Our funding supports Royal Museums Greenwich to acquire, conserve and display Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy’s pocket chronometer. It’s a significant piece of Britain’s maritime and navigational history.
A chronometer is a highly accurate instrument used to calculate position at sea. This is one of only two surviving examples used by Commander (later Vice-Admiral) FitzRoy during HMS Beagle’s voyage between 1831 and 1836. FitzRoy was a meteorologist and went on to set up the Met Office. He used a network of 22 chronometers while surveying the coast of South America and the Galápagos Islands.
The chronometer is important because it played a role in strengthening Britain's leadership in navigation during the 19th century. This work helped lay the foundations for the international acceptance of Greenwich as the Prime Meridian in 1884.
Our £9,500 grant, along with fundraising and support from others including Art Fund, allowed Royal Museums Greenwich to acquire the chronometer for conservation and display after it came up for sale in 2025. The chronometer is considered of outstanding importance to British maritime and navigational history but was at risk of leaving the UK through a private sale without our help.
Speaking of its value during the Beagle expedition, FitzRoy rather modestly described it as “a very good chronometer... This watch was so well constructed, that the intervals shown by it between morning and afternoon observations were always agreed with those shown by the standards.” It was an essential link for checking the observations taken on land matched those on the ship.
Visitors will be able to see the chronometer for the first time when it goes on display at the National Maritime Museum from October 2026. It will help tell the story of British navigation, exploration and scientific discovery.
This is one of over 1,400 acquisitions that highlights how our funding helps safeguard important UK heritage and make it accessible to us all. Find out more about our collection.