Transvaal, which was carried through for the Cape and Natal between 1883 and 1886, and for the Transvaal and Free State after the close of the South African War. He further saw that these operations might be made the starting-point of the still greater project, a chain of triangulation stretching the whole length of Africa approximately on the 80th meridian. This scheme he forwarded at every opportunity, and saw the chain carried to within seventy miles of Lake Tanganyika.
Gill, who had been created K.C.B. in 1900, left the Cape in 1907 after twenty-eight years of service. When he went there the observatory was comparatively small, and possessed but one instrument of much value. He left it well equipped with modern instruments, including the Victoria (24-inch) photographic refractor, the gift of Mr. Frank McClean, of Tunbridge Wells. The staff was increased to correspond with the larger equipment, so that the observatory is now qualified to carry out work of the highest order in many different directions. After his retirement Gill settled in London, and took an active share in its scientific activities. He was president of the British Association at the Leicester meeting in 1907. He was president of the Royal Astronomical Society 1910–1912, and succeeded Lord Cromer as president of the Research Defence Society. Much of his time was given to a history of the Cape observatory. Nothing gave him greater pleasure than to invite his astronomical friends to his house, especially if an occasion was provided by the visit of a distinguished foreign astronomer, to ‘have a talk with astronomers about astronomy’. His health was excellent till in December 1913 he was seized with pneumonia and passed away in London on 24 January 1914.
In his History and Description of the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope (1913) Gill mentions the delight with which he read Struve’s History of the Pulkowa Observatory—‘the author had the true genius and spirit of the practical astronomer, a love of refined and precise methods of observation and the inventive and engineering capacity’. These words are as true of Gill as of Struve. The tedium of making similar observations night after night was counterbalanced by the pleasure of making them as accurately as possible. His enthusiasm communicated itself to his colleagues and assistants, and his kindness of heart made them devoted to him. His force of character enabled him to triumph over difficulties and carry out great projects. It was said of him at the Admiralty that if he wanted anything no one had any peace till he got it. He had a happy married life, tempered only by anxieties about his wife’s health. They had no children, but brought up three orphan sons of his brother. He took a lively interest in all that was going on around him, particularly in political and social matters in South Africa, and was well acquainted with many of the men who helped to shape its history.
Gill’s portrait was painted by George Henry in 1912 (Royal Academy Pictures, 1912).
[G. Forbes, David Gill, Man and Astronomer, 1916; Sir David Gill’s History of the Cape Observatory contains records of his astronomical work at the Cape; Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xci, A, 1915 (portrait); Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. lxxv; Astrophysical Journal, vol. xl.]
GINSBURG, CHRISTIAN DAVID (1831–1914), Old Testament scholar, was born at Warsaw, of Jewish parentage, 25 December 1831. His parents had migrated to Warsaw not long before, having come, it is believed, from Spain. There is a tradition in the family that an ancestor was a minister of the Catholic sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella. His mother was of English descent. Young Ginsburg was educated in the Rabbinic school at Warsaw, and there laid the foundations of the profound knowledge of Hebrew literature which afterwards made his name well known. At the age of about sixteen he became a Christian, and, being thereby cut off from his family, came to England, where thenceforth he made his home. For some years after his arrival in this country, Ginsburg engaged in lecturing and preaching, although he was never ordained. He found time, also, to follow up his interest in biblical literature; and in 1855 he began his monumental labours upon the critical text of the Massorah—a work which was his chief occupation during the rest of his long life. In 1858 he became a naturalized British subject, and in the same year he married Margaret, daughter of William Crosfield, of Aigburth, Liverpool, a member of an old quaker family. He was then enabled to settle down in Liverpool and devote himself to literary work. His wife died in 1867, and in the following year he married Emilie, daughter of F. Leopold Hausburg, of Woolton, near Liverpool. By his two marriages he had one son and four daughters.
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