‘He discovered the secret of longitude, and locked it away in a pocket watch’

Does Santa rely for his navigation on the watchmaking genius of the North  Lincolnshire man who created the timepieces vital for mariners to calculate their longitude, and work out their position at sea? Who knows – but Nick Lumb, Master of Barton-based St Matthew Lodge, might have a better idea than most.

On the day of his latest Lodge meeting not only did Nick stand in for Santa to distribute presents, but also prepared a presentation as a last-minute stand-in for another brother taken ill on the day.

Nick spoke about watchmaker John Harrison, commemorated in the stamps shown above, who lived in Barrow just up the road from Barton.

Nick writes: Until the late 18^th century, navigation at sea was a risky business. Latitude was reasonably straightforward, and could be calculated with a fair degree of accuracy. Longitude however, was another matter, and was considered to be one of the ‘Four Great Secrets’ – along with eternal youth, alchemy, and perpetual motion.

 Following a naval disaster off the Scilly Isles in 1707, Parliament established a Board of Longitude to examine the problem, and offer a £20,000 prize for an accurate means of determining longitude.  

Many schemes were put forward, until it was agreed that the solution came down to two approaches – which by coincidence relied on two of the lesser Lights in Freemasonry.  The Sun to rule the day, and the Moon to govern the night.

The Lunar method. Plotting your Longitudinal position by observing the moon as it traverses the night sky.  However, this method required precision instruments, and reliable charts which plotted the moon’s elliptical orbit over eighteen years. In addition, making accurate readings was not easy on board a sailing ship, calculations could take up to four hours, and the moon was not always visible.

The Solar method was much more simple.  The world rotates once every twenty four hours, and by setting a clock to noon at your departure position and comparing this with noon at your current position it would be possible to measure the distance travelled. Each hour difference being 15 degrees longitude

Brethren will recall the following from our ritual: The Earth constantly revolving on its axis round the Sun, and Freemasonry being universally spread over its surface, it necessarily follows that the Sun is always at its meridian with respect to Freemasonry.

For this method to work however, it required an accurate clock. It had to be resistant to salt air corrosion, variations in temperature and humidity, and the chaotic angles and sudden movements experienced by a ship at sea.   Clocks at that time were notoriously unreliable, and these exacting demands caused many, including Sir Isaac Newton, to believe that such a clock could never be built.  

He didn’t reckon on John Harrison.

Born in in 1693, and a resident of Barrow Upon Humber from the age of seven, Harrison was a carpenter with no formal education. He was fascinated by clocks however, and aged 20 he built one with a virtually frictionless system using lignum vitae and oak, which required no lubrication. In 1722, he built the Turret clock at Brocklesby Park.  It has been running ever since.

Attracted by the Longitudinal prize, Harrison began working on his marine chronometer in 1728. Rather than using a pendulum it was spring-driven, and worked independently of the direction of gravity – and was therefore well suited for the demands of a sea voyage.  Thirty years and a great many modifications later, his marine chronometer passed the exacting demands of the sea trials.  The Board of Longitude however, were reluctant to award him the prize

While Harrison had been busy perfecting his chronometer, the lunar method had grown in popularity, with many eminent scientists contributing to the process. Instruments such as the quadrant, and the octant, were now in use.  Eighteen years of plotting the moon’s elliptical orbit had been mapped. Nevil Maskelyne – Astronomer Royal – had been working on tables which translated these findings into points of longitude. 

And so it was that two rival systems appeared at more or less the same time.  One was a massive combined undertaking by the finest minds in Europe and America. The other was a wind-up clock built by an uneducated village carpenter.

And there, some believe, lay a problem.

Even though Harrison had proved that his chronometer had satisfied the exacting requirements of the challenge, the Board of Longitude refused to award him the prize.  He suspected that this collection of highly-placed and well educated men simply refused to consider the possibility that a mechanical device could solve the the problem of longitude.  Harrison also suspected that his practical background and lack of formal education was another key factor in the board’s preference for an Astronomical solution.  As far as Harrison was concerned, this reluctance could be laid at the door of none other than Nevil Maskelyne –  the Astronomer Royal, and ex-officio member of the board – who fervently believed that his theory of plotting lunar and star positions would solve the longitude problem.

Angry though he was, Harrison could not possibly imagine that there would be worse to come.   Without warning, the Board insisted that he hand over all the prototypes and plans – ostensibly for testing, but also in order to allow other craftsmen to make cheaper copies.   In addition he would be required to build another timepiece from scratch, to prove that his chronometer was genuine.   This had never been part of the agreement, but faced with financial hardship Harrison had no option but to comply.  

In despair his son William petitioned King George III. On hearing the story, and of Captain Cook’s glowing endorsement of “our trusty friend the watch”, the king said “By God Harrison, I will see you righted”. 

Harrison received the remainder of the money but was never awarded the prize. A new act, and revised  criteria almost guaranteed that it could never be won.  In 1776 Harrison died aged 83, without the recognition he deserved, and the Longitudinal Prize was never awarded.

In 1920 Lt Cmdr Rupert Gould RN discovered the confiscated Harrison timepieces abandoned in a store room at Greenwich. He was so appalled by their condition that he offered to restore them in his own time without any payment.  It took him twelve years, and they are now on display for the world to see.

John Harrison was honoured with a blue plaque on his London home, a memorial stone in Westminster Abbey, and a statue in Barrow upon Humber. But this carpenter, choirmaster, musician, clockmaker, inventor, and one of the 100 Greatest Britons, was never awarded the Longitude Prize.  

NB: The majority of this work is sourced from Dava Sobel’s excellent book, “Longitude”.Any mistakes, opinions, and conclusions in this text are entirely the responsibility of the author, and the title is a quote from Astronaut Neil Armstrong.