George Lyon Tupman
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Lieutenant Colonel George Lyon Tupman FRAS |
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| Born |
7 September 1838 Boulogne, France |
| Died | 3 November 1922 (aged 84) |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Royal Naval School, New Cross |
| Known for | Astronomy, particularly the 1874 Transit of Venus Expedition to Hawaii and measuring the velocity of meteors |
| Spouse(s) | Rebecca Gumbes Wetherill (married 1876) |
George Lyon Tupman FRAS (7 September 1838 – 3 November 1922) was the Chief Astronomer for the British astronomical expedition to Hawaii to observe the 1874 transit of Venus.
George, the eldest son of George Tupman (1785–1847) and Elizabeth Emerson, was born at Boulogne-sur-Mer on 7 September 1838 and was educated for eight and a half years at the Royal Naval School, where he showed an interest in mathematical and scientific subjects.
As an officer in the Royal Marine Artillery he served on H.M.S. Sidon at Rio and at the Cape and on H.M.S. Forte at Montevideo, then on H.M.S. Prince Consort in the Mediterranean. He kept an album from the 1850s, which includes his watercolour sketches of ships he sailed on and places he visited, that has been digitised.
Tupman was particularly interested in astronomy, and was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society from May 1863. Whilst in the Mediterranean between 1869 and 1871 he observed about 300 meteor trails. He was one of the first people to make estimates of the velocity of meteors.
In 1872, on his return from sea, Tupman was assigned to assist with the British expeditions to observe the 1874 Transit of Venus, soon being appointed as head instructor. The Transit Expedition project was overseen by George Biddell Airy, but historian Jessica Ratcliff notes that Tupman was 'manager, observer and calculator' and that his involvement 'went deeper than Airy's.' Tupman oversaw recruitment and training of the team of observers (including with the use of a clockwork model), and organised the equipment and transport for all five official British expeditions. These were to Egypt, the Sandwich Islands, Rodriguez Island, New Zealand and Kerguelen Island. He went as chief astronomer on the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands expedition and observed the transit of Venus from the main station at Honolulu, as well as making many observations to determine longitude.
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