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Two views of the Observatory
The purpose-built Yorkshire Museum - perhaps the first of its kind in the country - was not the only building raised by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. The next one was the Observatory, built in 1833. Like the Museum, it is of Hackness limestone; it is octagonal in plan and the roof could open for the telescope. Although other architects have been suggested, the likely designer in this case is J. P. Pritchett, as his drawing and estimate are in the Borthwick archives. He had joined the Yorkshire Philosophical Society in 1824, and was architect to the Earls Fitzwilliam for fifty years. Charles William Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton, was the president of the Society (he became Earl Fitzwilliam about this time).
Left: Plaque to the left of the door. Right: Plaque to the right of the door.
To begin with, the observatory housed instruments donated by one of the members, but eventually it acquired an instrument made by a York optician and mechanical engineer of no ordinary ability, Thomas Cooke (1807-1868). Cooke was the son of a shoemaker in a village near York. His early and persistent interest in optics and engineering led to his setting up a shop in Stonegate in 1837, expanding into larger premises on Coney Street, and then opening the Buckingham Works in Bishophill in 1855; the factory looks gleamingly new in Whittock’s panorama (Murray 1988, 31).
Whittock’s panorama, c.1858, showing Thomas Cooke’s Buckingham Works. Watermarked image, by kind permission of the York Museums Trust (York Art Gallery).
Cooke’s instruments attracted royal and international customers, and many are still in use. He had early been encouraged and funded by members of the society. He became a subscribing member in 1851 and was elected an honorary fellow in 1866; he had been made a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1859. During a period of neglect, the original Cooke telescope of c. 1847 disappeared, but when the building was reopened in 1981, it was replaced by one from the 1850s (Nott; Lunn).
Links to Related Material
- The formation of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society
- The Yorkshire Museum, by William Wilkins
- Interior of the Yorkshire Museum
- Museum Gardens, York
- Sydney Observatory
- The Royal Observatory (Greenwich, London)
- The Royal Observatory (as one of Greenwich's attractions)
- Toronto Observatory
Bibliography
Leonard, R. "History of the York Observatory and its instruments." Yorkshire Philosophical Annual Records (YPSAR) for the Year 2021, 53-59.
Lunn, M. “Astronomy since Thomas Cooke.” Yorkshire Philosophical Annual Records (YPSAR) for the Year 2021, 59-63.
Murray, H. Nathaniel Whittock’s Bird's Eye View of the City of York in 1850. York, 1988.
Nott, Dorothy. "Thomas Cooke (1807-1868)." Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Web 22 August 2023.
Created 22 August 2023