Index card for Universal Equinoctial Ring-Dial

Images(2)

Index card for Universal Equinoctial Ring-Dial

Dateafter 1817

Object number00047668

NameIndex card

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 83 x 133 mm

ClassificationsTools and equipment

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Sydney Training Depot

Terms

DescriptionMuseum index card relating to Universal Equinoctial ring dial [00047666] previously in the collection of the Sydney Training Depot, Snapper Island, Sydney. HistoryThe index card relates to a universal equinoctial ring dial (00047667). The universal ring dial, or more correctly Universal Equinoctial Ring Dial, is a portable sundial used for navigation. It was used to determine time during daylight hours and used from the 1600s to mid-nineteenth century. The ring dial was owned by a Norfolk Island resident and from the 1970s on display at the Tingara Old Boys Association museum and then at the Sydney Training Depot museum at Snapper Island from 1984 to 2008. According to museum records, the ring dial was purportedly associated with Captain Bligh; however there is no evidence to confirm this. SignificanceThis old index card from the Sydney Training Depot, Snapper Island, relates to universal equinoctial ring dial previously in the collection of the Training Depot and provides evidence for dating the instrument. The ring dial has purported (but unproven) associations with William Bligh.