58 PROCEEDINGS OP SECTION A. 



During his life after leaving Sydney, Sir Thomas Brisbane 

 founded two other observatories, one at Makerstown and the 

 other at Brisbane, in Scotland. Sir Thomas died in February, 

 1860. (Royal Astronomical Society's Notices, Vol. XX., p. 118.) 



He contributed some papers about Parramatta work to the 

 Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1821 to 1824, but I have not a 

 complete file of the Transactions* for reference ; he also contri- 

 buted to the Royal Astronomical Society thirteen papers. 



Sir Thomas Brisbane's first knowledge of Astronomy had been 

 gained at sea. Struck with the importance of knowing how to 

 navigate a ship, he went to work with the energy that marked 

 all his actions, and soon mastered the situation and become a 

 first-class observer with the sextant, but I cannot find that he 

 had any experience in fixed observatories until he got to 

 Parramatta, and therefore, very little, if any, knowledge of large 

 and fixed instruments, hence I think the whole difhculty with 

 the observations at Parramatta ; he bought large but essentially 

 faulty instruments! without knowing it, and found this out 

 when it was too late to remedy the evil. 



The published work of the Parramatta Observatory under Sir 

 T. Brisbane, is represented by the Parramatta Catalogue of Stars, 

 and some papers upon latitude, longitude, comets, &c., published 

 in the Royal Astronomical Society Notices, the Philosophical 

 Transactions of the Royal Society, and the Transactions of the 

 Royal Society of Edinburgh, and some meteorological observations 

 for one whole year and part of a second. 



The Catalogues of Nebulae and Double Stars by Dunlop were 

 his private work and not made at the Observatory, but at the 

 house in Parramatta, and the work published by Rumker in 

 the Philosophical Transactions 1829, part III, was done at the 

 Parramatta Observatory after Sir Thomas Brisbane left the 

 colony. All the books in which this work was recorded have 

 disappeared, but in the Royal Astronomical Society library at 

 Burlington House is preserved the MS. of the Parramatta 

 Catalogue. 



At this time the Government seems to have hesitated about 

 keeping up the Parramatta Observatory, and the Royal Astrono- 

 mical Society urged the matter as follows : — 



[Extract from the Minutes of the Royal Astronomical Society, Nov. 11, 1828.] 



Present — Mr. Herschell, President ; Mr. Baily, Mr. South, Mr. 



Strathford, Captain Beaufort, Mr. Ooniperty, Mr. Riddle, Mr. Sheepshanks. 



* Vol. IX. contains two, first a memcir on the Repeating Reflecting Circle, and secndly a 

 Jlethod of determining the Latitude by a Sextant or Circle, with simplicity and accuracy 

 from circum-meridian observations taken near noon. 



Vol. X. contains one paper on Astronomical Observations made at Parramatta and Sydney, 

 by Sir Thomas Brisbane and Mr Rumker, which was read Nov 3, 1823. This paper contains 

 EUeptic Elements of the Comet in September, 1822, by Rumker ; Obser\ations of Transit 

 of Mercury, Nov. 3, 1882 ; Observations of Winter Solstice, 1822, by Sir Thomas Brisbane, 

 and Observations of Encke's Comet, June 2 to 23, 1822. 



t I speak from personal examinaiion of these instruments since they have been in the 

 Sydney Observatory, 



