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Old Photos of Grubb Parsons

Sir Howard Grubb, Parsons and Co. Ltd. was a telescope manufacturer, more commonly known as Grubb Parsons, based in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The company was founded in Dublin by Thomas Grubb as the Grubb Telescope Company in 1833. Thomas Grubb was joined in 1864 by his son Howard who built on the company's reputation for quality optical instruments.

In 1925 the company was acquired by Sir Charles Parsons and renamed. The company traded until 1985, designing and building the optical components for telescopes such as the Anglo-Australian Telescope, UK Infrared Telescope, Isaac Newton Telescope and the William Herschel Telescope, all of which are important astronomical instruments currently in use.

Text courtesy of Sir Howard Grubb, Parsons and Co - Wikipedia

The copyright for all the following photos is owned by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums and they are reproduced here with their permission.






Pretoria 61FT Turret built for the Pretoria Observatory by Grubb Parsons.

Photograph courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.




Construction of the Stockholm 40" Reflector, some time in the early 1920's for the Stockholm Observatory.

Photograph courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.




Pretoria 74" Reflector, built for the Pretoria observatory at some time in the early 20th Century.

Photograph courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.




This photograph shows the 60" Mirror said to be the largest telescope of the 19th century built for William Parsons, Earl of Rosse.
The Earl of Rosse was famous for his astronomical studies in the 1800's.

Photograph courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.




This photograph documents construction of Observatory equipment by Grubb Parsons in Newcastle upon Tyne at some point in the mid 20th century.

Photograph courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.




Construction of Observatory equipment by Grubb Parsons in Newcastle upon Tyne at some point in the mid 20th century.

Photograph courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.




Display of Grubb Parsons equipment taken at some time in the mid 20th century.

Photograph courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.




Construction of the Toronto 74" reflector built by Grubb Parsons for the Toronto Observatory c. 1935.

Photograph courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.




A 74" reflector on display for the Festival of Britain, 1951. Manufactured for the Mount Stromlo Observatory near Canberra, Australia.

Photograph courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.






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