The theodolite is a standard model produced by the company Cooke Troughton and Simms. It must have been produced sometime after 1922 when T Cooke and Sons Ltd merged with Troughton and Simms Ltd. It would have been produced in one of the CTS factories in York, UK.

In 1782 John Troughton purchased Benjamin Cole's shop in Fleet Street, London, enabling him to sell his own signed products. His instrument making business supported several dynasties of Troughtons before becoming Troughton and Simms and later still Cooke Troughton & Simms. This was one of the most well respected firms of instrument makers of the 1800s.

While his brother enjoyed some early success, the business really expanded once Edward Troughton (1756-1835) took over the business in 1807. Edward and his brother John were both designers and manufacturers of instruments, and the quality of their work won them contracts with the leading Government bodies of the time. These included the Royal Society, the Greenwich Royal Observatory, the Board of Longitude, the Board of Ordnance and the East India Company.

One of the main factors in the success of the business was the use of a dividing engine which could speed up the laborious process of marking the small divisions of measurement necessary for scientific instruments. This machine was based on that designed by Jesse Ramsden (1735-1800) which had won a prize from the British Board of Longitude in 1775. As a result of this the Board of Longitude instructed Ramsden to allow up to ten other instrument makers to copy his machine. One of these was John Troughton, and the new machines established both Ramsden's and Troughton's reputations. The dividing engine sped up both accuracy and production: rather than spending 12 weeks, six days a week and eight hours a day graduating two meridian circles, this machine enabled the same job to be completed in around 10 hours.

The workshop produced a broad range of instruments from large telescopes and theodolites through to smaller mathematical instruments. Before 1835 most of the optics appear to have been supplied by Dollond as Edward Troughton was reputed to be colourblind. It is also important to note that from the early years the precision engineering of castings and turnings of their instruments were mainly outsourced to Maudslay Field & Donkin or Ransomes & May.

One of Edward Troughton's apprentices, William Simms, was taken into partnership in 1826, and after Edward died in 1835 Simms became the manager of the establishment and the company became Troughton & Simms. Under Simms the company continued to expand and produced instruments for Britain and its colonies as well as for markets in Europe and America. When William Simms died in 1860 the estate was worth around £80,000. The company was next managed by William Simms (junior) and his cousin James who carried the firm into the industrial age.

In the 1860s they moved the company from Fleet St to two acres of land at Charlton on Woolwich Road and by 1866 the factory employed 61 men and 20 boys. For the 1874 transit of Venus, Troughton & Simms made only five transits and four portable azimuths and refurbished some older telescopes loaned for the occasion. Telescopes and transits of the period they were often hybrids, with the structure ordered from Grubb or Troughton & Simms and the lenses from Cooke.

However by 1887 the company was able to produce all the parts necessary for its instruments and employed nearly 200 people. James Simms died in 1915, and the company was turned into a limited liability company by his two sons William and James. Things however were not so easy for the two sons and in 1922 the business was bought out by rival T Cooke & Sons, becoming Cooke, Troughton & Simms.

References
Todd, David, P., Stars and Telescopes, Sampson Low, Marston, and Co., 1900
Chaldecott, J., 'Printed Ephemera of Some Nineteenth Century Instrument Makers', in Blondel, C., Parot, F., Turner, A., Williams, M., (eds), Studies in the History of Scientific Instruments, Rogers Turner Books, London, 1989
King, H., C., The History of the Telescope, Dover Publications, New York, 1955
McConnell, A., Instrument Makers to the World: a History of Cooke, Troughton and Simms, William Sessions, York, England, 1992

The theodolite was purchased by George Davison around 1927 for 220 pounds. This is assumed from the catalogue still in the leather carry bag; it has the model marked and the price written in pencil next to it. He used the theodolite for the rest of his surveying career, which finished in 1976.

Theodolite, with case and carry bag, brass / glass / wood / leather, made by Cooke, Troughton and Simms, York, England, c. 1925, used by surveyor George Davison, Australia, c. 1925-1976

This is a 4.5 inch vernier theodolite by Cooke Troughton and Simms. It is made of brass and has a black painted surface which is well worn with use, especially where the lid of the box meets parts of the theodolite. There are several unpainted knobs. It is complete with its major components and box. The box also contains accessories including a plumb bob and spanner. The box has a hinged lid, a lock, and catches to hold the lid shut. The rectangular leather carry bag is well worn and shows signs of water damage. The theodolite box fits inside it for transportation.

Made: Cooke Troughten and Simms; York, England; 1915 - 1925

Used: Davison, George; New South Wales; 1927 - 1976

The theodolite has the Serial No 17449 stamped on it.
'Cooke, Troughton and Simms, Makers of Surveying and Drawing Instruments, London, York and Capetown' is written on an oval plaque inside the lid.
There is a paper sticker for 'Precision Instrument Company, 26 Hunter Street Sydney'.

2008/9/1

1915 - 1925

200 mm

480 mm

200 mm