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Description

Copy of letter, copied as part of the correspondence project led by Colonel John Herschel FRS following the death of his father. Rejects offer of payment of £75 for serving as a Commissioner of Longitude, explaining that John Frederick William Herschel has 'ceased to consider myself a public functionary from the moment I became acquainted with the intentions of Government respecting the dissolution of the Board of Longitude.'

Reference number
HS/21/54
Earliest possible date
12 January 1830
Page extent
1 page
Format
Manuscript

Creator names

John Frederick William Herschel

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Sir; John Frederick William Herschel

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Citation

John Frederick William Herschel, Sir; John Frederick William Herschel, Copy letter, from Sir John Herschel to J. W. Morton, dated at Slough, 12 January 1830, HS/21/54, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_21_54/copy-letter-from-sir-john-herschel-to-j-w-morton-dated-at-slough, accessed on 07 November 2025

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  • Herschel Letters

    This collection of nearly 10,900 letters, drafts, copies and notes is the largest repository of scientific correspondence from and to Sir John Herschel, leading figure of Victorian science.

    Dates: 1807 - 1875

    View collection