l6o ASTRONOMY IN WANSTEAD. 



marked an epoch in astronomy- -that the incHnation of the earth's 

 axis to the ecUptic is not constant ; thus explaining the precession of 

 the equinoxes, and the nutation of the axis of our earth. In his 

 paper on Nutation, 1748, Phil. Trans., vol. xlv., he mentions: "I 

 have continued to make observations at Wanstead, for, l)y the favour 

 of my very kind and worthy friend, Matthew Wymondesold, my 

 instrument has remained where it was first erected, so that I have 

 been able ... [to take ] • . . observations for the space of twenty 

 years." For this discovery the Copley Medal was awarded him. 



The famous zenith sector was subsc(|uently removed from 

 Wanstead to (ireenwich, in July. 1 749, and for it the sum of ^,45 

 was allowed to Dr. Bradley. 



His Aunt Pound died at Oxford, loth September, 1740, and was 

 buried with her husband in Wanstead Church. 



On the death of Halley, Bradley was appointed Astronomer 

 Royal by Sir Robert ^^'alpole, ou the 3rd of February, 1742, with a 

 salary of ^100 a year ; and was, perhaps, the very ablest of all who 

 have held that office. He then removed to Creenwich, and soon 

 after received the degree of J).l). The living of this parish was 

 offered to him when vacant, but this he declined, as it would have 

 interfered with his scientific work. 



It is curious to note that during the life of Flamsteed no instru- 

 ments were provided at Greenwich ; those used by him being either 

 lent, or his own brought from Derby. At his death they were all 

 removed ; but soon after the appointment of Halley the Board of 

 Ordnance were induced to allow ^500 for the purchase of necessary 

 appliances ; and no observations were made before the ist October, 

 1721, when the first transit instrument was erected. 



Under Dr. Bradley, in 1748, a sum of ^1,000 was obtained for 

 a new instrumental outfit. 



During his residence at the Observatory, the alteration of style 

 took place, in 1752, when eleven days were omitted from the 

 calendar' in the month of September (the 3rd to the 13th), and for 

 his share in this " impious undertaking " his sufferings, some ten 

 years later, were attributed by many common people as a judgment 

 from heawn. 



He was elected a member of nearly all the leading scientific 



4 The wrilt-T is indebted to the thoughtful care of his great-grandfather for the preserva- 

 tion of the rare almanack of this year, showing the alteration in style. It was printed by the 

 Company of Stationers, on a single sheet, quarto size, and bears a small \iew of Lambeth 

 Palace. 



