THE LIFE OF
ROGER LANGDON

TOLD BY HIMSELF

With Additions by his Daughter

Ellen

LONDON
ELLIOT STOCK
62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.

"PROGRESS OF ASTRONOMY"

[From "Whitaker's Almanack" for 1895, under the heading "Progress of Astronomy."]

Mr. Langdon, station-master at Silverton, on the Great Western Railway, a self-taught astronomer, died on July 18, 1894. Mr. Langdon made in his spare hours an 8-inch silver-on-glass mirror, grinding it on a machine of his own construction. In 1872 he contributed a paper to the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on "The Markings of Venus."

PREFACE

THE writing of this foreword to the biography of the late Mr. Roger Langdon should have devolved upon one of the notable personages who had an admiration for him and his work, but unhappily they have all, or nearly all, passed away. Unquestionably the person best fitted for the task would have been the late Rev. H. Fox Strangways, rector of Silverton during the period when Mr. Langdon acted as station-master there. They had a very cordial liking and respect for each other, and Mr. Strangways could doubtless have imparted a personal and intimate touch to this preface which would have been very valuable.

When Miss Ellen Langdon desired me to undertake this portion of the work I felt honoured, though diffident. A feeling that it was my clear duty to pay any mark of respect I could to the memory of this worthy man decided me to accept her invitation.

My acquaintance with Mr. Langdon dates back to a few years before his death when my father was general manager of the Great Western Railway and Mr. Langdon was still at work at Silverton. My father's attention had been called to the personality and attainments of the Silverton station-master, and as I was at that time doing a little journalism in odd moments it was suggested that I should run down and write something for the Great Western Magazine, which I was very pleased to do.

At that little wayside station just on the London side of Exeter I therefore found myself one summer afternoon. The village of Silverton, distant two miles from the station, was not visible, and the principal features in the immediate vicinity were the station-master's house, with the front garden between it and the station, and in the front garden a circular iron building with a cone-shaped revolving roof, which, I found, was an observatory sheltering a telescope for celestial observation.

The tall, slightly stooping, white-bearded old station-master at once arrested attention. A dignified, patriarchal type of man, with a kindly, pleasant and simple manner, he was evidently much averse to all forms of affectation and cant. I was quickly made welcome and introduced to his wife and well-ordered home.

We were immediately on excellent terms. I remember the eager pride with which he showed me his beloved telescope and its mounting and accessories, including the sidereal clock, and how I gazed under his direction at the heavenly objects which the night disclosed. The evening we spent together was a very memorable one. Mr. Langdon recounted the hardships and adventures of his career, and gave me an insight into the manifold difficulties and obstacles he had overcome in attaining the means of observing the celestial bodies in which he took so absorbing an interest. He also displayed for my amusement the ingenious church with chimes and other works of his hands.

It is distinctly to be regretted that his autobiography ceases before the period when he made his four telescopes. His own account of his trials and difficulties and of the indefatigable inventive genius he showed in grappling with them would have been most instructive. His achievements become very impressive when his environment and paucity of means are remembered.

Long hours of duty at a little country station, the support and clothing of himself, his wife, and eight children who required to be educated and placed out in the world—all accomplished on a weekly wage, which from his marriage to old age averaged only 30s., and was in the earlier years much less—would have been enough to exhaust the energy and resources of any ordinary man. Nevertheless Mr. Langdon found time and means to learn French, Greek, and Shorthand, to amuse his family and neighbours with lantern lectures, and to make and use effectively four telescopes, so that eventually his reputation spread to the Royal Astronomical Society, before which he read a paper on his discoveries and observations. Bear in mind that money was so scarce that he was practically reduced to make everything, even his tools, with his own hands from the crude materials, groping his way through the mists of uncertainty and disappointment to the haven of ultimate success.

He was fortunate in his marriage, or he would probably never have succeeded as he did. He always referred to his wife as an inestimable blessing, and was, by her help, as free from home cares as a man with so small an income and eight children could be. The widow of the late rector of Silverton bears testimony to the virtues and many good works of this estimable couple. Their children rise up and call them blessed. Their character and example even in this small locality and limited sphere must have been of very marked value.

The career of Roger Langdon provides for all of us a striking illustration of what force of character will accomplish even in the humblest surroundings and in the face of the most serious obstacles. Such men working persistently onwards and upwards with such slight recognition and encouragement are the real heroes of life, and their memory should be kept green for the benefit of those who come after them.

H. CLIFTON LAMBERT.

CONTENTS