41 



To the best of my knowledge George Graham is the only 

 Cumbrian whose ashes rest beneath the vaulted roof of Westminster 

 Abbey, where for many ages have been deposited England's most 

 illustrious dead : her Kings and Queens, her Statesmen and 

 Warriors, her Philanthropists, her Philosophers, and her Poets. 



Such was the brilliant career of the poor peasant boy of 

 Kirklinton. 



It is very remarkable that nearly all our most eminent makers 

 of instruments intended for refined astronomical observations, were 

 north country men ; for in addition to Graham, Troughton, the 

 ablest artist of his day, was bom in the parish of Corney, in this 

 county, in the year 1753. Then there was the Rev. William 

 Pearson, who, though not a practical mechanic, devoted his life to 

 the thorough investigation of the principles and theory of astrono- 

 mical instruments, and the methods of using them, and published 

 the result of his labours in two large quarto volumes which form 

 the most elaborate and comprehensive work on Practical Astronomy 

 that ever issued from the press. John Bird was a Durham weaver. 

 He was employed by Graham, and afterwards began business on 

 his own account. His attention is said to have been first drawn to 

 the subject of the accurate graduation of instruments by observing 

 the imperfect division of a clock dial. Jessie Rarasden, a man of 

 equal celebrity, was the son of a Yorkshire innkeeper. Lastly, the 

 present Astronomer-Royal, who unites with his many accompHsh- 

 ments a profound knowledge of Mechanics, and who has effected 

 an entire revolution in the principle of astronomical instrument 

 making, is a Northumberland man. I content myself with drawing 

 your attention to these curious facts, for I confess I have no theory 

 to advance. 



Turning for a few minutes to our Cumberland Association, I 

 may fairly congratulate you on having already attained a fair measure 

 of success. A glance through the two volumes of Tra?isaciiojjs in 

 print shows the variety and value of the subjects which have 

 claimed the attention of the members, and they contain many 

 original papers of much interest. Without being invidious, I may 

 point to the biographies of Fletcher Christian and Jonathan Otley 



