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Authorised form of nameCreak; Ettrick William (1835 - 1920); Captain; superintendent of Compasses, Admiralty
Dates1835 - 1920
NationalityBritish
Date of birth28 May 1835
Date of death03 April 1920
OccupationSuperintendent of Compasses, Admiralty
Research fieldTerrestrial magnetism
Magnetism
ActivityCareer:
Joined the Royal Navy; undertook surveying work; Commander (by 1885); Superintendent of Compasses, Hydrographic Department, Admiralty (1887-1901); died in his sleep.
Honours:
CB 1901
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election04/06/1885
Age at election50
ProposerFrederick James Evans; George Henry Richards; Geroge Strong Nares; Charles Thomas Wyville Thomson; Edwin Dunkin; William Grylls Adams
Erasmus Ommanney; John Henry Lefroy; Charles Frederick Alexander Shadwell; John Theophilus Boileau; Henry John Reynolds Moreton, 3rd Earl of Ducie
RelationshipsParents: Commander William Creake RN of Norfolk.
Uncle: Sir H. Have-lock, of Lucknow.
Spouse: Grace Mary, daughter of W B Brodie (31October 1867).
PublishedWorksRCN 34502
RCN 34503
OtherInfoPointed out in his magnetic contributions that at certain positions in the world magnetic shoals exist which affect the compasses of vessels sailing over those shoals.
Prepared the magnetic instructions for the Antarctic expedition of 1901.
Brought out a liquid compass which became the standard instrument afloat, furnished with a special azimuth circle for use in torpedo-boats, destroyers, etc., all other compasses having failed to stand the vibration and motion and the gunfire in these vessels.
Brought out an instrument for correcting by magnets the heeling errors.
Invented the Lloyd-Creak dip and intensity apparatus, originally intended for observations afloat, which was found to be very useful on shore.
Image

Creak E W, IM Maull 000987.jpg

SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; T., T. CAPT. E. W. CREAK, C.B., F.R.S. Nature 105, 300–301 (1920) [URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/105300b0; last accessed: 03/04/2024)
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc Series A 1920 vol 97 pp xi-xvi signed by A M F
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/53198388
CodeNA6572
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
EC/1885/07Creak, Ettrick William: certificate of election to the Royal Society
AP/66/29/4Unpublished map, 'Curves of magnetic inclination or dip' by E W [Ettrick William] Creak and Henry Wilde1880
NLB/40/548Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Captain E [Ettrick] W [William] Creak FRS25 June 1909
NLB/4/109Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Commander Ettrick William Creak, Fellow of the Royal Society12 February 1890
NLB/6/395Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Captain Ettrick William Creak, R.N., Fellow of the Royal Society29 April 1892
NLB/9/354Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Captain Ettrick William Creak, Fellow of the Royal Society4 May 1894
NLB/12/232Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Mr Collings9 January 1896
NLB/9/362Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Captain Ettrick William Creak, Fellow of the Royal Society, The Admiralty, S.W.7 May 1894
NLB/12/175Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Captain Ettrick William Creak, Fellow of the Royal Society23 December 1895
NLB/12/126Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Captain Ettrick William Creak, Fellow of the Royal Society12 December 1895
NLB/12/147Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Professor Arthur Rucker, Fellow of the Royal Society18 December 1895
NLB/10/252Copy letter from Theodore E James, to Messrs Harrison & Sons1 November 1894
NLB/15/210Copy letter from an unknown correspondent, to Messrs Harrison & Sons16 July 1897
NLB/17/699Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Messrs Harrison & Sons9 December 1898
NLB/19/15Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to to Admiral Sir William James Lloyd Wharton, Fellow of the Royal Society2 June 1899
NLB/19/494Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Rear-Admiral, Sir William James Lloyd Wharton, Fellow of the Royal Society, The Admiralty, Whitehall, S.W. 16 October 1899
NLB/27/40Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Captain Ettrick William Creak, [Fellow of the Royal Society]23 June 1903
NLB/26/256Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to, Captain Ettrick William Creak, Fellow of the Royal Society, 9 Hervey Road, Blackheath, S.E.18 February 1903
NLB/26/334Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to, Captain Ettrick William Creak, Fellow of the Royal Society, 9 Hervey Road, Blackheath, S.E.3 March 1903
NLB/27/684Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Captain Ettrick William Creak, Fellow of the Royal Society13 November 1903
NLB/28/138Copy note by Robert William Frederick Harrison on the Coral Report15 January 1904
NLB/30/237Copy letter from Joseph Larmor, to Captain Ettrick William Creak, [Fellow of the Royal Society]16 February 1905
NLB/39/748Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Captain E [Ettrick] W [William] Creak, Fellow of the Royal Society5 March 1909
NLB/40/564Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Captain E [Ettrick] W [William] Creak CB, FRS28 June 1909
NLB/43/373Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Captain Ettrick William Creak, Fellow of the Royal Society19 December 1910
NLB/43/363Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Captain Ettrick William Creak, Fellow of the Royal Society 15 December 1910
NLB/45/346Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Captain E [Ettirck] W [William] Creak CB, FRS17 February 1912
NLB/58/426Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Admiral Sir [Arthur] Mostyn Field, FRS4 May 1920
RR/9/128Referee's report by Robert John Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, on a paper 'On the changes which take place in the deviations the standard compass in the iron armour-plated, iron, and composite-built ships of the Royal Navy, on a considerable change of magnetic latitude' by Ettrick William Creak13 April 1883
RR/12/213Referee's report by Ettrick William Creak, on a paper 'A magnetic survey of the British Isles for the epoch January 1, 1891' by Arthur William Rucker and Thomas Edward Thorpe22 December 1894
RR/12/299Referee's report by William Henry Mahoney Christie, on a paper 'On the magnetical results of the voyage of H. M. S. "Penguin," 1890-93' by Ettrick William Creak23 May 1895
RR/12/298Referee's report by Arthur William Rucker, on a paper 'On the magnetical results of the voyage of H. M. S. "Penguin," 1890-93' by Ettrick William Creak28 May 1895
RR/12/297Referee's report by Arthur Schuster, on a paper 'On the magnetical results of the voyage of H. M. S. "Penguin," 1890-93' by Ettrick William Creak[1895]
IM/Maull/000987Creak, Ettrick Williamnd
NLB/9/360Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Captain William James Lloyd Wharton, Fellow of the Royal Society, Hydrographer to the Admiralty, S.W.7 May 1894
RR/15/215Referee's report by Ettrick William Creak, on a paper 'Magnetic observations in Egypt, 1893-1901' by Henry George Lyons29 June 1901
NLB/35/204Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Admiral Arthur Mostyn Field, [Fellow of the Royal Society]1 May 1907
RR/12/300Second referee's report by Arthur William Rucker, on a paper 'On the magnetical results of the voyage of H. M. S. "Penguin," 1890-93' by Ettrick William Creak10 December 1895
NLB/18/818Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir Clements R Markham, Fellow of the Royal Society19 May 1899
RR/12/302Letter from Arthur William Rucker, to Herbert Rix, regarding a paper 'On the magnetical results of the voyage of H. M. S. "Penguin," 1890-93' by Ettrick William Creak20 December 1895
MDA/C/12/1/7Letter from Ettrick William Creak, 36 Kidbrooke Park Road, Blackheath, to the Secretaries of the Royal Society13 February 1895
AP/66/29/3Unpublished map, 'Curves of equal magnetic declination or variation' by E W [Ettrick William] Creak and Henry Wilde1880
PP/8/7Paper, 'On local magnetic disturbance in Islands situated far from a continent' by E W [Ettrick William] Creak1886
RR/9/127Referee's report by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, on a paper 'On the changes which take place in the deviations the standard compass in the iron armour-plated, iron, and composite-built ships of the Royal Navy, on a considerable change of magnetic latitude' by Ettrick William Creak11 April 1883
RR/12/214Detailed referee's report by Ettrick William Creak, on a paper 'A magnetic survey of the British Isles for the epoch January 1, 1891' by Arthur William Rucker and Thomas Edward Thorpe22 December 1894
RR/12/301Letter from Herbert Rix, to John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, regarding a paper 'On the magnetical results of the voyage of H. M. S. "Penguin," 1890-93' by Ettrick William Creak16 December 1895
MC/14/171Letter from [James Thomas] Walker, Kew Observatory, Richmond, to the Secretary of the Royal Society18 November 1886
MC/14Volume 14 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1885-1888
MC/19/221Letter from Ettrick [William] Creak, 9 Hervey Road, Blackheath, to [Robert William Frederick] Harrison, The Royal Society25 April 1904
MC/19Volume 19 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1904
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