Letter from Thomas Watson

Scope and Content

Thomas Watson (1792-1882) was an eminent physician. In this letter to Dalton, Watson describes weather phenomena recently witnessed by his uncle, Rev. Thomas Catton of St John's College, Cambridge [Catton 1760-1833, astronomer]. Catton observed a lightning storm, which occurred in a clear sky without thunder. The lightning was a considerable distance away, and Watson wondered if associated clouds were in fact below the horizon. He knows that a storm occurred near Manchester at the same time, and wonders if Catton may have seen this. He asks Dalton for any information he has about the storm.

Dated at: London.

Also present in the folder containing these letters is an apparently unrelated letter from R W Sievier to Mr Haynes, 12 October 1833, offering his services as a sculptor for the Dalton memorial (this letter may have originally been with Dalton MS 312). Robert William Sievier (1794-1865) was an English sculptor.