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Introduction

Introduction and Early Life
Thomas Grubb dominated astronomy in the early nineteenth century .Thomas Grubb and eventually his son's (Howard Grubb) telescope-making firm was one of the most advanced technological enterprise in nineteenth-century Ireland. Thomas Grubb pioneered telescope manufacturing from his workplace close to Charlemont Bridge on Dublin's Grand Canal. His work in astronomy and telescope-making contributed to many places globally such as South Africa, India, Australia, Greenwich and the Crimea.

Professor Tom Ray of DIAS, an expert in astronomy quoted " Grubb's work was such of such high quality that much of the equipment the firm built is still in use today. A fine example of his work can be seen in Dunsik observatory, part of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. This telescope known, as the South Refractor, is still used by the public to view stars and planets. Despite being 150 years old, its Victorian clock mechanism and mechanic function properly."

Thomas Grubb was born in Waterford on 4th August, 1880 according to Quaker records. The Society of friends is where Thomas Grubb birth is registered with. In 1826, he got married to Sarah Palmer (1798-1883) in Co. Kilkenny. His first daughter was Anabella(1927) followed by Ellen (1829) who died young, Mary Anne another one of his daughters (1831) and in 1833, Henry Thomas Grubb was his first male child and finally Howard Grubb another male child was born in 1844.

His early years were quite obscure. Before 1832, Thomas Grubb was a clerk in a Dublin house but this did not last too long. He eventually picked up optics as a hobby and constructed a small observatory with a 9- inch reflector. His engineering business and small observatory is where he produced specialized instruments and machinery. Some of the products he constructed includes telescopes, small machine tools and other astronomical instruments. His early business did not only consist of telescopes but also billards. Strangely he produced sideline of cast iron beds for billard tables too. Infact his name appeared in Wilson's Dublin Directory for 1833 as a 'metal billard table manufacturer' .Works that that Thomas Grubb wrote was not really legible and awkward this suggests that he was largely self-educated as there is no record to show his level of formal education .His first big contract was for the construction of an equatorial mounting for the 13.3-inch lens of Markree Observatory which became the largest telescope the world has ever seen at the time.

References

1. Adelman, J. (2015, July 9). THE GRUBBS: 19TH CENTURY IRISH STARGAZERS. The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/the-grubbs-19th-century-irish-stargazers-1.2272676

2. Glass, I.S. (1997). Victorian telescope makers: the lives and letters of Thomas and Howard Grubb. Bristol: Institute of Physics.

3. McGuire, A. (2018, July 30). MINISTER JOHN HALLIGANUNVEILS PLAQUE TO COMMEMORATE ‘TELESCOPE-MAKER EXTRAORDINAIRE’, THOMAS GRUBB. Irish tech news. https://irishtechnews.ie/minister-john-halligan-unveils-plaque-to-commemorate-telescope-maker-extraordinaire-thomas-grubb/