Longitude rewards facts for kids

Longitude lines on the globe

The longitude rewards were big prizes offered by the British government. They wanted to find a simple and accurate way for ships to figure out their exact location at sea, especially their longitude. These prizes were set up by a special law called the Longitude Act in 1714. A group called the Board of Longitude managed the rewards.

Britain wasn't the first country to offer such a prize. Philip II of Spain offered one in 1567. Later, Philip III offered a large sum in 1598. The Netherlands also offered a reward. Even Robert Hooke in England wanted a prize for his new spring-regulated watch in 1675. But these huge prizes were never fully won. However, some people did get smaller amounts for their important work.

The Longitude Problem: Why Was It So Hard?

Finding your way on the ocean became very important as people started making long trips across the seas. It was easy to figure out your latitude (how far north or south you were). You could do this by looking at the sun at noon.

But figuring out longitude (how far east or west you were) was much harder. Early sailors had to guess their position. They used their ship's direction and speed. This method was often wrong, especially on long journeys far from land. Sometimes, these mistakes led to terrible shipwrecks. Knowing the correct longitude was also important for understanding magnetic declination. This is the difference between where a compass points and true north.

It was possible to find longitude accurately on land. From the 1600s, people used the moons of Jupiter like a clock. But it was impossible to see these moons clearly from a rocking ship.

Many European countries had been trying to solve the longitude problem for centuries. Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands offered money for solutions even before England passed its Longitude Act in 1714.

People tried to solve the problem in three main ways. Some focused on better maps. Others looked at the stars and moon. And some tried to build super accurate clocks for ships. Many historians believe that countries wanted to solve this problem for money and power. They wanted to explore and trade more safely. This is why the Longitude Act was passed so quickly.

Setting Up the Prizes

In the early 1700s, several ships were lost at sea. A big disaster happened in 1707 when many naval ships crashed near the Isles of Scilly. Around the same time, a mathematician named Thomas Axe left money in his will. He wanted a prize for anyone who could find "true longitude."

In 1713, two men, William Whiston and Humphrey Ditton, suggested a new plan to Parliament. Everyone understood how important the longitude problem was. So, a special committee was formed. The Longitude Act was quickly passed on July 8, 1714. This law offered three main prizes based on how accurate the solution was. These accuracy levels were suggested by Sir Isaac Newton and Edmund Halley.

• £10,000 for a method that could find longitude within 1 degree. This is about 60 nautical miles at the equator.
• £15,000 for a method that could find longitude within 40 minutes.
• £20,000 for a method that could find longitude within 30 minutes.

There were also smaller rewards. These were for methods that worked well near the coast. This is where ships were most in danger. Money was also given to people with good ideas who needed help to test them.

To win a prize, a method had to be tested on a long ocean voyage. A ship would sail from Britain to the West Indies. This trip took about six weeks. The method had to keep track of the ship's longitude within the prize limits. The person also had to show their method could find the longitude of a known place on land.

The law also created the Board of Longitude. This group of experts would review all the ideas. They could also give up to £2,000 in advance. This helped promising projects that didn't quite meet the prize rules. The exact rules for the prizes caused arguments later on. John Harrison was one person who had problems with the rules.

No one ever won the full £20,000 prize in one payment. However, John Harrison did receive payments that added up to £23,065 over time. The Board of Longitude existed for over 100 years. By the time it closed in 1828, it had given out more than £100,000 in total.

People Who Received Awards

The Longitude Act offered a huge reward. Some people, like Euler and Mayer, said they weren't interested in the money. They just wanted to improve navigation and maps. But others, like Kendall and Harrison, had to fight to get fair payment for their work. Some people also sent in very strange or impractical ideas.

The Board of Longitude didn't give out the full £20,000 at once. But they did give money to many people. These payments were for improving instruments, maps, or star charts.

List of Main Awardees

• John Harrison – He received £23,065 in total. He had to argue with the Board for many years to get his money.
• Thomas Mudge – He got £500 in 1777 to help him develop his ship's clock. Later, he received £3,000 in 1793 for his achievements.
• Tobias Mayer – His widow received £3,000 for his tables that helped calculate lunar distances. These tables were used by James Cook on his voyages.
• Thomas Earnshaw – He received £3,000 for his work on improving chronometers.
• Charles Mason – He got £1,317 for improving Mayer's lunar tables.
• Larcum Kendall – He received £800 in total. This was for copying and improving Harrison's sea watch.
• Jesse Ramsden – He was awarded £615 for his special sextant. He had to share his design with other instrument makers.
• John Arnold – He received £300 in payments to help him improve his timekeeping designs. But his devices never met the accuracy needed for the main prize.
• Leonhard Euler – He received £300 for helping Mayer with the lunar distance method.
• Nathaniel Davies – He got £300 for designing a special telescope for Mayer.

John Harrison's Fight for His Reward

John Harrison won the most money from the Longitude Act. He was known for his amazing sea clocks, especially his H4 sea watch. Harrison was only 21 years old when the Longitude Act started. He spent the next 45 years making his timekeepers perfect. He got his first reward in 1737. He didn't get his final payment until he was 80 years old!

Harrison first received £250 in 1737. This was to help him improve his first sea clock, H1. This led to him building H2. He received £2,000 between 1741 and 1755 for building H2 and H3. From 1760 to 1765, Harrison received £2,865. This covered costs for building and testing his H4 sea watch.

His H4 watch was even more accurate than the highest prize required. But Harrison only received £7,500 at first. This was £10,000 minus payments he had already received. He was told he had to show that his amazing machine could be copied. He needed to make more copies before he could get the final £10,000.

Harrison made one more copy of H4, not the two that were asked for. He and his family eventually asked King George III for help. This was because the Board of Longitude wasn't giving him the rest of his money. In 1773, Parliament finally gave him £8,750. This brought his total payments to £23,065 over 36 years.

See also

• History of longitude
• Nevil Maskelyne
• Lunar distance (navigation)
• James Cook
• Celatone
• Longitude Prize
• List of engineering awards