I. Brief Life and Career生い立ちと略歴

II. Works.業績

III. Sources.出典

(1) Monthly Notics of Royal Astronomi Society, 1894, p.196-97.

   Major- General HENRY SPENCER PALMER, R.E., was born at Bangalore, East Indies, on 1838 April 30. He was the third son of Colonel John Freke Palmer, of the Madras Staff Corps, and nephew of Sir Henry James, R.E. , F.R.S. , formerly Director-General of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain. He entered the Royal Military Academy in 1856 January, and his lieutenant's commission in the Royal Engineers was dated 1856 December 20.

   In 1858 September he was appointed to the British Columbian Expedition, and remained with the Expedition till its close in 1863 , being actively engaged in making surveys and explorations, some of them of considerable extent . On his return to England in 1864, Lieutenant Palmer was appointed to the Ordnance Survey, proceeding to Tonbridge, Kent, from which place as headquarters he conducted the survey of Kent and East Sussex, and parts of Berks and Bucks. He received his captaincy in 1866, and in 1867 was appointed Assistant Commissioner in the Parliamentary Boundaries Commission.

   About this time he was actively engaged with his friend the late Rev. Pierce Butler, of Ulcombe Rectory, Kent, in setting on foot that project of a survey of the Sinaitic peninsula which ultimately though checked for a time by the sudden death of Mr. Butler- was brought to such a successful issue , and of which the circumstances and results are so well known that it is not necessary to do more than refer to them here. To the magnificent volumes (published by the authority of the Treasury) which were the fruits of that expedition, Captain Palmer contributed largely-some two- fifths of the descriptive matter, together with the computation of the astronomical and other work of the survey, the drawing of several of the maps and plans, and the part editing of the whole work, having fallen to his share.

   After returning home from Sinai in 1869 May, Captain Palmer was often called upon to speak and lecture on the subject ; and in the next two or three years he thus addressed several important meetings , such as those at the University of Cambridge in 1870, the Church Congress in 1870, and the Archæological Congress in 1872 .

   In 1873 he was recommended to the Astronomer Royal by Admiral G. H. Richards , then Hydrographer to the Admiralty, for a chief astronomership in the enterprise for observing the transit of Venus . Sir George Airy soon afterwards nominated him as chief of the New Zealand party, a nomination approved by the Admiralty. On this service , after a course of practical preparation at the Royal Observatory, during which he gained the full confidence of Sir George Airy, he left England in 1874 June, accompanied by Lieutenant Darwin , R.E., and Lieutenant Crawford, R.N. , as his assistants , and three non-commissioned officers of Engineers as trained practical photographers. (After arrival in New Zealand , this party was strengthened by the addition of Lieutenant Praed , R.N. ) He was now Major, having been promoted to that rank in 1873 December. resigned his appointment on the Ordnance Survey on 1874 May 31 , after being held for 10 years .

   For his exertions and achievements in New Zealand, Major Palmer was very highly praised by the Astronomer Royal , who spoke of his " arrangements for establishing his own station, and for organising the whole country into an assembly of observers," as having been " most admirable, and worthy to be taken as a model in the future (see Report to the Board of Visitors, 1875 ) ; and , later, of his " extensive preparations, " as having been " made with the greatest skill and judgment." The weather was so cloudy in New Zealand at the critical phases of the transit, on December 9, that, though every phenomenon that could be seen was carefully observed and noted by Major Palmer, he believed and reported that his observations were valueless . An agreeable surprise, however, awaited him. In 1877 , after the eye- observations at all the stations had been reduced and compared, it was found that Major Palmer's , instead of being worth nothing, gave a result of great value, being, in fact, almost identical with the mean derived from the rest of the observers at the other stations ; in short, that, as Sir G. Airy remarked, the " preliminary phenomena," which it was found were most to be relied upon, had been " very well observed by him."

   Before leaving New Zealand, Major Palmer, at the request of the Governor, the Marquis of Normanby, undertook an investigation of the provincial surveys throughout the Colony,

with the view of advising the Government as to the best means of evolving order out of the chaos that then existed , and of placing the whole future system on a uniform, intelligent, and scientific basis . Between three and four months were given to this work, at the end of which Major Palmer submitted a Blue Book Report embodying his results and recommendations, for which he was warmly thanked by the Government, and which was adopted as the guide to subsequent reforms.

   After returning from New Zealand in 1879 June, Major Palmer worked for a few months under the Astronomer Royal, reducing his observations and preparing his report. Then, returning to corps duties, he found himself at the head of the roster for foreign service. The Barbados station just then fell vacant, and he was accordingly appointed to the post of Resident Engineer, and sailed from England in 1875 November.

   In 1876 March, he was appointed to serve as Aide-de- Camp to the Governor of the Windward Islands, Mr. Pope Hennessy, and he remained in this post through the riots of 1876, and up till Mr. Hennessy's departure from the Colony. At the close of 1877 he was appointed Executive Engineer at Hong Kong, and he left Barbados in 1878 January, and , after

a stay of about three weeks in England en route , reached Hong Kong in April, shortly afterwards receiving the additional appointments of Engineer of the Admiralty Works at that station and Aide - de - Camp to the Governor .

*

   In 1881 he drew up a design for a Physical Observatory for Hong Kong, to comprehend Astronomical , Magnetical, Meteorological and Tidal observations . This project and the report accompanying it were referred to the Kew Committee of the Royal Society, who recommended their adoption without the alteration of a single item ; and Major Palmer received the official thanks of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Though the scheme was afterwards somewhat cut down by the Colonial Office , on the grounds of economy, the present Observatory, as far as it goes, is in conformity with his project-on which competent authorities have since pronounced in terms of the highest approval, insisting that it deserves to rank as a standard guide for constructing observatories of that class in the Colonies or elsewhere.

   In 1882 Colonel Palmer was invited to conduct a second time an expedition for observing the transit of Venus ( 1882 December 6 ), at New Zealand , but declined the offer, having other aims in view. In the same year he made an exact determination of the latitude of the proposed Hong Kong Observatory Station (on Mount Elgin, Kaûlung ) , with observatory instruments lent for the purpose from the U.S. surveying- vessel Palos .

    From 1883 onwards, Colonel Palmer did much engineering work in Yokohama . He designed and carried out extensive water works and harbour works ; and his services to the

Japanese Government were recognised by the third-class decoration of the Order of the Rising Sun from the Emperor of Japan in 1887. His graphic and interesting letters from " Our own Correspondent in Japan, " which appeared in the columns of the Times, gave much valuable information about that country. In 1887 he retired from the Corps of Royal Engineers with the honorary rank of Major- General.

    He had married in 1863 the eldest daughter of the Ven. Archdeacon Wright. He was elected a Fellow on 1874 January 9 , and in 1876 contributed to the Society a paper concerning the methods of the U.S. Coast Survey (Monthly Notices, vol . xxxvi . p . 300) . He died at Tokio on 1893 March 10 .

IV. 樋口次郎『祖父パーマー』有燐書店、1998年. My Grandfather Palmer by Higuchi Jiro, Yurindo Co., 1998.

Ch.1. 生い立ちから正式来日までEarly Life and Career

・東インド会社陸軍将校ジョン･フレーク･パーマーと妻のジェーンの間に、バンガロールで生まれる。父親は、もと陸軍測量部長官のヘンリー･ジェームスの甥であった。

・1856年1月に王立陸軍学校に入学し、同年12月20日に工兵隊中尉となった。

・1858年、カナダ領（バンクバー島ハドソン湾会社）に派遣される。参加した最終部隊の指揮官はルアード工兵隊大尉であった。

・1863年11月。ブリティッシュ･コロンビア駐屯任務の終了とともに、結婚し、帰国。1864年3月1日、陸軍タンブリッジ支部に着任し、陸軍測量部に所属した。

・1868年10月24日、シナイ半島調査団に参加し、イギリス出航。1869年5月、調査から帰国し、測量部に復帰。

・1874年、英国海軍が金星日面通過観測を計画し、同測量局長リチャーズは観測隊を組織し、ニュージーランド隊隊長にパーマーを任命する。

・1875年6月4日に帰国するとしばし雑務、西インド諸島パルパドスに派遣される。

・1877年末、ヘネシー総督下香港植民地の工兵隊主任技術者に任命される。

・1879年10月8日、ヘネシー香港植民地総督から日本の政情調査を指示され、来日し、短期滞在。翌年7月から9月18日まで日本で休暇。

・1880年10月6日付け意見書「日本政府の土地測量及び天文観測の部局を健全かつ科学的土台にのせることの重要性」を作成。ブリンクリーと知遇を得て、日本を大変気に入る。

・1881年10月末、同情意見書は、香港領事安藤太郎を通じて外務卿井上馨に渡される。

・1882年10月、マンチェスターの工兵司令官に命ぜられ、香港を離れ、横浜経由で帰国。

［パーマーの意見書］

(1) 内務省地理寮測量課が設置され、三角測量の訓練を受けた日本人技師、そのための必要な器機装置一式が備えられていると認めた上で、測地測量の必要性を説いている。特に正確な地租の算出のために＞＞これは1875年にマクヴェインが大久保に具申したものと同じ内容であり、ただ大久保内務卿は内務省地理寮測量課を地域開発策定の測量業務のみとして、全国測量は陸軍に譲り渡すことに決めてしまった。また、大久保は和屋敷を大倉喜一郎に譲渡することに決めており、気象観測所の新位置は紆余曲折の後に皇居北側に決まった。

(2) 天体観測には内務省地理局測量課と海軍観象台がそれぞれ器機を備えているが、第一級のものとは言えず、ある程度の拡張が必要である。日本の周辺には天体観測所がないので、日本で得られる天体観測データは重要である＞＞マクヴェインが買い揃えた観測器機は天測（天体による緯度経度の測定）のためであり、宇宙天体観測のものではなかった。

出典：佐藤利男「近代天文学の夜明けを告げたH.S.パーマー」、『星の手帳1981年夏号』

備考1：ブリティッシュ･コロンビア開発に従事した際、上官はルアードで、このルアードの長男とマクヴェインの次女フローラが結婚した。

備考2：パーマーは1869年にシナイ半島調査を行い、その後任はClaude Reignier Conder, R.E.,が勤めた。このクロード・コンダーは建築家ジョシア・コンダーの従兄弟である。

備考3：1879年10月初来日であるから、内務省地理局と海軍兵学校からすべてのイギリス人技師たちは退職しており、パーマーはジョイナーやベイリーとの接触はなかったと思われる。ただし、兵学校にいたブリンクリーは退職後、ジャーナリストして日本に滞在し続け、近い時期に陸軍士官学校を卒業しており、パーマーと親しくなったのであろう。ブリンクリーは、イギリス海軍測量局勤務経験のあるマクヴェイン、チーズマン、シャボーらが工部省測量司と内務省地理寮において全国測地測量と気象観測網構築を進めていたことをパーマーに伝えたはずである。全国測量地図作成と気象地震観測のための完全なる器機一式が揃っているのをみれば、それらを無駄にしないように事業予算を割り当て実行に移すべきであろうと誰しも思うであろう。しかし、1876年時点で大久保内務卿は全国測量を諦め、縮小し、最終的に廃止することを決めていた。

Ch.2. 技術者として

(1) 水道事業

・帰英の途中に日本に立ち寄り、パークスの公館に投宿。横浜居留地の上水道の問題に関わるようになる。

・多摩川と相模川を水源とする二つの報告書を作成する。

・1883年2月にマンチェスターに着任し、1885年2月まで勤務する。

・1884年11月27日、パーマーの横浜水道敷設計画を採用し、彼を工事監督に任命する。パーマーは軍属を維持したままで日本政府雇い。

・1885年2月28日、英国出航。大西洋周りで、4月11日日本着。

・1887年10月17日、通水。同年同月1日付けで、パーマーは退役。

備考1：来日した外国人技師たちの中で、上水道建設の経験を持っていたのはジェームス・マックリッチで、彼は1870年に来日する前にカルカッタの上水道を建設していた。1879年に離日し、ジョイナーとともにブラジルで上水道建設に携わった。パーマーに横浜上水道建設計画が依頼されたというのは、さまざまな偶然が重なってのことであろう。