Dip circle

A brass dip circle from the 1845 British Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin. The brass dip circle includes an iron needle and silver vertical scale by Robinson, 38 Devonshire Street, Portland Place, London. It is fitted with two microscopes (one missing). The instrument is used for measuring magnetic dip. The associated box is AAA2376.

The dip circle was found by Lieutenant William R. Hobson's sledge team on 6 May 1859 near the Ross Cairn, Point Victory, King William Island, as part of the search expedition led by Captain F. L. McClintock. Hobson described it as '...a small dip circle..' [Stenton, 'Arctic' v.69, No. 4, p. 515]. McClintock recorded it as ''...a dip circle by Robinson with two needles, bar magnates, and light horizontal needle all complete, the whole weighing only nine pounds' [McClintock, 'Voyage of the Fox' (1860), p.304].

The item is shown in - 'Stereoscopic slides of the relics of Sir John Franklin's Expedition' photographed by Lieutenant Cheyne RN, at the United Services Museum, Whitehall, No. 1.

Object Details

ID: AAA2223
Collection: Polar Equipment and Relics
Type: Dip circle
Display location: Display - Polar Worlds Gallery
Creator: Robinson, Thomas Charles; Robinson
Events: Arctic Exploration: Franklin's Last Expedition, 1845-1848; Arctic Exploration: Franklin Search Expedition, McClintock, 1857-1859
Vessels: Fox (1855)
Date made: circa 1840
Exhibition: North-West Passage
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
Measurements: Overall: 286 x 216 x 216 mm
Parts: Dip circle