BARLOW, Peter.- APPOINTMENT.- MILITARY ACADEMY WOOLWICH.- VELLUM DIPLOMA.- 1806.- - Part of the engraved and manuscript text of the diploma reads: 'Francis Earl of Moira / One of His Majesty's Honorary Privy Council, / Constable of His Majesty's Tower of London, ...Master General of the Ordnance./ [In manuscript:] Dr. Peter Barlow / [Engraved text:] By Virtue of the Authority to me ... I do herbey nominate, constitute and appoint you / the said [in manuscript:] Peter Barlow to be Fifth Mathematical Assistant in the Establishment of the Royal / Military Academy at Woolwich / [engraved text:] and to continue in the said Office so long as for the Master General for the time being shall think proper... And for your Care and Diligence to be taken herein you are to have and receive the Allowance of [in manuscript:] One Hundred Pounds per Annum ...[paid by the treasury from the first Day of October 1806]. Dated in manuscript 'First Day of November 1806'. Signed Major General of Ordnance [in manuscript:] 'Cha: Pruitte'[?]. 'Entered in the office of Ordnance 3. November 1806

Woolwich, Engraved secretarial document, secretarial and autograph writing, 1806. Folio oblong vellum diploma, meas. 29.5 x 38 cm, 3 folds into 15 x 10 cm. 19 lines of engraving, the [8] blanks filled out in manuscript. Dates and signatures in ink, see note below. Paper and lacquer seal top left recto side, diameter appr. 65 mm, 2 rectangular paper tax seals on blue paper at lower left corner of recto side, meas. 94 x 40 mm. Some contemp. annotations in ink on verso appointment 'Stamp 8 /, Fee [?] 4 / £ 12/. Idem on verso a small 24 x 22 mm paper tax [?] stamp w. crowned monogram above which '59 .. 6' & 'G R'. [Presumably HRH George III]. Official appointment of Peter Barlow to be 5th mathematical assistant at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, in the year the Academy moved out of the Arsenal [known as the 'Warren'] to the site facing the Royal Artillery Barracks, at the Southern Edge of Woolwich Common. Construction of the new buildings, designed by the Board of Ordnance architect James Wyatt, took place between 1796 and 1805, opening in 1806. The origins of the Academy lie in the Royal Arsenal where the Ordnance Board set up a center of education and training in 1720 for prospective officers of the Regiment of Artillery and Corps of Engineers, the Academy opened in 1741, the education focused on mathematics and the scientific principles of gunnery and fortification, but also taught practical gunnery, bridge-building, magazine technique and artillery work. Teaching in the Academy was provided by civilians, among these Peter Barlow. A First Master [later called Professor of Fortification and Gunnery], a Second Master [later Professor of Mathematics] and additional tutors in French, Arithmetic, Classics and Drawing. The Royal Academy became Royal Military Academy in 1764. A relocation to Woolwich Commons followed in 1806. During the 19th century a gradual shift occurred from a military institute towards an Academy run like a British Public School. Students from well to do families, no longer strictly from a military background, were taught mathematics, land-surveying, mapping, fortification, engineering, the use of muskets and swords, artillery training. In the early 20th century a merger was proposed between the Royal Military Academy Woolwich and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. Unfortunately the Second World War saw the closure of the Woolwich Military Academy. In 1947 the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst was formed on its former site. Part of 'Woolwich Garrison' the site was declared 'surplus to requirements' and sold to Durkan Group for redevelopment into houses and apartments, ending a glorious and important period of British military-training history. Well-known members of the teaching staff: Peter Barlow, John Bonnycastle, Samuel Hunter Christie, Michael Farraday, James Marsh, William Rutherford. Peter Barlow held his post from 1801 to 1847, being appointed Assistant Mathematics master in 1801 and the 5th Mathematics Assistant in1806. DSB vol. I, pp. 459 - 460 [article by Harold I. Sharlin]: Peter Barlow [1776 - 1862], English mathematician and physicist. 'Although he was self-educated, Barlow succesfully competed for the position of assistant mathematics master at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1801, Mathematical assistant in 1806 [the above Diploma!]. While there he wrote mathematical articles... he also published 'An elementary Investigation of the Theory of Numbers' [1811], 'A New Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary' [1814], and 'New Mathematical Tables' [1814], later known as 'Barlow's Tables'. ... Barlow's reputation was established with the publication of his 'Essay on the Strength and Stress of Timber' [1817], the result of experiments he conducted at the Woolwich dockyard and arsenal ... Barlow was made an honorary member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1820. In 1819 Barlow became interested in the compass deviation by the iron in ships. He therefore investigated the action of terrestrial magnetism and conducted a series of experiments on the interaction of iron objects and compass needles. His results, [were] published as 'Essay on Magnetic Attractions' [1820], ...for his discoveries in magnetism he was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1823 and received the Copley Medal in 1825. He also received international recognition and several awards for his contribution to navigation [2 very important international awards / honours NOT mentioned in the DSB article: His membership of the St. Petersbourg Academy of Sciences 1826 and his Foreign Honorary membership of the American Society [=Academy] of Arts and Sciences, 1832]. Barlow was also concerned with electromagnetism and unsuccessfully attempted to make an electric telegraph [the insulation failed]... Around 1827 Barlow became interested in the calculation for the curvature of achromatic object glasses, and in the course of his research he developed a telescope lens consisting of colorless liquid [= carbon disulfide] between two pieces of glass. The "Barlow lens", a modification of this telescope lens, is a negative achromatic combination of flint glass and crown glass.': His work on this achromatic lens that uses liquid carbon disulfide was executed in the years 1827 - 1832 in collaboration with the optician and instrument maker George Dolland. Book of Members American Academy of Arts and Sciences [AAAS] 1780 - 2019, Under the letter B, p. 33: 'Barlow, Peter (1776 - 1862). Election: 1832, FHM [= Foreign Honorary Member]. Affiliation at election: Royal Military Academy. Residence at election: Woolwich, England. Career description: Mathematician; Physicist; Educator.' Peter Barlow's last resting place is the Charlton cemetery in London where his headstone specifically mentions 'The Royal Academy, Woolwich', his memberships of the Institut de France, the Academy of Brussels, and St. Petersburg. The document is signed in autograph at the lower lefthand 'Cha: Pruitte [?]', [engraved manuscript:] By Command of the Earl of Moira [then Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, Earl of Moria between 1793 - 1816, Governor General of India 1813 - 1823] / Major General of the Ordnance./ [in manuscript:] 'Entered in the Office of Ordnance / 3. November 1806/ Master of ...of the Ordnance [?]' To the right a small autograph signature 'Moira' [??].

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