George Lyon Tupman

George Lyon Tupman FRAS (7 September 1838 – 3 November 1922) was the Chief Astronomer for the British astronomical expedition to Hawaii to observe the 1874 transit of Venus.

Early life

George, the eldest son of George Tupman (1785–1847) and Elizabeth Emerson, was born at Boulogne-sur-Mer on 7 September 1838 and was educated for eight and a half years at the Royal Naval School, where he showed an interest in mathematical and scientific subjects. HMS Forte, at Rio de Janeiro, 1 December 1861. T.G. Dutton after Tupman As an officer in the Royal Marine Artillery he served on H.M.S. Sidon at Rio and at the Cape and on H.M.S. Forte at Montevideo, then on H.M.S. Prince Consort in the Mediterranean.

Tupman was particularly interested in astronomy, and was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society from May 1863. Whilst in the Mediterranean between 1869 and 1871 he observed about 300 meteor trails. He was one of the first people to make estimates of the velocity of meteors. The Transit Expedition project was overseen by George Biddell Airy, but historian Jessica Ratcliff notes that Tupman was 'manager, observer and calculator' and that his involvement 'went deeper than Airy's.' These were to Egypt, the Sandwich Islands, Rodriguez Island, New Zealand and Kerguelen Island. He went as chief astronomer on the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands expedition and observed the transit of Venus from the main station at Honolulu, as well as making many observations to determine longitude.

After returning to Greenwich, via a trans-continental rail journey across the US, he spent around four years working without pay on the data that had been collected on the five expeditions.

Tupman (and his wife Rebecca, who he had married in 1876) observed the 1882 transit of Venus from Burnham near Christchurch, New Zealand.

Later life

Tupman maintained his interest in astronomy, and reported numerous occultations between 1885 and 1900. He was on the Council of the Royal Astronomical Society (1873–1880), and was also appointed its Secretary (1884–1889). He died at Observatory, College Road, Harrow, on 3 November 1922 at the age of 84, and was buried at Pinner Road Cemetery, Harrow. His wife Rebecca (née Wetherill), known as Beckie, survived him by only a few months.

Legacy

Tupman published an Account of Observations of the Transit of Venus, 1874, 8 December: Made Under the Authority of the British Government: and of the Reduction of the Observations in 1881. He published other astronomical observations regularly in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and elsewhere.

As well as a selection of Tupman's official and private papers relating to the Transit of Venus enterprise, the recent digital collection contains The Life & Adventures of Station B, two albums of caricatures by Lieutenant Evelyn Noble, one of the Honolulu observers. These include many drawings of Tupman and the other observers at work and leisure during their travels and while in Honolulu.