Guide to the Records of H. Husbands & Sons (as filmed by the AJCP), 1880-1885

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Summary

Collection number:

M2522

Creator:

H. Husbands & Sons of Bristol

Extent:

12 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Papers (1880-1885) of opticians and instrument makers H. Husbands Sons, referring to purchases of Metford theodolites, and papers and affidavits concerning arbitration between Charles Fredrick Husbands and Henry Husbands in Melbourne.

Correspondents are W.J. Conder and W. Metford.

Biographical / Historical:

Henry Husbands (1824?-1900) was born in Bristol. His parents died when he was young and he was apprenticed to an optician. He was later senior journeyman for Thomas King (1819-1884), a Bristol manufacturer of engineering and mathematical instruments. In 1858 King moved to Canada and the business was taken over by Husbands and William Clarke (d. 1873). Their partnership was dissolved in 1870, possibly on account of Clarke's health. The business then operated as Henry Husbands until 1893 when it became H. Husbands Sons. After Husbands' death, three of his sons, Henry, James and Alfred, continued the business until it closed in 1910. Apart from spectacles and other types of glasses, H. Husbands Sons manufactured a wide range of instruments: microscopes, telescopes, theodolites, photographic lenses, cameras, engineers' and architects' scales and rules, barometers, thermometers and other meteorological instruments. Husbands and Clarke exhibited some of their instruments at the London International Exhibition in 1862 and Husbands was represented at several subsequent exhibitions in Britain and France. In 1881 he visited Melbourne for the International Exhibition and his improved version of the Metford theodolite won a gold medal.In 1875 two of Husbands' sons, William Samuel (1865-1937?) and Charles Frederick, migrated to Victoria. William owned an instrument making business in Queen Street in Melbourne, which he purchased from John Grimoldi, who was instrument maker to the Melbourne Observatory. Charles had a shop in Bourke Street. Their father visited Melbourne again in 1883-84 to deal with a dispute over the ownership of the Bourke Street shop. It appears that William Husbands ultimately became the owner.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:: Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.