The Rev Fearon Fallows, M.A., Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, was appointed to the office of astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope, by the Admiralty minute of the 26th of October, 1820.

Mr Fayrer was appointed first assistant to Mr Fallows in the following month. The general plan of the observatory was settled about the same time by Mr Fallows and Mr Rennie (whom the Admiralty had consulted in the quality of engineer). The oversights committed on that occasion will be referred to presently.

On the 5th of February, 1821, Dr Young transmitted to Mr Barrow the draft of instructions for the astronomer at the Cape observatory, which (as was stated in the letter) had been drawn up by the committee of the Board of Longitude appointed for the purpose. They are as follows:

Instructions for the astronomer at the Cape observatory.

1. In the choice of the situation for the observatory, he is to bear in mind the necessity of avoiding the sandy dust which pervades many parts of the colony; and the advantage of having a bright star within a minute or two of the zenith, if possible.
   
   
2. Before the completion of the observatory, he is to employ himself in making an approximate catalogue of the southern stars with the portable transit instrument and equatorial, which have been provided for him; and to take measures for determining the latitude of La Caille's observatory.
   
   
3. When the observatory is completed, and the instruments are fixed, he is to make his observations as much as possible of the same kind and in the same manner as the Greenwich observations have been usually made; to employ the same stars where it can be done conveniently; and to draw up the register in the same form; in order that the whole may constitute two corresponding series, capable of comparison in all their parts.
   
   
4. He is to pay particular attention to the re-discovery of the comet of 1819, according to the places calculated by Professor Encke for 1822.
   
   
5. He is to neglect no opportunity of making any observations capable of improving the theory of refraction.
   
   
6. He is to send to the secretary of the Board of Longitude every six months, a correct copy of all his observations prepared for publication. [In order that the same may be transmitted to our secretary.]

The Board of Admiralty approved of these instructions, and directed that they should be sent, with the addition of the last clause, to Mr Fallows.

At a meeting of the Board of Longitude on the 1st of February 1821, "Mr Rennie's sketch of the observatory at the Cape was approved, and it was resolved that he should be desired to prepare a plan in detail."

The Board of Admiralty gave instructions through the Navy Board, to take proper steps for building the observatory, but to delay active measures until the site should be selected and approved.

On the 1st of January, 1821, Mr Fallows married Miss Mary Anne Hervey, eldest daughter of the Rev H A Hervey, vicar of Bridekirk, and embarked with her, and his assistant Mr Fayrer, in the Sappho, troop-ship, on the 4th of May following. [The Admiralty order for embarkation on board the Sappho, is dated April 7, 1821.] Dr Andrew Smith, the well-known naturalist, was also a passenger on board the Sappho, which vessel arrived at the Cape on the 12th of August.

Shortly after his arrival, Mr Fallows proceeded to carry out his instructions. He rented the house No. 14, Kloof-street, of Mr Arend Josias van Breda, and erected a temporary wooden observatory in the garden attached to it. The observatory was formed out of one of the huts of the settlers of 1820: the letter applying for the hut is dated September 29, 1821. In the middle of May, 1822, he removed with his observatory to a house near Concordia Gardens, belonging to Mr Muller, now the property of Mr Philip Stigant. [Here he was close to the spot where Messrs Mason and Dixon, and afterwards Messrs Wales and Bayley, the astronomers who accompanied Captain Cook on the two voyages when that distinguished navigator touched at the Cape, made their observations.] His instruments consisted of the 20-inch transit instrument before mentioned, an altitude and azimuth circle (supposed to have been the first circular instrument armed with micrometer microscopes that the celebrated instrument-maker, Ramsden, constructed), and an old clock, No 159, by Robert Molyneux. With these instruments he constructed the catalogue of two hundred and seventy-three southern stars, published in the philosophical transactions of the year 1824.

[In connection with this catalogue, the circumstances of the instruments in September, 1860, may be noted. The 20-inch transit-instrument is in the store-room of the Royal Observatory, after having done good service on the Zwartland base-line in the year's 1840-1841. The altitude and azimuth instrument, which was a rickety affair, its telescope about a foot in length only, was sent to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, about the year 1848, and from the latter was handed over to the Greenwich naval schools. The clock, which, by letter dated December 12, 1821, Mr Fallows complained of, and requested a better one, was placed in the hands of Mr Dredge, a watchmaker of Cape Town, without avail. In the year 1834, its gridiron pendulum was replaced by a mercurial pendulum, still without avail. In April, 1860, Mr Spolander fitted it for carrying an electric pendulum, and substituted a "pin-wheel escapement" for the "dead-beat" escapement. Thus armed, it is mounted in the equatorial-room, ninety yards from the transit-clock, beating in coincidence with the latter, under the lash of a galvanic battery, as a punishment on the one hand, and requital on the other, for thirty-nine years of bad conduct at the Cape.]

The personal assistance available to Mr Fallows in his astronomical labours while he resided in Cape Town was as follows:

Shortly after taking up his abode in Kloof-street, he appointed the Rev Mr Scully to the office of second assistant, which appointment the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty confirmed under date April 8, 1822;, stating that Mr Scully's salary would be £100 per annum, under the head Labourer, in conformity with his Majesty's order in council, "provided he be a person in all respects fit for the situation."

Relative qualifications for astronomical pursuits in connection with collateral circumstances soon rendered it necessary that the first and second assistants should change places. In May, 1822, by an understood arrangement, the first assistant resigned, and Mr Scully succeeded him, he taking the office of second assistant or labourer. This arrangement was sanctioned by their lordships on the 20th of November, 1822.

On the 17th July, 1824, it became the imperative duty of Mr Fallows to dismiss Mr Scully, which their lordships confirmed on the 5th of October following, and informed Mr Fallows that an assistant-astronomer would be sent to him from England. Accordingly they appointed Captain Ronald on the 1st of December, 1824; but that gentleman did not reach the Cape until the latter end of 1826. Thus it appears that during the first three years Mr Fallows had only one assistant who could make astronomical observations, and no such qualified assistant during the two years following.

But observations with such instruments were secondary in importance to the first duty of his mission, namely, the selection of a proper site for and the erection of the Royal Observatory: accordingly, he commenced the search immediately after he landed at the Cape, referring to the Cape Survey Department for the necessary information respecting unappropriated land. He visited Blaauwberg, Tigerberg, the Lion's Rump, and other prominent undulations, keeping in mind the first article of his instructions. His choice was in favour of Tigerberg, which he mentioned in a general report to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, of which there is no copy in the records at the Observatory; but its contents may be gathered from a minute of the Board of Longitude, a copy of which, signed by Dr Young, was transmitted to Mr Fallows by the secretary of the Admiralty, and is as follows:

At a meeting held at the Admiralty, 3rd January, 1822, Mr Fallows' report to the Admiralty of his proceedings at the Cape of Good Hope was laid before the committee, and it was agreed, -

1. That as far as can be judged by persons unacquainted with the country, the situation of Tiger Hill appears the best adapted for the building of an observatory; and that it be recommended to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to afford him such means as he may find necessary for diminishing the economical inconveniences of that situation.
   
   
2. That the re-measurement of La Caille's arc, with the objections which Mr Fallows has pointed out to the accuracy of the direction of the plumb-line at its extremities, does not appear to the committee to be particularly desirable at present: and that the instruments required for conducting the operation with perfect accuracy could probably not be completed in less than four or five months at least; but that at a future time it would be highly desirable that a more extended arc of the meridian should be measured near the Cape; and they beg leave to suggest that if the Board of Longitude at large concur in this opinion, a zenith-sector and a theodolite, with proper chains and other apparatus for measuring a base, should be added to the list of instruments already ordered.
   
   
3. Mr Fallows being in want of a good reflecting telescope, Captain Kater is requested to make inquiry respecting one which is said to be in the possession of Sir Henry Englefield, and which may probably be obtained. It was also resolved that inquiry be made respecting a telescope of Sir Wm Herschel, belonging to the observatory at Glasgow.

A few weeks after the report had been forwarded to England, the late Deputy Surveyor-General, Mr Hertzog, accompanied Mr Fallows to Tigerberg, as Government surveyor, for the purpose of having the site pointed out to him. He explained to Mr Fallows the climatic circumstance of the locality, of which the latter had no knowledge, and the self-evident difficulties that would surround a residence there; and on learning the conditions required, he offered to show him a piece of Government-ground within four miles of Cape Town, which was perfectly free from drifting-sand. On their way back they struck out of the wagon-track, and stopped at the present site of the Observatory.

On the 8th of March, 1822, Mr Fallows wrote to the Admiralty, intimating his positive abandonment of Tigerberg, and that he had fixed on a spot between Liesbeek River and Zwarte River. There is no copy of this letter at the Observatory: the originals in reply exist, and are as follows:

Admiralty Office, 6th July, 1822.

Rev Fearon Fallows, Cape of Good Hope.

Sir, - I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to send you herewith a copy of a letter from Dr Young, secretary to the Board of Longitude, communicating to their lordships the approbation of that board of your reasons for abandoning your intention of fixing the observatory to be erected at the Cape of Good Hope on Tiger Hill; also, that such of the instruments mentioned in your letter of the 21st of March as are considered by the board to be absolutely and immediately necessary have been ordered.

I am, &c.,

John Barrow.

Report of the Board of Longitude.

Admiralty, 4th July, 1822.

J W Croker, Esq.

Sir, - I am directed to inform you with reference to Mr Fallows' letter of the 8th of March last, addressed to Mr Barrow, that the committee of the Board of Longitude has agreed, at a meeting held this day, to approve entirely of Mr Fallows' reasons for abandoning his former intention of fixing on Tiger Hill for the site of the observatory to be erected at the Cape, in favour of a spot more exempt from the inconvenience of fogs and less remote from town.

With respect to Mr Fallows' letter of 21st March, I have ordered such of the instruments mentioned by Mr Fallows as the committee has thought absolutely and immediately necessary; and the rest remain still under their consideration.

I have, &c.,

Thos. Young, M.D., Secretary to the Board of Longitude.

The site having been approved of by their lordships, the following warrant was issued "by the Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy:"

To the respective Officers of his Majesty's Yard, Cape of Good Hope.

With reference to our letter of the 29th of March, 1821, to Commissioner Sir Jazzael Brenton, for suspending the building of an observatory at the Cape of Good Hope until a site should have been fixed on by the astronomer, we acquaint you that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have signified to us, by Mr Barrow's letter of the 13th instant, that the situation being now determined on, the observatory is to be built by contract, if a contractor can be found at the Cape who is equal to the undertaking, or at any rate as economically as is consistent with the substantial execution of the works, and we direct and require you to act accordingly; observing that plans in detail for your guidance in the execution of the work are now preparing, and will be sent to you when completed.

For which this shall be your warrant. Dated at the Navy Office, 21st November, 1822.

R Seppings.
H Legge.
R G Middleton.

Thus far, things had gone on with fair speed. The Secretary of State for the Colonial Department had instructed the Governor of the Cape to allot a suitable piece of ground for the Observatory, at the expense of the Colonial Government, in such a situation as the astronomer might think fit and eligible. The situation had been selected, and a warrant to proceed with the building had been sent out, and the promised plans were daily expected from England.

In April, 1824, his Excellency the Governor was requested to grant the land. On the 24th of that month Mr Fallows was informed by Colonel Bird that the Government surveyor, Mr Knobel, had been desired to go with Mr Fallows to measure off what was wanted. On the 15th of October, 1824, Mr Fallows received the following communication from the Colonial Office:

Colonial Office, October 12, 1824.

Rev Mr Fallows, &c., &c., &c.

Sir, - I am directed by his Excellency the Governor to acquaint you that the landdrost of the Cape district has reported to him that the ground you have fixed upon for the erection of the Royal Observatory is, for the greater part, the private property of Mr C Mostert, and therefore not at the disposal of Government, unless Government cedes to the proprietor other land rent free, by which the revenue will suffer a loss of eighty rixdollars per annum; and I am to request that you will be pleased to state to me, for his Excellency's information, whether you consider the spot in question the only eligible one for the object you have in view.

I have, &c..,

P G Brink.

To this broadside in defence of the colonial chest Mr Fallows sent the following reply:

Cape Town, October 16, 1824.

P G Brink, Esq.

Sir, - I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 12th instant, and in answer beg to state that the ground in question was fixed upon by me upwards of two years ago as the most eligible site for the erection of the Royal Observatory. Every other spot which I visited had some local disadvantages attending it. The site thus fixed upon as the most eligible was reported as such to the Admiralty, and approved of, and, in consequence, orders have been received by the Naval Officer at Simon's Town, pursuant to his Majesty's Orders in Council, to further the erection of the building on the arrival of the plans.

I should feel highly gratified if his Excellency will have the goodness to order some arrangement to be made with the owner of the site, to prevent delay when the plans come to hand.

I have, &c.,

Fearon Fallows.

Accordingly, the arrangement was made, as appears by the following letter; not, however, without another effort in favour of the revenue:

Colonial Office, October 26, 1824.

Rev F Fallows.

Sir, - I am directed by his Excellency the Governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 12th [16th?] instant, on the subject of the ground you have fixed upon in the Cape district, for the erection of the Royal Observatory, and to acquaint you, in reply, that as you state that the spot you have selected is the most eligible one for the purpose for which it is intended, his Excellency has given instructions to Mr Stoll to carry the proposed arrangement into effect.

I have, &c.,

P G Brink.

It may be proper to explain that when Mr Hertzog led Mr Fallows to the place which was adopted, he was under the impression that the whole of the north-end of the ridge and nearly the whole of the swampy delta defined by the Liesbeek and Zwart Rivers was Government, namely, unappropriated ground. On investigation, however, all on the ridge was claimed by Mr Mostert, excepting a lozenge-shaped area of about two and three quarter acres on the north face of the ridge. M van Schoor moreover supposed he had a lien about the north face of the ridge, exclusive of a piece in the low delta, termed "Vanschoor's Quitrent." The surveys and examination of titles, set on foot by Mr Fallows, then and afterwards led to a ludicrous discovery. Van Schoor's homestall was found to be Government-ground, and he was threatened with ejectment if he refused to compromise by exchanging for the quitrent piece. He agreed to do so, asserting that he was robbed by the Observatory. The fact was, he had purchased the homestall from one who had no right to sell it.

Mr Fallows is an example, and, in this country, happily, not a solitary example, of the influence which talents and character may have on the fortunes of an individual, under circumstances apparently the most untoward. He was born, July 4, 1789, at Cockermouth, in the county of Cumberland, and his early years were spent in following his father's occupation, that of a weaver, with no further time or opportunity for education than could be afforded by the ordinary intervals of labour. Fortunately, his father was himself a man of considerable information and studious habits, and devoted these leisure moments to the education of his child, who thus became early acquainted with the principles of arithmetic and geometry, subjects in which he chiefly delighted. When a mere boy, a mathematical book was his constant companion at the loom; and this taste was encouraged by the kindness of many persons in the vicinity, who supplied him with books, and with such assistance in his studies as they were competent to give. His father having become parish clerk at the neighbouring church of Bridekirk, the extraordinary acquirements of the young mathematician became known to the Rev Mr Hervey, vicar of that parish; and by the advice and recommendation of this gentleman, Mr Fallows was engaged as an assistant by Mr Temple, at that time headmaster of Plumbland school. On the death of Mr Temple in 1808, Mr Hervey further exerted himself to obtain for Mr Fallows the patronage of some gentlemen of fortune and interest, in order that he might be enabled to go to the university. In this purpose he was successful; and in 1809, Mr Fallows commenced residence as a student of St John's College, Cambridge.

Whatever difficulties might have previously embarrassed Mr Fallows' career were now dissipated. At St John's, honourably distinguished (perhaps above all other colleges) for attention to the education and interests of unfriended merit, he found every assistance which could be desired, - kind friends, most able instructors, and an unlimited power of consulting books. His progress was, accordingly, rapid and successful, though directed, as was to be expected, in the line of the older English geometers, with whom he was already familiar, rather than according to that of the continental mathematicians. In 1813, he proceeded bachelor of arts, and was third, Sir John Herschel being senior wrangler.

Shortly after taking his degree, as there was no fellowship open at St John's to which Mr Fallows was eligible, he removed to Benet College, as mathematical lecturer; but was gladly recalled to his own college in 1815, when a fellowship became vacant. Here he resided for some years; and when his Majesty's Government had resolved upon establishing an Observatory of the highest class at the Cape of Good Hope, Mr Fallows was selected as the person best qualified to direct the future establishment.

The few months which intervened between the time of his appointment and his removal to the Cape, were spent by Mr Fallows in the public and private observatories of this country, in the workshops of our most celebrated artists, in the calculation of special tables, and in devising the best and simplest means of making, registering, and reducing, astronomical observations.

On the 1st January 1821, he married Miss Mary Anne Hervey, eldest daughter of the Rev H A Hervey, vicar of Bridekirk, and embarked on the 4th of May following. Mr Fallows arrived at the Cape on the 12th of August, 1821.

His first undertaking was an approximate catalogue of 275 principal stars, published in the Phil. Trans. 1824. From his account of the instruments employed, it will be seen that they were of a very humble description, viz., a portable transit of only twenty inches focal length, and a very indifferent altitude and azimuth instrument by Ramsden, ill divided, and unstable in its adjustments, being indeed originally constructed as an equatorial. It is probable that the length of time which must necessarily elapse between the design and completion of a first-rate Observatory, in a foreign station, was not fully taken into account, either by the Government or the astronomer; otherwise the temporary instruments would, doubtless, have been of a very different class. The plan of the Observatory was received by Mr Fallows in the latter part of 1825, and he immediately proceeded to carry it into effect. A site was selected about three miles from Cape Town, and Mr Fallows lived in a tent on the spot, to determine the lines of the building, and to superintend the workmen. The foundations were dug out before the clerk of the works arrived to relieve him from this task.

In the beginning of 1829, the transit and mural circle were fixed in their places, and we might now have anticipated a season of enjoyment for the Cape Astronomer; but, from some cause hitherto unexplained, the circle, to which he had looked forward with pride and exultation, proved for a long time a source of bitter uneasiness. Some part of this must, doubtless, be attributed to the shattered state of the observer's health; but the fact, that "the index error of two opposite microscopes was ever variable in different parts of the instrument, while with three microscopes, at 120° distance from each other, or with the whole six the index error was nearly constant," was sufficiently startling to harass a person of less sanguine and zealous temper, Finally, Mr Fallows was of opinion that some permanent injury had been received by the circle and axis, from a fall which the package received whilst it was being removed from the hold of the ship at the time of landing; but that the mean of the six microscopes might be fully depended upon; since high and low stars, when observed directly and by reflection, gave the same position of the horizontal point. Before he had come to this conclusion, which seems to have been some time in the middle of 1830, sickness deprived him of the services of his assistant, Captain Ronald; and Mr Fallows was left, unaided, to do the best he might with a transit and mural circle. He was relieved from this difficulty by the affection and intelligence of Mrs Fallows, who offered to undertake the circle observations while he was engaged with the transit. A very little instruction sufficed to render her perfectly competent for this task; and the Cape astronomer had, like Hevelius, the pleasure of finding his best assistant in the partner of his affections. Some of his letters, written at this time, express a strong hope and confidence that he should at length be able to justify the high expectations which had been formed of the Observatory, and that his work would bear a comparison in accuracy, though not in extent, with that of any other establishment.

But the labours of the Observatory were too much for a constitution already much enfeebled by previous illness. He had suffered very severely from a coup de soleil soon after his arrival at the Cape, while fixing the small transit; and beside some less serious complaints, experienced a dangerous attack of scarlet fever in the summer of 1830, from which he seems never to have fully recovered. In the beginning of 1831, his health was visibly impaired, but he could not be induced to leave the Observatory before the equinox. Towards the end of March, he became incapable of struggling any longer with the disease, and went to Simon's Town; but it was now too late, and he breathed his last on the 25th July, 1831, in the forty-third year of his age.

To those who were acquainted with Mr Fallows, it is unnecessary to dwell upon the integrity and simplicity of his character, or the depth and clearness of his understanding. As an astronomer, he had few rivals. Perfectly acquainted with the practical and scientific departments of astronomy, he carried into the Observatory the same straightforward zeal and honesty which were the distinctive features of his private character; and if his life had been spared, would unquestionably have realised the most sanguine expectations of his friends and admirers.

Mr Fallows did not leave his observations completely prepared for publication, but so nearly so as to require very little additional labour. His wish was to have had them printed under his own eye, after they had been examined and approved of by competent judges in England; for which purpose, examined copies were transmitted by him to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. They consist of about three thousand transit, and several hundred circle observations, with six microscopes, and some series with the invariable pendulum. The instrumental errors are ascertained, and the current reductions computed; so that there will be no difficulty in presenting the results, though not perhaps in the independent manner proposed by the observer. It is to be hoped that these observations and reductions will be speedily published, by the order of the founders and patrons of the Cape Observatory; and we are confident, that they will be found every way worthy of Mr Fallows, and of the country which committed that important and magnificent establishment to his charge.

But though the loss inflicted upon science is thus severe, your Council are happy to state, that the Government has not at all relaxed its zeal for the Cape Observatory. An assistant, Mr Meadows, was despatched to aid Mr Fallows, shortly before his decease: since that time, Mr Thomas Henderson (a gentleman known to you all, as one of the most active and enlightened cultivators of astronomy in this country, and one to whom this Society has, upon many occasions, thankfully acknowledged its obligations) has been appointed his Majesty's Astronomer at the Cape. That this gentleman, treading in his predecessor's path, and with better health, and under better auspices, may reap the rich harvest which Mr Fallows could only commence, is the confident wish and hope of those by whom his merit, zeal, and modesty, are appreciated.

In a Letter addressed to John Barrow, Esq. F.R.S.

Read February 28, 1822.

Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope,
December 13, 1821.

Dear Sir,

I take the earliest opportunity of communicating curious appearance which I lately observed. My present means of making observations indeed very limited, as the large telescopes, Cape Observatory, have not yet arrived. Still, however, it is right to have phenomena of this kind recorded, though the description may, from the want of proper instruments, be imperfect.

About eight o'clock in the evening of the 28th of November last, the sky being extremely clear, and the moon shining with a brilliancy which I never observed in England, my attention was drawn to a whitish spot on the dark part of the moon's limb, sufficiently luminous to be seen with the naked eye. Lest I might be mistaken, I requested Mr Fayrer, the assistant astronomer, to look at the moon attentively, and inform me whether he could observe any bright appearance upon the dark part of it. We both agreed in the identity of the spot, and remarked that now and then it seemed to flash with considerable lustre. Mr Fayrer having in his possession a good achromatic telescope, which Mr Troughton had given him previous to our departure from England, I requested the loan of it for a few nights, so that I might be able to examine this appearance more minutely. Having directed the telescope to the moon, I immediately recognised the luminous spot, which seemed like a star of the sixth magnitude, and three others much smaller, but one of these more brilliant than the one we had seen with the naked eye. The largest spot was surrounded by a nebulous appearance. I could not perceive any thing of the kind about the small brilliant spot. The two others were similar to faint nebulae, increasing in intensity towards the middle, but without any defined luminous point. As I am not yet in possession of a micrometer, by means of which the situation of these spots might be ascertained, you must rest satisfied with this imperfect description. On the evening of the 29th, the sky being equally favourable for observation as on the former one, I found that the large spot was, at the least, as bright as before, two others were nearly invisible, and the small brilliant spot had disappeared. I was unable to make any farther observations, as a strong south-east wind began to blow with great violence on the 30th, accompanied with rain, and which lasted several days. I wait with great anxiety for the next new moon, when, if the sky be clear, I shall not fail to examine it as carefully as my means at present will permit.

The telescope which I used is 4 feet long, and at the time of observation its magnifying power was 100.

I remain, Dear Sir,
very truly yours,
Fearon Fallows