Letter from the Meteorological Office to Captain Belding with reference to the Excellent Classing of the captain's log

Maker Meteorological Office

Date7 July 1890

Object number00017741

NameLetter

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 226 x 187 mm, 0.004 kg

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionA handwritten letter from Robert Henry Scott of the Meteorological Office to Captain Belding, dated 7 July, 1890. Written on letterhead from the Meteorological Office in London, Scott refers to the "Excellent" classing of Captain Belding's log and advising him that the log will be brought to the 'special notice of the Meteorological Council'. HistoryAt the inaugural meeting of the Meteorological Committee of the Royal Society in 1867, Robert Henry Scott was appointed Director of the Meteorological Department of the Board of Trade at an agreed wage of £800 and six weeks’ annual leave. Scott had studied engineering, science, chemistry and geology at university ad worked in Germany from 1859 - 1859 studying meteorology. On his return to Ireland he took a teaching position and later became Keeper of Minerals at the Royal Dublin Society until 1867. Although little is known about the British Captain Raustin Belding personally, he had a successful career as a sea captain and became known in maritime circles as captain of the popular vessel THOMAS STEPHENS which became one the fastest and most admired passenger vessels of its day. Belding does not appear to have captained the vessel until the early 1890s and became most renowned for saving the ship not once, but twice. On 24 December 1894 the THOMAS STEPHENS sailing from Barry for Esquimalt, was dismasted off Cape Horn but managed to arrive at the Falkland Islands. But Captain Belding, outraged at the estimated cost of repairing the vessel at Port Stanley, decided instead to make towards Cape Town under jury rig and indignation only. After successfully arriving and undertaking by now urgent repairs, Belding sailed for Esquimalt, British Colombia, and arrived 271 days after departing Barry Harbour in Britain. After being sold to the Portuguese Government in 1896, Captain Belding was requested to sail the THOMAS STEPHENS to Portugal. En route the ship caught fire and witnesses claim the vessel was only saved by Captain Belding’s actions. Portugal was so relieved their latest investment had arrived safely that they gave Captain Belding a service of plate and a Portuguese Order. SignificanceWhile a ship's log typically recorded events on board and the navigation of a ship, they had a wider use in the early decades of meteorology. Logged information on tides, weather conditions and astronomical readings from all parts of the globe could be then be compiled together. This information provided meteorologists with a wider and more accurate picture of the world’s seasonal weather, assisting countless sailors and navigators.