Credit: © The Royal Society
Image number: RS.8479
Looking for a special gift? Buy a print of this image.
Standard Yard
Date
1853
Creator - Organisation
Troughton and Simms, Instrument maker
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Content object
Description
Official Parliamentary copy of the Standard Yard as defined by the 1824 Weights and Measures Act in a mahogany box with three brass bindings.
Engraved: 'STANDARD YARD 1853'.
In 1843 the original British Standard Yard was destroyed in a fire at the Palace of Westminster. Parliament Commissioned the Restoration of this Standard, on which the Royal Society advised. Upon completion in 1853, this new Standard was deposited with the Society.
Troughton & Simms was a British scientific instrument making firm, formed when Edward Troughton (1753-1835) took on William Simms (1793-1860) as a partner in 1826.
Engraved: 'STANDARD YARD 1853'.
In 1843 the original British Standard Yard was destroyed in a fire at the Palace of Westminster. Parliament Commissioned the Restoration of this Standard, on which the Royal Society advised. Upon completion in 1853, this new Standard was deposited with the Society.
Troughton & Simms was a British scientific instrument making firm, formed when Edward Troughton (1753-1835) took on William Simms (1793-1860) as a partner in 1826.
Object history
Presented by George Biddell Airy FRS (1801-1892) who, as the then Astronomer Royal, had been working closely on the Parliamentary Commission [MM/11/31].
Related fellows
Sir George Biddell Airy (1801 - 1892, British) , Astronomer and Mathematician
Associated place