Time Ball Supply by Maudslay, Sons & Field After 1852

Although the time ball apparatus built by Maudslay, Sons & Field was of exceptional quality, only four time balls were ever supplied by the company after Greenwich in 1833. These were built for Deal and Edinburgh in 1853, for Sydney, NSW in 1855 and finally for Siemens Brothers in 1873, who added electrical and other equipment before shipping the complete system to Lyttelton, NZ in 1873. Like Greenwich, all used an air spring arrangement. This was widely adopted by other suppliers until the 1880s. A first design with a rack and pinion hoist was used for Deal and Edinburgh. A second design with modifications was used for Sydney and replicated for Lyttelton. The emphasis in this chapter is on the design of the mechanical apparatus, including the structure of the ball itself. The photographic and other evidence that showed the origin of the design for Lyttelton is described in detail.