank refusal to move out of the observatory after he had retired. He ended up continuing to live there rent free until he passed away from kidney disease a couple of years after he ceased work in 1905.

But, in the end, I don't think (actually I'm pretty certain) Hargrave ever worked at Red Hill -- it was well after his time at "The Obs".

Best,

L.
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Old 06-07-2021, 04:15 PM
gary
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ngcles View Post
Hi Gary,

A possible correction:

As I understand it Lawrence Hargrave came to Sydney Observatory in 1878 after his arrival from England a few years earlier.

....
Thanks Les,

When I made the original post, I was hoping you might know more
because of your connection to the observatory.

I came across brief narratives about the friction between Russell and
some of the other workers including the letter bomb.

Who would have thought? The dog eat dog world of corporate intrigue
at the Sydney Observatory.

Do you happen to know anything more about the Goondiwindi eclipse,
the moving of the astrograph there and what became of the instrument
after it was supposedly moved back from Pennant Hills to Sydney
Observatory?

It is remarkable when you consider the time it was there on that
little triangle of land on Pennant Hills Road that it would have seen
the arrival of motor cars, then aeroplanes and all the changes that came
with that. It probably use to be quite a nice, peaceful place to observe.
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Old 06-07-2021, 11:22 PM
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The Hargraves ...

Hi Gary & All,


Quote:
Originally Posted by gary View Post
When I made the original post, I was hoping you might know more
because of your connection to the observatory.
Most of the material I researched was for a possible article on re-observing the Hargrave pairs for AS&T -- and doing the observations using the telescope (a 40cm Meade Schmidt-Cassegrainian) in the same dome (North Dome, Sydney Observatory) where they were discovered -- and using the background material on the life and times of Lawrence.

As it turned out, I went and researched (re-observed) his short list of pairs and only a couple of the 20-odd were in any way interesting. All the others were either very wide or had very large magnitude differences or were rather faint (often all three) so the article never actually eventuated beyond research and concept. Hargrave was an interesting character, obviously very bright, imaginative and methodical. Though, during the course of research, it turned out his dad (John Hargrave) was at least as interesting as a character.

After University, John (a Cambridge man) was called to the bar in 1941 (Lincoln's Inn) and practised for about ten years after which he retired (apparently for medical reasons though he also inherited his father's estate around the same time). His wife had him committed to Colney Hatch lunatic asylum Middlesex in 1851 suffering from "melancholy", and he spent over three months as an involuntary patient and a couple of years as an outpatient. This was a big turning point in his life and he never forgave his wife for subjecting him to that indignity.

Upon his release, perceiving his reputation and career to be in tatters, he followed his brother Richard, took his two eldest sons (Edward and Ralph) and set off for the colonies (NSW) in 1856 where he set up legal practice, was appointed a judge of the Quarter-Sessions Court (forerunner of the District Court) and moved quickly and upwardly in political circles. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1859 through several offices until appointment to the NSW Legislative Council and to Attorney General in 1860 and appointed to "silk" in 1863. He remained in parliament only until 1865 when he resigned and was immediately appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in both Equity and Divorce (the latter field is now covered by the federal Family Court, but was until 1975 a state jurisdiction). He was so disliked in the legal community, his swearing-in was boycotted by the NSW bar.

He rapidly developed a very poor reputation as a Supreme Court Judge and the chief complaint was that he was lazy, refusing to sit before 11am or after 1pm. He was apparently exceptionally biased against female suitors and almost always found against them irrespective of the cause or evidence. He spent 16 years on the bench and was also a law-lecturer at Sydney University.

Lawrence remained in England after his father escaped to NSW to finish his education. His brother Ralph was dispatched to fetch him and bring young Lawrence to NSW in 1865 when he was 15 years old. His dad obviously envisaged a career in the law and employed a private tutor for him. John, by this time had the family home in Ruscutters Bay (I think called "Sunbeam Cottage") and several other properties, many of which were grants from the NSW government. This included the extensive property at Stanwell Park and Coalcliff.

Lawrence however had a penchant for the wide-open spaces and signed on to an expedition to north Queensland and Papua. Lawrence failed his matriculation examination and eventually was apprenticed to the Australasian Steam Navigation Co. where he worked for five years, learning design and other practical skills -- and he also participated in a couple of other expeditions to New Guinea.

One of Lawrence's earliest inventions (there were many) were shoes for walking on water. They were in effect a pair of matched narrow canoes with a saw-tooth lower surface on the bottom strapped to the feet like skis. To prove his invention, one Sunday, he set off from Dawes Point and "walked" all the way to a park at Rushcutters Bay where he was greeted by a crowd of onlookers. To his dismay (expecting cheering) several of the crowd threw stones and accused him of blasphemy, daring to walk on the water on a Sunday.

Lawrence was "spotted" by Henry Russell at Royal Society meetings where both men presented material with frequency. Hargrave, mainly on his several early inventions and his private research that collected quite a body of evidence that Spanish expeditions (the Lope de Vega theory) had explored Sydney Cove and surrounds and the east coast of Australia in the early 17th century -- almost 200 years before Cook.

Russell, who seeming admired this gifted young methodical observer/engineer, offered him the position at Sydney Observatory in 1878. He married the same year. Most of Hargrave's work revolved around re-observing and measuring the Cape Observatory pairs.

By 1883, Lawrence was already in receipt of a considerable income (over £1,000 per annum) from a mining lease on his land (given to him by his father) at Coalcliff and retired from the observatory in 1883 not long after the transit of Venus expeditions. I can't exactly recall his role in the transit, but I have a distant memory that he was stationed at Bega and successfully observed the event. His father died in 1885 and it was at this point Lawrence removed to Stanwell Park and continued his experiments. His brother Ralph died shortly after that and Lawrence inherited Ralph's house "Hilltop Cottage" at Stanwell Tops. In 1894 he became the first human to make a flight in a heavier than air machine (un-powered) (a very large connected contraption mainly consisting of box-kites) on the beach at Stanwell Park and worked constantly on developing a means of propulsion -- but was beaten to the punch by the Wright Brothers who probably copied Hargaves idea/invention of the "aerofoil".

He married Margaret Preston in 1878 (this was one of his prime motivations for taking the offered employment at Sydney Observatory) and the union produced six children, five of whom survived, only one was a son; Geoffrey who was killed in action in 1915 at Gallipoli. Hargrave himself succumbed to peritonitis arising from appendicitis in 1915 and is buried near his father at Waverley Cemetery. A son of Ralph (Lawrence's brother) was killed in a coal mine collapse (he was a mine engineer) at Helensburgh during WWI and he is buried in Helensburgh Cemetery. I found that grave as part of the research for the article that in the end, was never written.

Hoping this is of some interest.

Best,

L.
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Last edited by ngcles; 07-07-2021 at 12:14 AM.
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Old 07-07-2021, 12:15 PM
gary
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Thanks Les,

That's fantastic! Thanks for taking the time.

The story about the crowd throwing stones because the walking on the
water being blasphemous is Pythonesque!

Seriously though, there is enough there in the story of the family
to make a movie.

It makes me wonder if Lawrence never inherited the house at Stanwell
Tops would he have ever worked on the airfoils? With the near constant sea
breeze it lends itself to going out and making a kite just for the fun of it.
Obviously it takes a dedicated mind to take it up a notch from a recreation
to a serious study.

Thanks again for a great read!
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Old 07-07-2021, 01:38 PM
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Thanks from me to Les.
A movie yes indeed yet they insist on fiction.
Alex
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Old 12-07-2021, 03:53 PM
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Thanks Gary and Les.
Great story.
I often wondered about the history of that park.
The Observatory roof is an interesting simplification.

Yes. A movie.!
Surely some cinema people down here near Stanwell Park would be interested.
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Old 12-07-2021, 05:16 PM
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Les have you ever considered writing a script for a movie? Cant be too hard it should be just a case of fleshing out the plot and we know that already..I can see a real winner here.

I am sure there would be many folk here who would love to get involved...all we have to do is run thru the credits of a movie to get a list of job descriptions... director, producer, audio, music, set manager, etc.
Alex
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