Beschreibung:

A Rare Jesse Ramsden Brass Pocket Surveying Sextant, English, circa 1794,signed on the T-bar Ramsden London and on the index arm Lieut Col Twiss. with bevelled scale and Vernier, magnifier, one set of two coloured filters, two telescopes, in fitted and shaped mahogany case,
sextant 4in (10cm) radius
case 1 3/4in x 6in x 5 1/4in (4.5cm x 15cm x 13cm) FootnotesProvenance:
General William Twiss (1745-1827) was a distinguished British Army Royal Engineer responsible for defences both in the UK and overseas.
The Ray Wilkinson collection.
William Twiss initially worked in the ordnance office at the Tower of London from 1760, before becoming overseer of works at Gibraltar. He received a commission in the army in 1763 and returned to England to commenced work on the defences at Portsmouth Dockyard. He accompanied General Sir John Burgoyne's army to Canada in 1776, where he was responsible for a number of defensive programmes and took part in the operations to clear the insurgent Americans from Quebec province. In On 18 December 1778 he was promoted captain-lieutenant and in 1781 he became Canada's commanding engineer.
Returning to England in 1783, Twiss oversaw the construction of various defences, including the chain of Martello Towers along the Kent and Sussex coastline. Twiss also accompanied the army on expeditions to the Netherlands, the Channel Islands and Ireland. In 1795 he was made governor of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Twiss was promoted to Major General in 1805, and in 1809 became colonel-commandant of Royal Engineers Corps. 1825 saw him made full general.