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Surveyor’s offset staff
[Offset staff].
- Publication date: c1850.
- Physical description: Mahogany staff (4 feet 9 inches) with steel shod pointed foot, the pole 1 inch dia., 4 inch dia. hard ball.
- Inventory reference: 15107
Notes
A finely made example of an offset staff. The instrument consists of a turned wooden pole. At one end is a metal spike so that the pole can be easily driven into the ground. On the other end is a wooden ball with a cross-slight. The instrument was designed to measure off sets, that is, to locate objects that are at a 90 degree angle to the surveying centreline.
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Biography
Robert Dudley (1574–1649)
Dudley was the illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and brother-in-law of the celebrated circumnavigator Thomas Cavendish. Dudley joined the Royal Navy and led a privateering expedition to South America in 1594–1595. In 1596, he commanded the ship Nonpareil in the Earl of Essex’s successful attack on Cadiz, and was knighted for his services.
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A fine Ptolemaic armillary sphere
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[A Ptolemaic Armillary Sphere]
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