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Authorised form of nameGill; Sir; David (1843 - 1914); astronomer
Dates1843 - 1914
NationalityBritish
Place of birth48 Skene Terrace, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Date of birth12 June 1843
Place of deathLondon
Date of death24/01/1914
Research fieldAstronomy
ActivityEducation:
LLD
Career:
Entered his father's business and ran it for some time; started an observatory, King's College, Aberdeen; in charge of the private observatory of James 26th Earl of Crawford (FRS 1878), Dunecht, near Aberdeen; observed the Transit of Venus at Mauritius (1874); measured the distance of Mars from the Earth from Ascension Island; Her Majesty's Astronomer, Cape of Good Hope; President, British Association (1907); died of pneumonia
Honours:
KCB 1900
Memberships:
FRAS
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election07/06/1883
RSActivityMedals and prizes:
Royal Medal 1903
RelationshipsEldest son of David Gill, watchmaker, of Aberdeen and his wife Margaret Mitchell; married Isobel, daughter of John Black of Linhead, Aberdeenshire
PublishedWorksA determination of the solar parallax from observations of Mars made at the island of Ascension in 1877; The Determination of the Earth's Distance from the Sun; an address delivered at the annual meeting of the South African Philosophical Society 30 July 1880;
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB
Mrs David Gill 'Six months in Ascension; an unscientific account of a scientific expedition' with introduction by David Gill (1878)
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc Series A 1914-1915 vol 91 pp xxvi-xlii, plate, signed by F W D
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/20436366
CodeNA6654
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
EC/1883/09Gill, Sir David: certificate of election to the Royal Society
MM/12/109Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to Warren de la Rue6 June 1880
MM/12/96Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to Warren de la Rue2 April 1880
MM/12/99Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to Warren de la Rue22 March 1880
MM/12/122Copy of letter from Warren de la Rue, 73 Portland Place, to David Gill5 July 1880
MM/12/112Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to G B Airy6 June 1880
MM/12/104Copy of a letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to G B Airy18 May 1880
MM/12/128Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to William Huggins9 August 1880
MM/12/92Extract from the Cape Observatory estimates for the financial year 1881-2, by David Gill1882
MM/12/107'Notes on proposed Equatorial for the Cape', by David Gill24 May 1880
MM/12/103Copy of a letter from G B Airy, Greenwich, to David Gill19 April 1880
MM/12/129Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to the Admiralty9 August 1880
MM/12/110Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to Warren de la Rue6 June 1880
MM/12/97Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to Warren de la Rue10 February 1880
MM/12/94Fair copy of a Memorandum on the Cape Telescope, by David Gill8 August 1880
MM/12/93Memorandum on the Cape Telescope, by David Gill1880
MM/12/105Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to Warren de la Rue18 May 1880
MM/12/127Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to Warren de la Rue6 August 1880
MM/12/108Letter from AW Ackermann, Cape Town, to David Gill24 May 1880
MM/12/106Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to Warren de la Rue24 May 1880
IM/001655Gill, Sir David2002
IM/Maull/001656Gill, Sir Davidnd
IM/Maull/001657Gill, Sir Davidnd
NLB/41/23Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society27 September 1909
NLB/1/636Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Dr David Gill17 October 1887
NLB/1/662Copy letter from Michael Foster, to W J Woods, Elmhurst, Holly Park, Crouch Hill, N.27 October 1887
NLB/7/702Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Dr David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society 12 April 1893
NLB/5/1113Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to [William Thomson] President of the Royal Society5 January 1892
NLB/19/691Copy letter from an unknown correspondent to Dr David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society24 November 1899
NLB/13/215Copy letter from Michael Foster, to Dr [David] Gill, [Fellow of the Royal Society] [July 1896]
NLB/13/122Copy letter from Michael Foster, to the Agent General for Cape Colony19 June 1896
NLB/13/240Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr David Gill, [Fellow of the Royal Society], 6 Boulevard du Chateau, Paris 8 July 1896
NLB/13/623Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society20 October 1896
NLB/23/2/391Copy letter from Joseph Larmor, to General The Right Honorable Sir Dighton Probyn5 November 1903
NLB/14/629Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society12 April 1897
NLB/15/493Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society31 October 1897
NLB/20/597Copy letter from Theodore E James, to Messrs Harrison & Sons29 May 1900
NLB/20/562Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr David Gill, William Henry Mahoney Christie, and Sir C Wilson21 May 1900
NLB/20/287Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr David Gill, [Fellow of the Royal Society]13 March 1900
NLB/19/704Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society 27 November 1899
NLB/20/729Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr Thomas Edward Thorpe, Foreign Secretary, Royal Society26 June 1900
NLB/21/316Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society29 October 1900
NLB/23/2/396Copy letter from Joseph Larmor, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society12 November 1903
NLB/23/1/292Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society22 October 1901
NLB/27/541Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society, His Majesty's Astronomer, Cape of Good Hope19 October 1903
NLB/29/92Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society4 July 1904
NLB/29/212Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society2 August 1904
NLB/28/542Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society26 March 1904
NLB/30/804Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society25 May 1905
NLB/34/366Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society10 January 1907
NLB/28/713Copy letter from Joseph Larmor, to David Gill, [Fellow of the Royal Society]5 May 1904
NLB/34/144Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society5 December 1906
NLB/32/871Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir George Darwin, Fellow of the Royal Society, Cambridge8 June 1906
NLB/39/558Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir D [David] Gill, KCB, Fellow of the Royal Society5 January 1909
NLB/40/807Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill KCB, FRS 30 August 1909
NLB/36/753Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society11 December 1907
NLB/34/867Copy letter from Alfred Bray Kempe, to David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society20 March 1907
NLB/39/213Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill, KCB, Fellow of the Royal Society12 December 1908
NLB/39/194Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill, KCB, Fellow of the Royal Society9 December 1908
NLB/39/384Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill, KCB, Fellow of the Royal Society13 January 1909
NLB/44/430Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir D [David] Gill KCB, FRS11 July 1911
NLB/39/801Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Dr R [Richard] T [Tetley] Glazebrook, Fellow of the Royal Society19 March 1909
NLB/38/691Copy letter from Joseph Larmor and Archibald Geikie, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society22 October 1908
NLB/40/437Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill KCB, FRS8 June 1909
NLB/43/558Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society10 February 1911
NLB/41/37Copy letter from Joseph Larmor, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society29 September 1909
NLB/42/502Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill KCB, FRS22 June 1910
NLB/48/22Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society28 April 1913
NLB/42/790Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir D [David] Gill KCB, FRS12 October 1910
NLB/44/661Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill KCB, FRS 11 October 1911
NLB/43/44/6Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society27 October 1910
NLB/44/368Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill KCB, FRS29 June 1911
NLB/46/30Copy letter from Joseph Larmor, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society23 May 1912
NLB/44/523Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill KCB, FRS 27 July 1911
NLB/45/561Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill, KCB, FRS26 March 1912
NLB/47/259Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill, KCB, FRS4 January 1913
NLB/48/268Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society7 June 1913
NLB/47/283 Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill, KCB, FRS9 January 1913
NLB/47/556Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill KCB, FRS22 February 1913
RR/18/165Referee's report by David Gill, on a paper 'Pendulum clocks and their errors' by Henry Reginald Arnulph MallockJuly 1911
NLB/57/372Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to the Secretary, Royal Geographic Society27 October 1919
MS/427/374Copy letter from [Michael] Foster, Secretary of the Royal Society; to the Secretary of the Treasury8 July 1884
MS/427/375Copy letter from [Michael] Foster, Secretary of the Royal Society; to M. le General Banez, Presidient du Comité international des poids et mesures, and to le Prof. [Adolph] Hirsch, Director of the Observatory 24 July 1884
CD/46/10Letter from [Alfred Bray Kempe, Treasurer of the Royal Society], to Sir David Gill20 March 1907
CD/46/25Letter from the Under Secretary of State of the Colonial Office, to Sir David Gill19 January 1909
P/0052Portrait of Gill, Sir David1912
NLB/21/34Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor Jean Gaston Darboux, [Foreign Member, Royal Society], Academie des Sciences de l'Institute, Paris18 July 1900
MM/12/111Letter from David Gill, Cape Observatory, to Warren de la Rue6 June 1880
MM/12/132Rough draft of a letter from Warren de la Rue to David Gillc.1880
NLB/1/275Copy letter from Michael Foster, to Dr David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society19 November 1886
NLB/20/569Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to the Secretaries, Königlich Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Universitatsstrasse 8, Berlin21 May 1900
NLB/20/746Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society28 June 1900
NLB/22/673Copy letter from Arthur [William] Rucker, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society [incomplete]24 June 1901
NLB/11/34Copy list of exhibits, photographic exhibition, Imperial [Institute][April 1895]
NLB/20/734Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Lord Kelvin [William Thomson], Fellow of the Royal Society27 June 1900
NLB/36/671Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir David Gill, Fellow of the Royal Society28 November 1907
RR/11/1Referee's report by David Gill, on a paper 'Comparison of simultaneous magnetic disturbances at several observatories' by William Grylls Adams24 June 1891
NLB/57New Letter Book volume 57, copy letters sent from Royal Society administration27 June 1919-27 February 1920
MC/12Volume 12 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1880-1883
MC/14/239Letter from David Gill, Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, to George Gabriel Stokes27 June 1887
MC/14Volume 14 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1885-1888
MC/19/330Letter from David Gill, Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, to [Robert William Frederick] Harrison1904
MC/19/329Letter from David Gill, Hotel Bristol, to [Robert William Frederick] Harrison6 July 1904
NLB/38/688Copy letter from Joseph Larmor and Archibald Geikie, to Sir Arthur William Rucker, Fellow of the Royal Society22 October 1908
MC/20Volume 20 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1905
MC/17Volume 17 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1897-1899
MC/20/45Letter from David Gill, Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, to [Robert William Frederick] Harrison12 January 1905
NLB/45/443Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir David Gill, KCB, FRS5 March 1912
MC/19Volume 19 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1904
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