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Mr Weir
16 January 1892"
"Dear Sir, Mr E Walter Maunder, FRAS (of the Royal Observatory) editor of the Journal of the British Astronomical Association being desirous of meeting the Members and others interested in Astronomical Science in this district, has requested me to communicate with you. His more especial purpose is to obtain an expression of opinion as to the desirability of forming in Manchester a Local Branch of the BAA. A meeting has accordingly been arranged for Monday evening next, the 18th inst. at 7 pm in the Drawing Room of the Y.M.C.A., Peter Street, Manchester and after disposing of the business Mr Maunder will no doubt be pleased to give a short address on some phase of Astronomical work, should time permit.
Thomas Weir
56 Parkfield Street,
Moss Lane East, Manchester
January 14th, 1892"
At the end of the nineteenth century public interest in science was probably greater than at any other time in history, either before or since. Following hard on the heels of the Industrial Revolution, there was an optimism that science and technology were creators of wealth above and beyond the grass root economy based on farming. The Industrial Revolution had shown that the marriage of traditional production methods with mechanisation, fuelled by the exploitation of the coal fields in the North West, could generate wealth; albeit if for a minority. But there was a recognition that education of the workers in technical subjects could improve manufacturing efficiency and many towns in the region boasted technical colleges. Not only did this improve manufacturing efficiency by creating trained managers and workers, but, by raising the level of scientific awareness, it undoubtedly resulted in science becoming a fashionable pastime, particularly among the more well-to-do.
In 1881 the Liverpool Astronomical Society was created as a body of amateur astronomers who, by organising themselves into observing sections, would undertake to study the science of astronomy whether this be by the systematic observation of the sun, moon and planets or by discussion of these topics at regular meetings. The society was not only very active, but attracted a large membership from all over the United Kingdom and abroad.
However, the LAS had seriously declined by 1890 owing to financial difficulties and it was at this time that Miss Elizabeth Brown FRMetSoc, Director of the Solar Section of the LAS since 1883 (and greatly disappointed when the society had 'ceased to be a living organisation') in several letters to Mr Walter Maunder of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, urged the formation of a new amateur astronomical society. On 18 July a letter from Mr W H S Monck appeared in the 'English Mechanic', a then widely read publication devoted to technical and scientific matters. This advocated the formation of an Amateur Astronomical Association to be based in London. This was not to be a rival of the Royal Astronomical Society but was to cater for those amateur astronomers who found the subscription to the latter too high, or its papers too technical, or who, being women, were excluded.
Plans were already underway and on 8 August, in a letter in the 'English Mechanic', Dr W Huggins, one of the leading amateur scientists of the day, reported that a meeting was soon to be held. The formation of the British Astronomical Association on 24 October 1890 was therefore in direct response to the general interest in matters scientific, particularly at an amateur level, prevalent in the country in the last decade of the nineteenth century.
Like the Liverpool Astronomical Society before it, the BAA was also organised into observing sections so that members could not only participate in the observation of the specific astronomical bodies in which they might have a particular interest, but, by being organised into independent sections under directors, observations would be collated periodically into reports which could be published in the Journal as a permanent record. Over the years these would build up into an invaluable archived documentation of the objects observed. Even in the 1970s, memoirs of the BAA Jupiter Section were referred to by NASA in planning robotic space probe missions to the planet.
At the meeting on 1 February the communication from London regarding financial help was discussed. Their decision was: "that the local expenses of any Branch should be met by special arrangement among the members of the Branch as they see fit". Nevertheless, the members were not daunted by this and it was resolved that an application be made to the Council of the Association for leave to form a local branch, the title of which should be The North Western Branch of the British Astronomical Association with its headquarters in Manchester. The geographical area defined by the Branch was to be bounded on the north by the towns of Preston, Clitheroe and Halifax, on the east by Halifax, Huddersfield and Buxton, on the south by Buxton, Macclesfield and Northwich and on the west by the London and North Western main railway line "which here runs almost due North".
It was further proposed to ask the parent Association to waive the five shillings entrance fee for a few months in order to encourage new members to join the Association through the local branch. It was agreed that the annual subscription to the branch should be as low as possible and it was suggested that it might be fixed at 2/6d, this being in addition to the l0/6d required by the parent body.
By the fourth meeting (this time of the Council only) in Mr Brothers' rooms, 14 St Anns Square, on Friday 26 February, it had been agreed that the Rev Walter Sidgreaves SJ, FRAS, of Stonyhurst College, would become the president of the branch and that he would deliver the inaugural lecture: 'The New Star and its Teachings'. This would be on the evening of Thursday 10 March at 7.30 pm. The meeting would be advertised in the 'City News' of 27 February and 5 March and in the 'Manchester Guardian' of 8 March. Tickets of admission to the meeting would be printed. The secretary read a letter confirming that the Council of the parent Association had approved the formation of the North Western Branch and that the official warrant would be made out and forwarded. With regard to the waiver of the five shillings entrance fee, it was decided that although this had not yet been approved by London, any members joining the branch would be absolved from paying this fee. The venue of the inaugural meeting would be at the Chartered Accountants rooms, 65 King Street, which could be obtained for fifteen shillings a night.
The discussion on the rules of the Branch was next on the agenda and the rules, as approved, were as follows:-
The title and geographical area were as already stated; the Objects and Constitution of the Branch was to be the same as defined in Rule II and III of the B A A. (1891 edition), namely:
Objects:
The association of Observers, especially the possessors of small telescopes,
for mutual help, and their organisation in the work of astronomical observation.
The circulation of current astronomical information. The encouragement of a
popular interest in astronomy.
Constitution:
The Association shall consist of members to be elected as herein-after provided.
Ladies shall be eligible for election as members of the Association, and no
expression hereinafter used shall be held to debar them from exercising any
right or privilege of the Association, or from filling any office to which they
may be elected.
The remainder of the rules described the method of election of members; the dates of the General Meetings (7 pm on the second Tuesday of the month) and various other administrative matters.
Mr Thomas Thorp was a vice-president. A local craftsman, employing at least two workmen at premises in Whitefield, he was a skilled instrument maker and inventor. His advertisements in scientific publications such as "The Journal" of the "BAA" included a range of replica gratings used in spectroscopy and formed the basis of a series of spectroscopes which he made and sold. One novel application of his celluloid replica grating was the direct observation of the solar chromosphere during the total eclipse of 1900. By placing the grating in front of one object lens of a pair of binoculars and viewing the eclipsed sun by looking downwards through the instrument at the sun reflected in a silvered mirror, he was able to watch as the spectrum at the solar limb suddenly reversed as the hydrogen alpha line in the chromosphere flashed into view. This so-called flash spectrum is caused by ionised hydrogen in the solar chromosphere. This phenomenon, which is very difficult to observe except briefly during total eclipses, was not well understood until the twentieth century. Mr Thorp is also credited with the invention of the coin-in-the-slot gas meter. As an amateur astronomer, particularly interested in solar work, he often brought his optical devices to the meetings, these included artifacts such as the 6.5" object glass which he made having first calculated the curves of the optical surfaces; the solar spectroscope, also home-made, with which he could view prominences and many other interesting items.
Dr Steele Sheldon, of Macclesfield, was a keen astrophotographer who used a one-inch portrait lens of 2" focal length to record views of the constellations. He regularly brought slides and photographs to the meetings; mainly of the Milky Way which he was photographing systematically. A photograph of the Orion nebula took seventy minutes to expose and showed objects of tenth and eleventh magnitude. Another astrophotographer, Herbert Sykes, showed a 45 minutes exposure of the constellation of Cassiopea going down to eighth magnitude. (Compare this with modern exposures on high speed films.)
From very early days members had an open invitation to visit the observatory of Mr R Wilding of Preston, which housed a 19" Newtonian reflector, and also the Preston Observatory, of which Mr Wilding was Curator, containing an 18" instrument. Many other members also owned telescopes, but as these were usually commercial instruments they were generally small refractors from 1" to 4" in aperture or 4" to 6" reflectors. With the exception of a few large instruments such as the 20" reflector owned by Mr Samuel Okell, later replaced by an 8" refractor, most big telescopes were then, as now, in observatories affiliated to universities.
The second session opened with a lecture by Mrs R A Proctor entitled "The Life and Death of Worlds". This expounded the theory then widespread that within the solar nebula could be found planets in various stages of development, from the gaseous young planets of Jupiter and Saturn, Earth was considered to be in the prime or life-bearing stage with Mars an old world. The moon was regarded as being dead. The lecture was well illustrated by many lantern slides, some having been taken with the great American refractors.
Another well attended lecture was that given by Sir Howard Grubb on Tuesday 13 December 1892 held at 65 King Street. Sir Howard described a new telescope his company had made for the BAA. It was a 4" refractor mounted so that it could be used either equatorially or as an altazimuth; but its special feature was that the setting circles were arranged as a co-axially mounted disc surrounding the eyepiece from which both Right Ascension and Declination could be read without undue movement. The instrument was expected to sell for about £60. Sir Howard went on to describe what he considered to be an ideal observatory for a large telescope incorporating a rising and falling floor to follow the eyepiece at any position of the instrument. The telescope itself would be moved to any pre-set position on the sky by hydraulic motors coupled to electrical position sensors. Very large reflecting telescopes would be supported on mountings floated on water to afford ease of movement and whilst tracking objects the observatory dome opening would be automatically moved always to follow the instrument.
The rest of the 1892-93 session passed uneventfully with regular monthly meetings of the council, usually held in the rooms of the vice president, Mr Planck, at 19 St Ann Street, and eight general meetings in the library of the Chartered Accountants at 65 King Street. To the latter, members were invited to bring scientifically- minded friends, presumably with the underlying intent of boosting the paid-up membership which, by early 1893, had increased but slightly. No fewer than 24 members were in arrears to the parent association in March 1893 and the secretary was instructed to write to remind them that subscriptions were overdue. At the end of the session only 5/8d was in hand.
The first general meeting of the third session, on 17 October 1893, was devoted to a lecture by Mr Alfred Brothers FRAS, a member of the branch and a professional photographer of merit, whose work is still used to illustrate modern books on Victorian Manchester. His subject, astronomical photography, was well illustrated by slides from his own, Mr Okell's and Dr Schuster's collections. However, the main illustrations were from the extensive collection of photographs possessed by the parent association showing the development of astrophotography and its importance in astronomical research.