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    Regulator

    Date
    ca. 1760
    Creator
    John Shelton (1712 - 1777, British ) , Clockmaker
    Object type
    Archive reference number
    Material
    Subject
    Content object
    Description
    A long-case regulator in a veneered mahogany case with three legs. The face comprises a large minutes outer dial and a small inner seconds dial, and is inscribed: 'John Shelton London' inscription. The pendulum is visible via a glass pane at the bottom of the case.

    John Shelton (1712-1777) British horologist was not a Fellow of the Royal Society. He made five regulators for the Society in the 1760s for timing the transits of Venus. This clock accompanied Captain James Cook (1728-1779) on his second and third voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean.
    Object history
    After the discovery voyages, this clock was used by Sir William Edward Parry (1790-1855) in the Arctic; by George Airy (1801 - 1892) and William Whewell (1794-1866) in their 1826 attempt to discover the density of the earth, and; by Sir George Nares (1831-1915), also in the Arctic.
    Related fellows
    James Cook (1728 - 1779, British)
    Associated place
    Credit
    © The Royal Society
    Image number
    RS.8470
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